Date: Mon, 25 Oct 1999 18:05:31 -0500 (CDT) From: Jim Bryant <jbryant@argus.tfs.net> To: kris@hub.freebsd.org (Kris Kennaway) Cc: freebsd-current@freebsd.org Subject: Re: trek73 Message-ID: <199910252307.SAA59361@argus.tfs.net> In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSF.4.10.9910251506410.59784-100000@hub.freebsd.org> from Kris Kennaway at "Oct 25, 99 03:14:04 pm"
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In reply: > On Mon, 25 Oct 1999, David Schwartz wrote: > > > > > "unauthorized" things for keeping Trek alive in the first place... If > > > > it came out that Paramount ever tried litigation over such things, > > > > they would lose a LOT of fans, and the money in their pockets! What > > > > would come next? Sueing people at conventions for getting the > > > > uniforms wrong? > > > > > > Or sueing fan websites, perhaps? > > > > Isn't this more or less precisely what happened once X-Files > > became popular enough to not need them anymore? > > Yup - but my point was that at around the time of the debut of > www.startrek.com<tm>, the Paramount lawyers went on a spree, marking their > territory by threatening high-profile fan sites. Whether or not it's > something which would stand up in court, it's hassle the project could do > without, and leaving aside the issue of whether the existing trek(6) > should remain I wouldn't want to tempt fate by adding a second. > > Amusingly, Paramount are now claiming trademark on the letter 'Q'. > > Kris They can threaten all they want. The risk of actual action against trek73 is infinitesimally small. Even an injuntion would be extremely hard to get because they have to prove that it would hurt their reputation or income to not get an injunction. This game does neither, and such an injunction would be counter-productive. The questions are: Where on this planet will they find a jury to take their side? And, how bad will such hostile actions on the part of Paramount hurt their bottom line, knowing that their audience is extremely computer literate on the average, and that a large percentage of them have at least heard of the game or similar public-domain games. The answers, of course, are: Nowhere, and badly. You don't just up and insult the most loyal following of any series in history, and expect the fans not to take it personally. Are they going to sue NBC for putting the episodes of SNL with Star Trek parodies into syndication? How about the NUMEROUS other TV shows that have parodied it? Or even suing comics who parody the show? Paramount has produced "official" fan pieces that pride themselves on such recognition. No matter what Lush Rimbaugh says on the topic, frivilous lawsuits RARELY win in court. A lawsuit over this would indeed be frivilous. I'll now repeat the OLD joke: "Capt. Kirk is chasing Klingons around Uranus!"... Think they'll sue because I said that? That joke is so old that it has petrified. If they are actively threatening fan web-sites, it's time for a boycott of Paramount. Pissing off Trek fans would be a monumental mistake, there are an awful lot of us. I've pretty much made my position clear, but it's not up to me, it's up to -core. I say put trek73 in! With as many Trek fans that use open-source operating systems, a boycott counter-threat might just work. That includes boycotting sponsors. Scott me up, Beamie! This planet sucks! jim -- All opinions expressed are mine, if you | "I will not be pushed, stamped, think otherwise, then go jump into turbid | briefed, debriefed, indexed, or radioactive waters and yell WAHOO !!! | numbered!" - #1, "The Prisoner" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ jbryant@tfs.net - KC5VDJ HF to 23cm grid: EM28pw - http://www.tfs.net/~jbryant ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ IC-706MkII - IC-T81A - HTX-202 - HTX-212 - HTX-404 - KPC3+ - PK-232MBX/DSP To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-current" in the body of the message
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