On Mon, Dec 15, 2003 at 01:12:21AM +0000, Henning Makholm wrote: > Scripsit Branden Robinson <branden@debian.org> > > I think you didn't bother to read any of the parts of my message that > > you didn't quote. > > I did. But I trimmed away those that were not necessary for the reader > to be reminded of the context. That is, I belive, common netiquette. I think you trimmed away content that was crucial for understanding the parts you did quote, but whatever. If you need reptition or elaboration, I'll provide it. > I ask again: How do you suggest that the NetBSD people should have > communicated their misgivings to us? One possibility would have been to not raise the trademark issues at all. > As far as I can see, your complaint is that the misgivings they speak > about *could* in theory be used as grounds for legal proceedings. If > you insist on seeing evil intentions behind the mere mention of them, > how on earth do you want them to act? Where did I talk about "evil"? Please do not put words in my mouth. I already said I didn't think they were acting irrationally. They acted in one of a few manners I would expect once I learned they had registerd NETBSD as a mark. Possible approaches include: 1) don't ask, don't tell 2) order us to stop 3) grant us a license 1) is no longer on the table. They didn't do 3), though they might still. That leaves 2). I already said that this is how trademark law works in the U.S. It gives you a gun and orders you to shoot people with it if they step onto your lawn, or it will be taken away. If your neighbor decides to surprise you by mowing your lawn for you, the theory is that the whole rest of the town will see this and declare open season on your home. I'm generally in favor of a "use or lose it" approach to "intellectual property", but this is more like "be an asshole or lose it". Given the choice, I understand why people who've gone to the trouble of acquiring a mark choose to be assholes about them. The law makes friendly oversight a bit risky. (Implying that you'll "have no choice but to" take someone to court if they don't do as you say counts as being an asshole in my book. Your mileage may vary.) -- G. Branden Robinson | Psychology is really biology. Debian GNU/Linux | Biology is really chemistry. branden@debian.org | Chemistry is really physics. http://people.debian.org/~branden/ | Physics is really math.
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