Amiga PCs on the way....

[Belial6]

Selling the product is the easy part, since it already exists! Anyone on this forum could buy and resell an already existing computer after adding a sticker to it.

The only product in question is the custom C64 breadbin shaped machine, which would require new cases to be manufactured.

That is really the crux of it.

Some mom and pop PC retailer decided to run their business just like most mom and pop PC retailers, but saw an opportunity to appeal to a niche market by selling them in cases, first, that looked reminiscent of Amigas, with a commodore sticker slapped on it.  Then announced plans to make replica cases and sell PCs in those.  For those that want their PCs to look like that, great.  For those that don't, who cares what some mom and pop PC shop does?

Yes, you can buy a used Amiga cheaper.  So what?  Lots of us buy new thing that we could buy cheaper used.

Yes, this isn't the original hardware.  So what?  Many of us run emulated Amigas.

Yes, you could get the same equipment in a case that doesn't look like an Amiga/C64.  So what?  Lots of cases are purchased strictly for their looks.

Yes, they used a copyrighted image without permission.  So what?  So have the rest of us, and it is actually quite common in mom and pop shops.  It this really offends you, don't buy from them.

Yes, they are using a trademark they didn't create.  So what?  Either they have a legal right to it or they don't.  They are not fooling anyone, or even trying to fool anyone about what the actual product is.

I don't get all the hate that is heaped on this guy.  If you like the product he sells, buy it.  If you don't, don't.  I run emulation, so I like what he is presenting.  He isn't promising to release a new architecture with a new OS that is going to be better than anything currently on the market.  He isn't promising a revolution.  He is promising (promise may even be too strong of a word) stock PCs with a Commodore logo on it, and a couple of replica cases with standard PC hardware.

The Amiga community has had a lot of pie in the sky promises that never panned out.  Some that really couldn't pan out.  That doesn't seem to be what is happening here.  A couple of replica cases with PCs inside, and full AROS driver support is a lot less ambitious than many of the products we have actually seen released.

Certainly the MiniMig was a more complex project than a replica case.  Certainly AROS as a whole was a lot more complex than just the few drivers necessary to make a particular machine AROS compatible.  Certainly MorphOS and AmigaOS 4 are more complex than replica cases.  Even the Indivision and Catweasle are more complex than this.

There is nothing that has been presented so far that indicates that this modest project is not real.  So, lets just not send prepayments and wait and see.  If the machines don't show up, no problem.  We still have our money.  If they do, great!

[Belial6]

1. Running a legitimate respectful business and using copyrighted material without permission is mutually exclusive.

Some people keep hammering on this.  All I can say is, good luck finding companies that you consider legitimate and respectful.

Do you refuse to with these non-legitimate respectful businesses?  Avoiding them would be like avoiding businesses that use gasoline.

[Belial6]

Where at all possible I know I do.

How about Microsoft?  Do you use any products from Microsoft?  Or Apple?  They are both famous for IP infringement.

[Belial6]

So, basically, you feel good about not buying things from companies that you wouldn't do business with anyway.  If that is your thing, that's fine.  It doesn't change the fact that all of the people hammering away at CUSA for being this huge villain for doing what is down right common, is ridiculous, and 99% of the time hypocritical.

Is the posting of the picture illegal?  About as illegal as a restaurant staff singing 'Happy Birthday' to a patron.  Is it immoral?  Again, about as immoral as a restaurant staff singing 'Happy Birthday' to a patron.

Oh, and I don't blame you for not eating at McDonalds in the UK.  While I didn't venture much outside of London, I was amazed at how bad McDonalds was there.  Here in the US, McDonalds make delicious burgers.  Of course pretty much all of the food in London was terrible, so it isn't much saying that the McDonalds there was bad.

[Belial6]

Do you think he'd be as cavalier about me putting amiga stickers on some PC's I build myself, and selling them as CommodoreUSA ?

Yes.  I do.  I think he would either just ignore you and not feel bad about it, or call you up and hash out a deal where you paid to continue doing you rebadging.  Either way I don't think he would be upset about it in the slightest.  He would see it as pretty standard in the business world, and he would be right.

[Belial6]

Maybe things are different if you run a theoretical business on the internet, but I can assure you that in the corporate world where money is changing hands and identity has monetary value, nobody thinks like that.

The rebadging of products and licensing of trademarks that happen all the time proves beyond a shadow otherwise.

[Belial6]

You know, sooner or later he's going to try that with a company which has lawyers and teeth.

And he is going to get absolutely mauled.

As for my wanting an argument, I was talking to someone else in the thread, not you. Wind your neck in.

Finally LOL@Belia's ideas about Trademark.

You do realise that Apple, amongst others have been lobbying for years about Chinese companies producing and selling knock-offs of their kit, right?

Seriously, have you never heard of Asprin?  

Also, you are posting in a public forum.  Telling a member of the forum that he shouldn't be getting involved in the discussion is ridiculous.

The fact is, he is NOT going to get mauled.  The worst he is going to get is a sternly written letter from the other parties lawyer.  You are completely delusional about how these things work.