Firm moves to trademark 'Python' name out from under the language
A trademark battle has erupted following a company’s bid to stake a Europe-wide claim to the name "Python" - that of many devs’ favourite scripting language. The Python Software Foundation has said it’s wrestling UK-based web host Veber for its own name after the company informed the software people it was applying for Community …
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Re: This is vaguely familiar
Linus, his name is Linus. It is not Linux, that is his creation.
Target Acquired?
Seems like a good way to become a target for a Low Orbit Ion Cannon attack and bring your main business to its needs.
Not that I would condone such activity. I will just avoid doing business with them.
Re: Target Acquired?
Bringing your business to it's needs doesn't sound too bad, in fact, it sounds quite a good thing. However, if it was brought to it's knees, that's a whole different story.................
Re: Target Acquired?
Why, what does "bringing a business to it is knees" mean?
Re: Target Acquired?
Depends I guess. If you are a john looking for a hooker it could mean something totally different than causing financial distress to a company.
Re: Target Acquired?
Shurely Timmay meant "bringing a business to its knee's". :)
Re: Target Acquired?
By pelting it with tomatoe's and potatoe's.
Clearly our arseholes are just as bad as America's assholes.
Sadly
Arseholes are fairly evenly distributed across the entire human population.
Clearly our arseholes are just as bad as America's assholes.
But ours do not have the East Texas legal system to back them up.. So there is hope here.
Yeah, good luck
I honestly can't think this is anything else than a publicity stunt. W\ithout even talking about the common sense point of view, there are a few large companies with a legal budget two orders of magnitudes bigger than Veber who are going to get involved pretty fast.
Alas there is mammoth amounts of prior art. That said, there is a fairly good chance patent office staff wouldn't notice.
Bad idea
They seem to be in the business of selling servers and hosting. They have just badly annoyed a large proportion of the kind of people who specify servers and hosting. They may not have thought this through.
Re: Bad idea
@Christoph
I made exactly that point in a calmly worded email to python.co.uk yesterday. No flames, just a gentle comment that this could be a Ratner moment for their company and 'brand'. No reply as yet.
Re: Bad idea
I imagine the people actually making the decisions here are barely aware what a programming language is, let alone that their company relies on such things, and the people associated with them. Their technical people are probably cringing in the background as much as the rest of us.
Re: Bad idea
You forgot to add that Python is also used to write a lot of penetration testing software.
Re: Bad idea
No reply as yet.
Looks like they're having technical difficulties...
In a world where Apple can patent the rectangle anything is possible
This sounds insane, only the BBC could claim precedence for the name Python. However we live in a world where Apple managed to patent a rectangular tablet with rounded edges ignoring the prior art for the patent issued in 1500BCE to Moses, God, et. al, so anything is possible.
These guys are clearly humourists
A quick scan of their "100% Service Level Agreement" reveals they've got the company's registered office address wrong, plus a few other mysteries like:
7.3 The Company shall not be obliged to pay compensation in accordance with this Paragraph 7 where the client has been attached by a third party or has not correctly configured the equipment to
And there it ends, after the "to"...
"We recommend that you download copies of our Policy Documents for your records." In case you need a good laugh sometime?
Re: These guys are clearly humourists
Quick look at companieshouse.gov.uk and whois:
Veber Ltd was the name of POBox hosting Ltd prior to 2003.
python.co.uk is registered to Our Host Ltd which claims to be a dormant holding company with a PO Box address in Devon.
Their apparent caginess in disclosing who they are etc. does not inspire confidence. However registering the name solely for use with a hosting business need not necessarily impact on the use of "Python" with regard to the language. "Python" is Guido's trademark by use, it's just not registered everywhere. Registration is to provide goodish documentary evidence if required in any future lawsuit.
Jesus H. Christ riding into town in the driver seat of an Sd.Kfz 250 'Greif'
1) Go to Stack Overflow
2) Find out whether anyone uses "Python" for some retarded company's product as opposed to "The Python Programming Language"
3) ???
