Actually Toys R Us is no better. They've attacked numerous hobby web sites that use "R Us" in the title, and intimidated webmasters into taking their creations down.
I recall they attack Roadkill R Us or something like that. I don't know the outcome but I remember it went back and forth a bit with the lawyers refusing to back down. Fscking blood-suckers.
This letter is in reference to the story at http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=99/10/28/163620 5&mode=nested entitled IDG and 'Trademark Dilution' For Dummies.
IDG has in the past shown extreme heavy handedness and lack of cluefulness in dealing with people on the Internet who use "for dummies" in their everyday speech. The reason stated is usually "to avoid trademark dilution". Poppycock. A quick search of the Library of Congress will show books published prior to 1991 which use the suffix "for Dummies" in the title, and were not published by IDG books. The trademark was also part of the English vernacular for centuries before IDG took hold of it and started to overzealously defend it. I am not a lawyer, but I believe the term relevant to trademark law here is "prior art". I mean, trademarking "for Dummies" is like me trademarking the word "The". And sending harrassing letters to people on the Internet for saying "for Dummies" in their speech really shows what kind of people you are.
I used to recommend "for Dummies" books to folks I knew who wanted to learn more about computers. No longer. I'll recommend O'Reilly books from now on, just because that company seems to be able to exercise some common sense in defending its marks. I will also no longer attend IDG events, and will check my magazine subscriptions to see what I'll be cancelling my subscriptions to.
In closing, I've got a good joke for you:
What is the difference between a bucket of shit and an overzealous lawyer? (scroll down for answer)
So says RMS. KDE 2.0 will use Qt 2.0 which is not only "open source", but better yet it is "free". Being a sysadmin at a shop that is migrating from Windows to Linux/Solaris/NetBSD I am really psyched about this great desktop environment that will make the migration much much easier.
My wife was a model in Philadelphia when we were dating, and bears a striking resemblance to Stephanie Seymour of Victoria's Secret fame (so much so that her father freaked out when I showed him nude photos of Seymour as a joke... he didn't see the difference). So much for geeky guys being attracted to geeky girls.
Slashdot Mirror
Actually Toys R Us is no better. They've attacked numerous hobby web sites that use "R Us" in the title, and intimidated webmasters into taking their creations down.
I recall they attack Roadkill R Us or something like that. I don't know the outcome but I remember it went back and forth a bit with the lawyers refusing to back down. Fscking blood-suckers.
And this is what it says:
0 5&mode=nested entitled IDG and 'Trademark Dilution' For Dummies.
...
This letter is in reference to the story at http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=99/10/28/16362
IDG has in the past shown extreme heavy handedness and lack of cluefulness in dealing with people on the Internet who use "for dummies" in their everyday speech. The reason stated is usually "to avoid trademark dilution". Poppycock. A quick search of the Library of Congress will show books published prior to 1991 which use the suffix "for Dummies" in the title, and were not published by IDG books. The trademark was also part of the English vernacular for centuries before IDG took hold of it and started to overzealously defend it. I am not a lawyer, but I believe the term relevant to trademark law here is "prior art". I mean, trademarking "for Dummies" is like me trademarking the word "The". And sending harrassing letters to people on the Internet for saying "for Dummies" in their speech really shows what kind of people you are.
I used to recommend "for Dummies" books to folks I knew who wanted to learn more about computers. No longer. I'll recommend O'Reilly books from now on, just because that company seems to be able to exercise some common sense in defending its marks. I will also no longer attend IDG events, and will check my magazine subscriptions to see what I'll be cancelling my subscriptions to.
In closing, I've got a good joke for you:
What is the difference between a bucket of shit and an overzealous lawyer? (scroll down for answer)
Answer: The bucket!
So says RMS. KDE 2.0 will use Qt 2.0 which is not only "open source", but better yet it is "free". Being a sysadmin at a shop that is migrating from Windows to Linux/Solaris/NetBSD I am really psyched about this great desktop environment that will make the migration much much easier.
Thank God no worse news.
My wife was a model in Philadelphia when we were dating, and bears a striking resemblance to Stephanie Seymour of Victoria's Secret fame (so much so that her father freaked out when I showed him nude photos of Seymour as a joke... he didn't see the difference). So much for geeky guys being attracted to geeky girls.
IBM has many of the core Apache developers in their Research Triangle Park facility.
Also, the guy that invented PHP is now employed by IBM's apache group.
Seems like a no-brainer to me.
Why couldn't it have been Luke? He whines more than a Japanese motorcycle with a blower.