Date: Fri, 12 Sep 1997 13:06:27 +0530 From: A Joseph Koshy <koshy@india.hp.com> To: freebsd-current@freebsd.org Subject: Re: HEADS UP: *tetris* files removed from cvs repository Message-ID: <199709120740.AAA20224@palrel3.hp.com>
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pw> Due to the legal 'situation' with the trademark owner, all files with
pw> "tetris" in the name have been rather hastily removed from the cvs tree.
At first I thought this was a joke :(.
I'm not very familiar (or impressed) by the US legal way of doing these
things, but why would a source file with `tetris' in its name be a violation
of some companies trademark?
The last I noted, the FreeBSD project wasn't selling any product using the
product name `tetris'.
The implications of this `situation' are ridiculous; does this mean that I
cannot save my days work in a file named `footetris' without running the
risk of legal action?. How many other trademarks and servicemarks do I
need to keep in mind when minding my own life? How many other files in the
FreeBSD source tree are to be deleted as one or the other corporation begins
to assert their ``intellectual property rights''?
Will the current deletions form a precedent that could be used against
the project at a later time?
Now, I can understand the reluctance of the FreeBSD team to get into a legal
scrap out of which only the local lawyers on both sides can profit. But as a
project we need to protect our efforts, and I would hate to see FreeBSD
die because of the imcomprehensibility of any particular societies legal
system.
Would it help to move the "administrative center" (whatever that means)
of the FreeBSD project to a country with a saner legal system? Some of the
european countries (eg:- Sweden) have societies with a better record in
these matters.
Where will this trend end, and how best do we protect FreeBSD from being
destroyed by similar direct/indirect threat?
<sidebar>
A similar incident that comes to mind is the removal of MIDI files
of W. Classical pieces by american composers from some of the prominent
classical MIDI sites on the 'net. Even music (as opposed to specific
performances) can be `owned' by corporations in the US, it seems :( :(.
Similarly the recent US patents on traditional medicines available on the
Indian subcontinent, (despite there being documented use of these
in indian society for about 5000 years :(). An Indian agency fought
against some of the patents in US courts and won in a few cases, but
the whole process was ruinously expensive. Either way, it looks like
we have to pay someone in the US, either lawyers or corporations to use
Indias own natural resources, under the current ``intellectual property''
scheme.
</sidebar>
Koshy
<koshy@india.hp.com> My Personal Opinions Only!
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