My second life is not a trademark
No, this isn't a rebirth post on this blog, since I'll soon give my writing talents a second life at a new domain, in Dutch. But in this message I do want to stress that I strongly disapprove of the new trademark policy everyone is talking about. The creators of the virtual world in question have consciously built their brand, their phenomenon, with the help of their own friendly terms. But today the hype is over and the creators are now worried by many things. As a 'big' company, one of those things are trademarks. Of course, everyone has the right to protect their legal rights.
But come on, I write without passing an editor. I do not sell anything, let alone that I would ever purposely abuse terms. Do you really want me to pollute posts with trademark symbols? I don't think so. But the more important point is this:
To me it is a big surprise that this move comes from a company that wants to be so heavily involved in the open source movement. Before taking steps that don't have an UNDO, let's discuss the issues. Meanwhile, please focus on stability and fun.
Finally, let me clarify my perspective on this. At this point and time, I am not planning to edit every post I have written on the virtual world in question prior to the policy change which was announced on March 24. Editing - of the header for example - would harm the nature of its non-commercial message. But when I receive a C&D mail, I will handle accordingly, since I won't be able to pay the bills that will follow upon that mail. Let me be clear: Linden Labs and Second Life are trademarks of Linden Research, Inc
Thank you for your attention.
Niels Schuddeboom
nschuddeboom@gmail.com
Tags:
second life,
secondlife,
trademarks
