[Linux-aus] Linux trademark in australia

[Jon maddog Hall]

jon at ivt.com.au said:
> Perhaps you'd be interested in posting your response to the list so we can
> use it as a reference to direct people to? 

Sure.  You folks have had to spend time dealing with the insanity, so you should
know the reasons.

I will also point out that my comments about Jeremy, you and "all the fine
folks at LAI" were made before I knew I would be sending them to the list
directly, so you know that they are heart-felt.

Larry Augustin, one of the board members of LMI, was going to try to get the
response placed in Slashdot, but I do not know if he was successful or not.

Warmest regards,

maddog
===============================================================================
Subject: Re: Quick press enquiry re LinuxMark enforcement
From: Jon maddog Hall <maddog at li.org>
Date: Wed, 17 Aug 2005 09:25:04 -0400
To: "David Braue" <david at braue.com>
Cc: maddog at li.org

David,

Your story is quite accurate, LAI is acting in Australia on behalf of LMI, and
this is not a "scam".

Since 1995, when an unfortunate incident in the United States showed us that
the world is not made of altruistic people and companies, Linux International
has been defending the Linux Trademark.  At that time an entity had obtained a
US trademark on the word "Linux", and was trying to obtain twenty-five percent
of the REVENUES of companies that had the word "Linux" in their name, or in
their product names.  Instead of all the member companies fighting this battle
individually, Linux International fought it and won.  Unfortunately it cost us
a lot of money to do this, despite the pro bono efforts of Gerry Davis, of the
law firm of Davis and Schroeder.

Linux International has been defending the Linux Trademark for the world, which
due to the costs of registering and obtaining International Trade Marks is
VERY expensive.  Linux International has spent over 300,000 USD to do this
over the years.  LI is a non-profit and does not have very much revenue, so
some of this money has come from my own personal checkbook.  While I can not
say how much money I have spent on defending the mark per se, I can tell you
that I have spent about 250,000 USD of my own money in keeping LI alive.  I am
not looking for medals or a chest to pin them on.  I am only stating this to
show people that this is not a "scam", nor is anyone making any money off this
other than the international legal and trademark community, and I am sure that
they are necessary and justifiable fees.  Certainly Jeremy Malcolm has seemed
to be above board and conscientious in all of our dealings with him, as has
Jonathan Oxer and the rest of the fine people at LAI.

After a while the board of Linux International recognized the advantage of
forming a separate non-profit, the Linux Mark Institute (LMI).  We need LMI to
be self-funding, and following trademark laws in the 200 countries of the world
is very expensive.  In addition to the normal issues of a company obtaining a
trademark of their own product, using their own name, we have issues such as:

o  "Who owns the right to use 'Linux'"
o  "Who (therefore) has the right to the broad name 'Linux University'?"
o  "Can there be more than one "Linux University? If so, what should its name
    be?"
o  "If I call my company 'Linux Experts', does this mean that I am the only
    group of 'Linux Experts' worldwide?....shouldn't everyone come to me
    because I called myself 'Linux Experts'?"

as well as the issues of people who wish to use the name in bad ways (as
a pornography attractor or on items confusing to the Linux market).

We have tried to make the licensing as unobtrusive as possible, tailored to
the amounts of money that people might be making off the use of the mark, and
with an eye to keeping the cost to non-profits and user groups as low as
possible.  We also have to re-license the name periodically so we can
protect against "name squatting" (ala URLs) and defunct entities who no longer
need the name they registered.

The trademark laws of the world were not created in the days of the World
Wide Web, or even the Internet, where unscrupulous people can take advantage
of a good name for a good idea and create havoc for people who want to start
legitimate industry in their territory under a mark that is registered in
some other country.  By protecting the mark of "Linux" in as many countries
as possible, LMI makes this type of deliberate extortion MUCH more difficult
and MUCH more expensive.

Believe me, I have LOTs of other, more pleasant, more lucrative things that
I can do with my life than have to deal with this, but this is the albatross
that has been hung about my neck, and which I resignedly bear because others
do not want it and are off making lots more money than I make.

And for those who think that this is a "scam", none of the members of the
board of LMI have made a single dime off their contributions of time and
energy in this, nor do they intend on making any money.

Warmest regards,

maddog
- -- 
Jon "maddog" Hall
Executive Director           Linux International(R)
email: maddog at li.org         80 Amherst St. 
Voice: +1.603.672.4557       Amherst, N.H. 03031-3032 U.S.A.
WWW: http://www.li.org

Board Member: Uniforum Association, USENIX Association

(R)Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in several countries.
(R)Linux International is a registered trademark in the USA used pursuant
   to a license from Linux Mark Institute, authorized licensor of Linus
   Torvalds, owner of the Linux trademark on a worldwide basis
(R)UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group in the USA and other
   countries.
-- 
Jon "maddog" Hall
Executive Director           Linux International(R)
email: maddog at li.org         80 Amherst St. 
Voice: +1.603.672.4557       Amherst, N.H. 03031-3032 U.S.A.
WWW: http://www.li.org

Board Member: Uniforum Association, USENIX Association

(R)Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in several countries.
(R)Linux International is a registered trademark in the USA used pursuant
   to a license from Linux Mark Institute, authorized licensor of Linus
   Torvalds, owner of the Linux trademark on a worldwide basis
(R)UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group in the USA and other
   countries.