This reminds me. Not so long ago, also over a form response, I hurled my toys out of the cot so violently that I'm still searching for my favorite rubber duck.
There should be a lesson in here somewhere. And the lesson is: Form responses are good __only__ for the shareholders. On Feb 11, 5:38 pm, Aral Balkan <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Ryan, > > My greatest issue with all this is that you appear to have a form response. > Currently, you're just not handling account transfers at all. And that's the > same policy for general users (of which you have gazillions) and developers > (of which you have an order of magnitude or two less). > > The account I am asking about has not tweeted since 2007. > > It is not a request asking you to favor one person over another. It is a > request to favor a new Twitter application over an account that hasn't been > used in three years. > > If a human being looked at it, the decision would be clear and would > probably take 1/10th the time to execute than all these emails have taken. > > My suggestion: expire accounts that haven't been used in over 12 months and > don't have to deal with it. > > If that's too harsh, at least handle *trademark* requests. My app's name > _is_ a trademark even if it isn't a _registered_ trademark. Forcing me to > register my trademark (can I register it in the UK, where I live, or do I > have to get a US registered trademark?) just adds more financial > responsibility on my shoulders. > > I put in a trademark request as per the link Raffi gave but I haven't heard > anything back – not even an automated response saying you guys received the > email. > > On the whole, I just feel unloved because I've put a lot of time and effort > into an app that I feel will make Twitter a bit more fun and I don't feel > that the request to have the Twitter account with my app's name – one that > hasn't been used in three years – is an unrealistic request to make. > > Let's say my app is called Dodo. I'm just sad that I am going to launch with > the Twitter account @dodo or even @dodoapp – because both are taken and > unused - but that I'm going to launch with @dodo_app. > > That you guys don't see this is a problem makes me think that you don't > care. > > All the best, > Aral > > On Thu, Feb 11, 2010 at 8:24 PM, Ryan Sarver <[email protected]> wrote: > > Aral, > > > I'm not sure where you get the idea that we don't care about developers and > > that humans aren't involved in the process. Raffi and the rest of the > > platform team actively respond to emails from developers at all hours of the > > day on both weekdays and weekends. > > > As for the issue of handing over @usernames we need to have a rational and > > scalable approach to doing so. We can't just hand it out to one person > > because we like them more than another user. So if there is a dispute over a > > username we need to follow a standard procedure. We obviously love our > > developers and work really hard to support them in all the ways that we can, > > but there needs to be some process that works across the board. If you have > > a constructive suggestion on how that can be done other than just badgering > > the people trying to help you, then by all means work with us on it and we > > are totally open to coming up with a better solution. But to date, this is > > the best solution we have that scales to the number and complexity of the > > requests that we receive. > > > I've always stated that we are open to criticism and feedback on how we can > > improve, but we ask that it be done constructively. > > > Ryan > > > On Thu, Feb 11, 2010 at 7:45 AM, Aral Balkan <[email protected]> wrote: > > >> Ah, so Twitter wants to see a *registered* trademark number? > > >> (As an aside: why do you hate your developers, Twitter?) :) > > >> The thing is, a trademark does not _have to be_ registered to be a > >> trademark. Products get trademark protection automatically. > > >> I guess if I don't hear back, I'll have the IP law firm I use to write a > >> letter first. Cheaper than getting a registered trademark. > > >> Of course, the best thing would be for a _human being_ at Twitter to say: > >> hey developer dude, we love you, sure we can do that... don't mention it! > >> :) > > >> (I just don't get this impersonal "computer says NO" attitude towards > >> developers. Is this just the corporate culture at Twitter or are you guys > >> severely short-staffed? Thinking Twitter really needs to invest in > >> developer > >> relations. Maybe get someone whose job it is to handle developer relations > >> and champion the needs of developers within Twitter?) > > >> Aral > > >> On Thu, Feb 11, 2010 at 3:28 PM, anilchawla <[email protected]> wrote: > > >>> 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