4) THE CHOICE IS CLEAR
Easy solution
One is a host provider, one is a language. So round up hundred geeks from around Europe and ask them what "python" as a name refers to.
ddosed?
As a rather well-deserved strike back, it seems that a few Python developpers took to themselves to take out www.veber.co.uk.
Rather efficiently, it seems. More efficiently than what Veber is able to cope with, at least. They must not be very familiar with Python.
I can't seem to find a hint of sympathy for Veber.
I am not part of the attack of course, but I may ping from time to time just for the sake of reporting.
What's more
Additionally, www.python.co.uk is presently a CNAME for python.org
I note that poboxhosting.com, the domain of DNS servers for pyhton.co.uk, is registered to this veber shower too. So either they've caved or their DNS server security is crap.
Re: ddosed?
nothing wrong with being curious about how long it takes them to get their site running again?
Are they nearly there yet.....? no
Are they nearly there yet.....? no
Are they nearly there yet.....? no
Are they nearly there yet.....? no
Are they nearly there yet.....? no
Are they nearly there yet.....? no
Surely they can copy job adverts where companies look for people with Python skills as proof of usage?
Great publicity!
Veber? Aren't you the firm that tried to trademark "Python"?
Yeah, we won't be doing business with you; you're too much of a risk.
The ultimate evidence of prior usage
Guido should just drop a note to Tim O'Reilly, asking for an O'Reilly catalog from about 1995. Wouldn't having a book published about it strongly suggest Python's for real and antedates Veber?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Google have a sizable interest in Python development? They could afford to sic a *lot* of lawyers on Veber's ass.
Intellectual property nightmare
No one can move these days due to lawyers and solicitors and attorneys, the parasites are a scourge to IT, jobs, profits and sanity.
What I want to know is...
...Is this the right room for an argument?
Re: What I want to know is...
I've told you once.
On the other hand, given what veber seem to be trying to do, maybe this is the room for abuse
Tee Hee
www.veber.co.uk is currently down.
Oh the irony!
www.python.co.uk went down yesterday, and now it is forwarding to www.python.org, so it has either been hacked for they've had a change of mind.
Alternatively they might just be poisonous enough to try to deflect any bricks thrown at them on to the good guys.
P.S. Happy python language dabbler here.
This seems like the stupidest thing to do. Why would Veber want to antagonize their potential customer base? They're just asking for a DDOSing (which I do not agree with) or worse, by all the assortments of self-righteous "hacker" clubs.
Even if this is a publicity stunt it seems to be very poorly thought out.
Has someone pulled the plug
http://veber.co.uk/ very inaccessible for me, good job their not a hosting company... ohh wait....
This just shows how FUBAR the whole idea of IP is, it is state supported corporatist farce.
IP legislation makes trolling like this possible, and probable, with net cost to everyone but the trolls.
If you want to get paid; innovate, and keep producing new stuff; don't expect to stagnate and keep getting paid multiple times for stale old ideas.
Indeed
Paraphrasing Bakunin: What is Intellectual Property? Intellectual Property is Theft!
Re: Indeed
Erm... wrong anarchist; it was actually Pierre-Joseph Proudhon who coined the term.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Property_is_theft! amongst many others.
They certainly knew each other, but Proudhon is cited as being an influence on Bakunin, not the other way round.
<---- Can't we have a "This is just a gentle correction" icon?
Just another fine example of why (single) common words should never be allowed as trademarks/names.
It's 2013, one would have thought that by now it would be common sense that "blanket type" trademarks/patents was the root of all issues and that it's applicants should be thrown out the door (and fined) far faster than they managed to sneak in...
Well, python isn't a word relevant to computing, and without reading the application I don't know how many classes they have filed under. Further, there is no reason for anyone to be fined. They apply, someone objects. Personally I think the people who did a DOS attack were stupid -way to go, antagonising people in the PTO before proper process is exhausted, thus suggesting you doubt their ability to do their jobs. It makes me think Python people may be a bit juvenile.
...python smython
Good. Meaningful whitespace is just plain wrong:)
what's next? the guy who invented the alphabet sues everyone?
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