A couple of times a day I get emails about how the current uncertainty about SoaS is ruining the project and why don't I do something about. The uncertainty and how, as a community, we are resolving that uncertainty is necessary for the long term success of the project.
--What we have learned-- 1. Individuals and organizations have interests. The most important lesson is the realization that Sugar Labs is competing and collaborating with other companies and individuals. Sugar Labs _needs_ to define and articulate how it is going to do this so others know what to expect. In this instance Sugar Labs did not have a clearly defined trademark policy with regard to Sugar on a Stick. Legally and morally solution Grove was within their rights to do what they did. 2. Decision have ramifications. Interestingly, Sugar Labs has no trademark policy because some community participants wanted Sugar on a Stick to be narrowly define a product. The goal _needs_ to be defining and articulating policies which are the best interest of the ecosystem. In this instance, Sugar Labs suffered from 'goal fever.'[1] Many people want to stake a claim on the Sugar on a Stick 'pot of goal.' Alan Greenspan used the term irrational exuberance[2] to describe escalated asset values in the stock market. The same term applies in this situation. Marketing had dreams of finally breaking the 2% Linux market share. Solutions Grove had dreams of cashing in on their investment. Fedora had dreams of creating an long term association with the term Sugar on a stick. Individuals had dreams of being recognized for their work. 3. Those who have the most to gain from winning also have the most to lose from losing. SoaS depends on the upstream sugar developers working to make Sugar great. SoaS depends on distributions making and supporting great distros on which to run Sugar. SoaS depends on on system integrators to pull together the Upstream Sugar Code and the distribution packages into a useful, stable, and supportable product. SoaS depends on deployer taking it into classroom. SoaS depends on Marketing and public relations to raise it's visibility It is easy to see how individuals add value to SoaS. It is harder to see how the total _value_ of SoaS comes from the developers, distributors, integrators, deployers and _others_ in the ecosystem working together. 4. It is the _projects_ responsibility to make it worthwhile for individuals and organizations to participate in the community. It is not the duty of individuals or organizations to work with the project. --Moving forward-- 1. Recognize that the DP is having trouble coming to a resolution because it is attempting to manage symptoms rather than identify and cure the disease. 2. Recognize that the current value of Sugar on a Stick and Sugar is low. Their value is in their potential and the communities ability to work together to realize that value. david 1. http://www.museumca.org/goldrush/fever01.html 2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraordinary_Popular_Delusions_and_the_Madness_of_Crowds >> b) what feedback from the SoaS / Sugar Labs community was sought >> before Solution Grove registered a domain name that was the exact same >> as a distribution the creation of which was substantially not done by >> Solution Grove (I was not involved at this point). > > I'm new to the list, but to me http://sugaronastick.com is a very > interesting case. I didn't realise this site wasn't endorsed by Sugar Labs, > given that there is so much Sugar Labs branding on the site. > Solution Grove is using Sugar Labs' registered trademark prominently on the > front: the pictures of the USB sticks, the scrolling photos and very > prominently at the bottom. Without consent, it's very likely that this is > trade mark infringement. Therefore, I can only assume that there was very > explicit consent granted. > I understand that the test for trademark infringement is likely consumer > confusion. http://sugaronastick.com is using typefaces, colour schemes that > seem to be designed to show that Solution Grove is associated with Sugar > Labs. I personally was confused, especially as the site is using Sugar > Lab's registered intellectual property. > There's another discussion though: is "Sugar on a Stick" a trade mark? > While (as far as I know) Sugar Labs has only registered "Sugar Labs", my > impression is that "Sugar on a Stick" is being used as an unregistered > trademark by Sugar Labs and the wider community. To me the term Sugar on a > Stick only means designates thing, which is Sugar run via a USB device (or > possibly emulation or virtualisation). On the flip side, it is partially > descriptive, so there's an argument that Sugar on a Stick can't function as > a trade mark. > Still, on the face of it, I think there's a strong chance that a court would > find that Sugar on a Stick is a trade mark. Therefore, just for the > avoidance of doubt, I would have assumed that there would have been explicit > consent granted. > Could someone fill me in the details of what actually happened? > > Regards, > Tim > _______________________________________________ > SoaS mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/soas > > _______________________________________________ SoaS mailing list [email protected] http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/soas
