Amiga.org
Amiga computer related discussion => General chat about Amiga topics => Topic started by: Jose on July 20, 2007, 07:06:30 PM
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[EDIT]
I didn't post this thread to bash AInc., I'm thinking about putting up a site for the few pieces of software I've been writing (seems that finally something is worth it:)) and the logical choice would be something with the amiga name for purposes or recognition.
Does anyone knows what normally happends regarding domain name registrations, regarding trademark infringements ? For example, if I was to register a domain name called EverythingAmiga or whatever, and the actual site was about the Amiga, would I be infringing the Amiga trademark ?
The Amiga is completely f*cked up in this, comparing to the PC, cause it has a diferent platform name from the main company responsible for it (Macrohard...). I.e. who would recognize the Amiga platform without the "Amiga" name ? Maybe using Commodore ?
I guess somehow Bill McEwen & all knew this from the begining and their original idea was also that anyone making anything computer related wich involved the Amiga name would have to pay royalties to them.
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If I wasn't lazy, I'd look up where I remember McEwen saying (or was it Wayne recounting a correspondence with Amiga?) that he wasn't going to sue websites with "amiga" in the URL.
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if the content of your site, is AmigaOS related then yes you can't without permission.
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You must reference it, otherwise f*ckmicrosoft wouldn't exist now would it?
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@pixie
It would, surely, but it doesn't, because there are rules against bad words in URL's now.
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From my understanding (at least here in the us), you can use any name as long as it is clear that you ARE NOT the trademark holder. For instance, you could put a line in the footer stating that you are not amiga technologies (or whatever they call themselves). Honestly if it were to go to court amiga is not a widely recognised brand, so you would have to literally impersonate them for there to be any real legal action...
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Well I don't know what Bill said, but I don't trust words, I prefer to know legally how do these things work.
There's bunch of Amiga related sites already wich include the amiga name (amiga.org, amigaworld, amiga-hardware, amigau (amiga university). But maybe those exist for a long time.
@pixie
Hmm, maybe f*uckamiga.com ? :lol:
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Yeah... it would be extremely hard for the owners of the Amiga name to go after somebody for using the word "amiga" in a domain name (or even in certain product names) unless the person using the name tried to pretend it was an official Amiga business entity or product.
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I guess if AInc. started to chase sites they'd be shooting themselves in the foot, but judging by the company's history you never know :-)
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See the edit at the thread's beggining...
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Does anyone knows what normally happends regarding domain name registrations, regarding trademark infringements ?
There are no restrictions in domain name restrictions in this regard but some national domains may have their own restrictions. In Finland it is not allowed for .fi domains.
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Case study: Sega-Saturn.com (http://www.sega-saturn.com) (now defunct).
Back in the day, Sega got angry (http://web.archive.org/web/20060427175010/http://www.sega-saturn.com/news/091098.htm) over the third-party use of that domain name. If they did proceed with legal action, it was unsuccessful, as the domain has apparently remained under the original operator's control ever since (or at least, well past the point at which Sega would care).
If Amiga does get mad over something similar, then they probably have no legal footing to stand on.
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Sega-Saturn.com is now actually a sepulcre with RIP written on it :)
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Jose wrote:
Sega-Saturn.com is now actually a sepulcre with RIP written on it :)
Yeah, but I think that's simply due to the owner closing the site, not external pressure. It was fully operational until fairly recently (check web.archive.org).
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Jose wrote:
I guess if AInc. started to chase sites they'd be shooting themselves in the foot, but judging by the company's history you never know :-)
They have already done that.......
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@tomazkid
When ?!
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I think he meant shot themselves in the foot, they've done that multiple times.
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I thought Tomazkid was referring to Scamiga Inc's 'request' to have BBRV's account removed on Amigaworld.net
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Jose,
In most cases, it's as simple as the offended party (the trademark holder) filing a Uniform Domain Dispute Resolution Policy (or UDRP for short) complaint.
http://directnic.com/legal/udrp.php
ICANN looks at it, along with the supporting trademark information, then makes a determination. Much like Cafepress, they tend to err on the side of the trademark holder. The exception is sites like this one which have existed far longer than the company of the current trademark holder. It's made more convoluted by the fact that they (AI) have played musical chairs with the ownership of the trademarks.
In short, Amiga Inc could get a site with the word Amiga in it shut down (including this one) in a matter of a day for violating it's trademarks, making it the responsibility of the site's owner to defend it legally, meaning spend money they may or may not have to defend the right to run a site that they may or may not depend on.
It's a matter of bully tactics and one of the reasons I try to keep you guys from "going all moobunny" around here is that while this site and you guys mean a great deal to me, I just don't need the headache of having to fight Amiga Inc for the right to support the Commodore Amiga community and platform which I have been doing in various forms successfully since 1989.
From the other perspective, they (AI) will hopefully continue to understand that it's not in their best interest to take such an action from a public relations standpoint, so we have a rather normal give and take there.
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I see your opinions vary. If Wayne's right (as he probably has more experience) then AInc could at any time turn down a site if it was conveninent/it started to bother them. Not very encouraging... They could even pick up some of the site's users and good results on google. They already do so indirectly, I bet many of those so called investors don't even know what an Amiga is, but they do a google search and wow! It's us users that make the "name".
Anyway, though I'd tell you I registered Amigacentral.net a while ago:) Might seem a bit too pretentious name for me, but was the best one I came up with. I don't intend to make any concurrence to A.Org ;), jut a place to put my stuff and maybe fiddle around and try to implement some silly ideas, like try to put up pictures in compressed HAM8:)
:pint:
P.S. Won't be up till the end of the Summer though...
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Hi Jose,
I'm not going to say that I'm definitely "right", but I do work for an Internet registrar and tend to deal with this stuff on a daily basis. Who knows what would happen, but I have no interest in finding out.
I think as long as Amiga Inc doesn't think you're trying to hurt their business (selling Genesi stuff for example), they have no desire to take action....
The question is, with only about 200 real users in the Amiga community left, how many sites do we need?
Wayne