On Sat, Sep 20, 2003 at 07:20:46PM -0700, Benj. Mako Hill wrote: > What I have done is attached a text version of the resolution that SPI > passed creating the committee. I totally lied. It's attached here. Regards, Mako -- Benj. Mako Hill mako@debian.org http://mako.yukidoke.org/
WHEREAS,
SPI is in control of DEBIAN, a registered trademark in the United States, and
may in the future come to control registered trademarks for other member
projects.
Debian, and possibly other SPI supported projects in the future, is in the
unusual position of desiring to encourage the open use of its trademark without
abandoning the quality control and source designation functions inherent in a
trademark.
Toward this end, Bruce Perens wrote a trademark policy and posted it to a
Debian mailing list in 1998 [1] that has served as SPI's trademark policy up
until this point. While this policy successfully captures the spirit of SPI's
intentions in regards to its member project's trademarks, it is informal and
not well known.
In recent months, SPI has been involved in several trademark issues regarding
the use of the DEBIAN trademark. While these cases have been resolved, they
alert SPI to the need to review, reconsider, and re-articulate its trademark
policy with respect to the DEBIAN trademark, and potentially with respect to
trademarks held for other member projects, in more formal and legal terms.
SPI is in the unique, and perhaps unprecedented, position of drafting a policy
that aims to balance the control called for in trademark law with the openness,
freedom, and flexibility at the center of many SPI supported projects.
RESOLVED THAT,
1. The board shall create a committee (the "Trademark Committee") comprised of
Chris Rourk (Legal Counsel for SPI), Greg Pomerantz (SPI Contributing
Member), Bruce Perens and Benjamin Mako Hill to act as a liaison for the
SPI Board of Directors and Martin Michlmayr (Debian Project Leader) or a
delegate representing the Debian Project and open to participation by other
board members and SPI contributing members, for the purpose of reviewing
SPI's trademark policy. If the committee feels that there is sufficient
justification for elaboration of the existing policy, the committee will
draft a new trademark policy with the DEBIAN mark in mind, and present this
policy to the board for consideration.
2. The Trademark Committee shall have the authority to retain Cleary,
Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton, on a pro bono basis, solely for advice
concerning the foregoing activities.
1. http://lists.debian.org/debian-announce/debian-announce-1998/msg00006.html
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