[opensource-dev] Third party viewer policy

[Bryon Ruxton]

A name suggestion for viewers: "A viewer that connect to a virtual world
that can't be name for risks of being objected to by a company with
aggressive lawyers who like to come up with unconscionable terms of
services, or who make illegitimate attempts of one's right to forbid the
usage of words they do not have trademark rights over"

> "Unfortunately they maintain that we put our trademark at risk without
consistent enforcement. They can't budge."
Soft, they ought to consider that abusive overreach on their part could on
the other end, put LL at risk of being liable once again of lawsuits being
translated in court to unconscionable terms of services. Sounds familiar?

As far I recall LL has the trademark over "SL" and "Second Life".
So perhaps your lawyers could suck the "Life" out of their jurisdictions?

I get the fact that they had to go an extra unusual mile with brand name
protection due the nature of the company's name. But there was also an
attempt to trademark the word "grid" alone, in the past. That speaks a lot!

I don't see a need for concessions here, but for your lawyers to re-evaluate
their legitimate rights to such claim to begin with. I just don't see it.

If I was your marketing department. I would be equally concerned as to the
repercussions of such restrictions for impeding the ability for Linden
Research to promote its Second Life name and market itself as a grid.

"Stop shooting yourself in the foot. It could impede your ability to walk."


On 2/24/10 11:16 AM, "Soft Linden" <soft at lindenlab.com> wrote:

> On Wed, Feb 24, 2010 at 1:50 AM, Marine Kelley <marinekelley at gmail.com> wrote:
>> You gotta be kiddin me !! I call that a stab in the back. You guys disgust
>> me.
>> 
>> Your Third-Party Viewer name must not be confusingly similar to or use any
>> part of a Linden Lab trademark, including ³Second,² ³Life,² ³SL,² or
>> ³Linden.² For example:
>> 
>> You must not have a Third-Party Viewer name that is ³________ Life² where
>> ³________² is a term or series of terms
> 
> I talked to legal to ask if there were any concessions they could make
> - I know there are hundreds of items that use your name, which makes
> this really disruptive. Unfortunately they maintain that we put our
> trademark at risk without consistent enforcement. They can't budge.
> However, they were willing to offer some extra time for transitioning
> to a new name, as well as help in making sure people can still find
> your viewer based on the old name.
> 
> First, you wouldn't need to change the name right away. They were okay
> with giving three months to make a change, in hopes that that's enough
> time to do so without a rush or an extra release.
> 
> Second, if you're able to do that, you can still be listed in the
> viewer registry right away. You'd need to select a new name for the
> viewer, but "(formerly Restrained Life)" will be shown underneath the
> name so there's no question as to which viewer people would download
> if they came in search of your own.
> 
> If there's anyone else with an established viewer name that conflicts
> with the viewer policy, and who wants to be included in the registry,
> the same offer is open to you as well.
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