On Wed, 2003-04-16 at 06:50, Kelly L. Fulks wrote:
On Wednesday 16 April 2003 04:06, Paul Reeves wrote:
I apologise if this is slightly off-topic, but it is of relevance to the open source community.
Mozilla have decided to steal the Firebird name for their Phoenix browser.
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The Mozilla project's Phoenix browser has run into legal problems with the bios owners of the same name. So they had the bright idea to change the name to Firebird. Their legal advice is that it is OK and that no-one could confuse a database engine with a web-browser.
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Paul -- Paul Reeves member of the Firebird Project email written (ironically) from Mozilla
I am sure that what I am about to say will earn me a few flames, but I am going to say it anyway. I think that you are being way to sensitive. I also feel that the Phoenix folks were way to sensitive. Obviously they have some trademark lawyers and some money that they could tie Mozilla up in court for a long time (and possibly win with the lawyers and money on their side). However, there is little chance in the eyes (and ears) of real people that Phoenix the BIOS and Phoenix the browser would ever be confused even if Phoenix the browser were embedded into Phoenix the BIOS or AMI BIOS, etc.
If the trends in trademarks, copyrights, and patents keep going, there will be no new creation in the USA in the not too distant future. You won't be able to find a name as everything is confusing. You won't be able to read or listen to anything as doing so would probably violate a copyright (or copy-restraint might be a better term). And everything will already be patented under some new concept that Amazon will come up with that will patent getting a patent.
My initial reaction is to tell you to get over it. How could you possibly confuse 1) I store my data in Firebird. with 2) I use Firebird to surf the 'net.
My second initial reaction is that I will also give preference to motherboards that have AMI BIOS on them in the future. Or Linux BIOS?
Also, why not settle this with a link on both your websites? I have seen sites where they say they have nothing to do with this project or site and then provide a link. This may in effect create some more interest in your project. Just a thought, Matt