Janet,
> We are at a point in FOSS development where the laws around copyright > and trademarks are at odds with the very real and useful model that open source offers.
Indeed.
> The issue is (as I understand it) not restricted to Firefox and Debian > specifically and is a disjoint between traditional functions of > trademarks and modern modes of development and distribution.
The issue is quite simple, really.
The Mozilla foundation is stating that they would like to guarantee that something wth the Firefox branding is actually - gasp - Firefox. They use legal means to make sure that this happens.
The Debian foundation doesn't want to agree to the legal means that would allow them to use the Firefox branding, so, as you've stated, have chosen the other legal alternative.
<big snip>
Can you define a bit more...
* The correct path? * Fully open?
My concern is about responses to these issues which suggest that we bend the rules or turn a blind eye in order not to require a change in approach. IMHO we need to have a different kind of trademark which can be used when a product is based on a brand but which may have been redistributed by another group, whether that be a distribution or a school production. Currently trademarks are based on control of distribution and our business model is based on community distribution. For trademarks to work effectively with community based distribution models there needs to be a 'based on Brand' which provides the recognition but recognises that this particular instance of this project is not directly from the Brand. This kind of community use trademark should be able to be distributed freely with FOSS. Use of a specifically community use trademark variant in this way should not impact the defensibility of the trademark as a whole because the mark indicates both the origins and the distinction between the controlled product and the community distribution.
Janet