Raffi, thank you for the response, but it is disappointing. I have to agree completely with Aral that these requests are not for "personal use". Some of us have hundreds/thousands of users around the world who use our apps as a means to participate on Twitter, and it is ultimately those users who are affected. In my my case, I have had several users mistakingly mention or try to follow this inactive spam account (http://twitter.com/tweetymail) thinking that it was associated with my service. In the meantime, I am doing the best I can to communicate with these users using another account.
FYI, I did not have any success opening support tickets for brandsquatting/impersonation. Originally, I was told to wait until 1/31/10 for the username to remain inactive. When I complied and opened a new request on 2/1, I was immediately denied. It seems that brand-squatting/impersonation/brand-confusion are all irrelevant... Twitter wants to see a trademark number. I am a hobby developer who provides a free service completely out-of-pocket, and now I need to spend hundreds of dollars to register a trademark just to get access to a username that nobody ever used? I see that you have also replaced the text of the FAQ entry with the more generic policy regarding trademark infringement. This is too bad, but I guess it answers my original question -- the existing entry was no longer valid. I certainly understand that Twitter can't always transfer usernames to app developers who want them, but there are certainly cases in which a username (inactive/never tweeted/created for spam) could be put to better use. A blanket policy on trademark infringement may make sense for companies and large brands, but it does nothing at all to help the small-time hobby developers who contribute so much to the Twitter ecosystem. On Feb 10, 7:34 pm, Raffi Krikorian <[email protected]> wrote: > hi all, please refer to > > http://apiwiki.twitter.com/FAQ#HowcanIreclaimaninactiveTwitteraccount... > > We are unable to transfer usernames for personal use at this time. If you > believe a Twitter account may be squatting on your trademark and violating > Twitter's Terms of Service, please file a ticket > athttp://help.twitter.com/requests/newregarding 'Trademark/Brand squatting'. > > > > > > On Wed, Feb 10, 2010 at 4:05 PM, Kyle Mulka <[email protected]> wrote: > > I also have this problem and have gotten no response whatsoever from > > Twitter. > > > Here's the inactive account that I'd like to have: > >http://twitter.com/twilk > > > -- > > Kyle Mulka > > Founder, Congo Labs > >http://twilk.com > > > On Feb 10, 6:41 pm, Anil Chawla <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Thanks, glad to know I'm not alone on this. I've looked at filing a > > > trademark but it is still frustrating to proceed through > > > lengthy/costly legal process in order to reclaim an inactive/spam > > > username -- especially for a completely free service. This entry in > > > the Twitter API FAQ is a glimmer of hope for app developers. I hope > > > someone at Twitter can help app developers get their specific > > > situation reviewed. In some cases, such as mine, it is an > > > all-around-win for the Twitter ecosystem to release these inactive > > > usernames. > > > > -Anil > > > > On Wed, Feb 10, 2010 at 5:17 PM, Aral Balkan <[email protected]> > > wrote: > > > > I had the same response :( > > > > Someone told me that the way to approach it may be to file a trademark > > > > dispute. This is what I'm going to be forced to do since it doesn't > > appear > > > > possible to talk to a human being at Twitter about this issue. > > > > All the best, > > > > Aral > > > > On Wed, Feb 10, 2010 at 6:04 PM, anilchawla <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > >> I develop and maintain a free Twitter application (http:// > > > >> tweetymail.com) and I am desperately trying to reclaim the inactive > > > >> 'tweetymail' username because it is causing confusion among my users. > > > >> I was not able to get anywhere with Twitter support, but I came across > > > >> this entry in the API FAQ: > > > > >>http://apiwiki.twitter.com/FAQ#HowcanIreclaimaninactiveTwitteraccount. > > .. > > > > >> I followed the instructions and emailed [email protected]. Five > > > >> minutes later, I received two simultaneous emails: 1) An automatic > > > >> notice indicating that support received my request, 2) An automatic > > > >> rejection indicating that Twitter is not releasing inactive usernames > > > >> at this time. > > > > >> Have any other app developers had success with this process? Is the > > > >> information on the FAQ still valid? Can someone from Twitter provide > > > >> an alternate avenue for app developers to have a request such as this > > > >> heard? > > > > >> The account I am seeking (http://twitter.com/tweetymail) has never > > > >> tweeted and has been inactive for at least 6 months. > > > > >> Thank you. > > -- > Raffi Krikorian > Twitter Platform Teamhttp://twitter.com/raffi
