SUPPORT FANDOM.TV IN DOMAIN DISPUTE
GateWorld is throwing its hat into the ring to join the support of Carol Burrell, webmaster of the Fandom.tv Web site. The site is being threatened with legal action by Fandom.com, Inc. -- which claims to own exclusive rights to the word "fandom." It is a "well-known trademark," according to the first cease-and-desist letter sent to Ms. Burrell -- although the word itself is in fact not trademarked at all.
Fans of anything from Star Trek to She's the Sheriff to the Gutenburg Bible recognize that the word "fandom" has been in use for decades. It is a common word, and not able to be trademarked (as are names like "Pepsi" or "Panasonic"). Fandom.com, in fact, dropped it's attempt to trademark the word last year.
Fandom.com's lawyers have used callous and harsh language in letters to Ms. Burrell, demanding that she turn over the domain name to them. The first letter from the company's lawyers accused her of "unlawful cybersquatting," "exploitation of the Infringing Domain Name," "predatory domain name registration abuse," and registering Fandom.tv "in bad faith."
In doing so, the company has demonstrated that they are about their own corporate interests, and not interested in practicing business with common decency -- much less interested in the fans of science fiction and fantasy entertainment.
The issue is as simple as this. Like it or not, Fandom.com has trademark rights to the name of its product: "Fandom.com." It has no rights to "fandom," or "Fandom.tv," or "FandomIsGroovy.org" or "FandomFlakes.com." The legality of the matter cannot be any clearer, and no amount of bullying will resolve the issue in favor of the corporate machine.
Please support Fandom.tv (a non-profit, fan-operated site) and do not visit Fandom.com (a corporate site) or their recently acquired Cinescape.com until the company drops its legal action against Fandom.tv. Send your complaints and notification of boycott to Fandom.com at info@fandom.com.
And if you operate a web site of your own (especially a science fiction or fantasy-themed site), please consider publishing your own boycott notice in support of Fandom.tv.
(Incidentally, the domain name fandumb.com is currently available at Network Solutions.)
Darren
Member, science fiction fandom community
For full coverage of the Fandom.tv domain dispute, visit these links:
LINK OF THE WEEK!
Fandom.tv
In keeping with our support of the Fandom.tv web site and the boycott of Fandom.com, Fandom.tv is this week's link of the week -- and the very first non-Stargate site featured here! Visit Fandom.tv's newly-launched beta site for articles on fan fiction (focusing on fair use issues), show-specific subsites, message boards, entertainment news, an online bookstore and more.
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