back to article Islamic terror peril hits US giants' phone wallets

US mobile payments biz Isis has decided to change its name to avoid associations with terrorist group the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Isis – not an acronym for anything – offers a pay-by-tap platform that allows customers to use their NFC-enabled smartphones to make purchases wirelessly. As such, it competes …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Different brand for ISIS?

    How about Internet Repayments for America?

    You know, just as a Provisional name :P

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Surprised

      Surprised there hasn't been copyright litigation, after all it is the USA.

      1. sandman

        Re: Surprised

        If ISIS was formed in 2004 and the joint venture not until 2010, then our terrorists should be the ones suing - now that would be an interesting case. I'm sure they could find a Texan lawyer who'd take the case on ;-) Alternatively, I believe they have a reputation for direct action...

        1. h4rm0ny

          Re: Surprised

          >>"If ISIS was formed in 2004 and the joint venture not until 2010, then our terrorists should be the ones suing "

          This isn't particularly directed at you personally but I dislike the way "terrorist" is just coming to mean "our enemy" or even "side that we don't like". ISIS / The Islamic State are not terrorists by any sensible definition. They are an army and use conventional warfare.

    2. Graham Dawson Silver badge

      Re: Different brand for ISIS?

      Oh you gotta be real, man. They've got to pick something that would maintain continuity.

    3. This post has been deleted by its author

    4. Anonymous Blowhard

      Re: Different brand for ISIS?

      Or maybe Payment Link Online?

  2. Ian Michael Gumby

    Plot twist?

    I wonder if Archer will add this as aprt of a plot twist in their next season.

  3. stucs201
    Coat

    ISIS's name confuses me anyway

    Why would a bunch of muslim extremists name themselves after an ancient Egyptian goddess?

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isis

    1. Grikath
      Holmes

      Re: ISIS's name confuses me anyway

      because the poor old lady is defenseless, and a couple of wiccans waving natural incense around doesn't purify enough to stop bullets and shells.

      Never forget that Religion has always been best promoted with Ponty Bits.

    2. Don Jefe

      Re: ISIS's name confuses me anyway

      I assumed it was something to do with the Levant region and the close association between Palestine/Israel and Egypt. I might be mistaken about that, but many elements of Ancient Egyptian religions, myths and customs were integrated into the Jewish and Islamic faiths and folklore after Moses and Co pulled a runner and left Egypt.

      The deeper you get into the non-canon, but still recognized as valid supporting teachings, of the most fundamentalist sub-groups of both the Jewish and Islamic faiths the more the Egyptian stuff becomes a bigger factor.

      I really don't know for certain though. I wish I had known about this payment company sooner though. The other day a guy I know told me he had just updated his Galaxy phone and it now supported Isis wallet. He was always a bit sketchy, so it was perfectly natural that I assumed he had installed some sort of militia fundraising software. After I got delivery confirmation of the prayer rugs, Quran's, chemistry books and pressure cooker he 'ordered' I arranged for him to meet this guy I know at Homeland Security. Now I feel pretty bad though. He's fat, and rather pasty, so I fear he may get severely sunburned while in Cuba.

      1. Guus Leeuw

        Re: ISIS's name confuses me anyway

        have an upvote for the last bit of your post ;) Dark humor always gets me

    3. h4rm0ny

      Re: ISIS's name confuses me anyway

      >>"Why would a bunch of muslim extremists name themselves after an ancient Egyptian goddess?"

      They didn't. ISIS is an English-language translation of their Arabic name. Just like you saw CCCP on those old Soviet rockets rather than USSR because the words were different in the original language.

      They actually prefer to call themselves the Islamic State anyway. They're not constraining their ambitions.

      1. stucs201
        Joke

        Re: ISIS's name confuses me anyway

        Well yes, I know that. But they really should have done more market research on how their name would have turned out in other countries. I mean car makers and the like do their best (but sometimes fail) to make sure that their latest model doesn't translate into 'giant wang' or 'flatulent sheep' or something else embarasing in some language or other.

        In this case it's particularly bad. Not only are the initials taken, but correspond to another earlier religion's goddess. If car makers were that careless you'd have French manufacturers naming their large family car after a British small single seater electric buggy. Oh, wait a minute, you may have a point...

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: ISIS's name confuses me anyway

          > market research on how their name would have turned out in other countries.

          INFIDEL: Hah!! your acronym is the name of an Egyptian Goddess which is against the quran!

          ISIS [shoots infidel]: **Bang**

          INFIDEL [falling down dead]: Ugh... Never thought of that..

          When you have weapons and you don't give a shit for the life of anybody who does not agree with you, market research is irrelevant.

      2. Anonymous Blowhard

        Re: ISIS's name confuses me anyway

        "Just like you saw CCCP on those old Soviet rockets rather than USSR because the words were different in the original language."

        And there is no "S" in Cyrillic, they use "C", and the "P" is the Greek "rho"; so you're actually seeing "SSSR" (Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik).

  4. DNTP

    COMRADES join me in glorious nation Arstotzka to fight decadent and corrupt government. We call ourselves Arstotzka Terrorism and Triumph (or AT&T on really small leaflets).

    GLORY TO ARSTOTZKA

  5. Hi Wreck
    Facepalm

    IS-IS

    And here I thought IS-IS stood for the intermediate system to intermediate system routing protocol, which would indeed terrify US Phone giants. Perhaps they should rename it to Open Source Payment Facility.

  6. mIRCat
    Coat

    May I suggest...

    Avoid rebranding themselves as Sith.

    You know to avoid any confusion with hokey religions. I know I left a good blaster in one of these pockets.

  7. Don Jefe

    SUE THEM!

    Isis should sue the hell out of ISIS: Intellectual Property theft via willful infringement of a Registered Trademark.

    If nothing else I like to imagine the look on their faces when they open a cease and desist letter from a US law firm demanding they change their name or risk facing severe penalties. Wouldn't it be great if they just packed up shop and went home. I bet nobody has tried it before. I wonder if they would write back? I would write back. This whole mess is far too great of an opportunity to pass up.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    If the british passport holding wing of ISIS are thinking of a bit of vengance rebranding, I thought they might consider:

    - British Terrorism inc

    - Vengance Of Dearest Allah's Fedayeen On Nearly Everyone

    - Enraged Ex-pats

  9. This post has been deleted by its author

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    They'll be renaming that river that runs through Oxford next

    perhaps to the "River Jingo".

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    What's in a name...

    Islamic Territories of Iraq and the Levant

    Just imagine all those jobs requiring ITIL certification being investigated by the NSA or whatever and all the training courses or being refused entry to the US for being ITIL certified.

    With a little more thought they could have caused quite a bit more disruption.

  12. Tom 38

    chose the Isis name […] because it "brought to life our company and our values,"

    Presumably by gathering the parts of the company in a big chest and burying it on a magical island?

  13. Vladimir Plouzhnikov

    "obey me as long as I obey God."

    I don't know what the fuss is then.

    Clearly, he can't possibly comply with that last condition, let alone provide any evidence that he does, so nobody needs to obey him anyway - and that's according to his own instructions.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: "obey me as long as I obey God."

      Historians always like to title these things (i.e. 'The Abbasid caliphate'), and I must say "The Evidence-Based Caliphate" has a nice modern twang to it.

  14. fishman

    Terrorist group

    "A joint venture between AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon – three of the four largest US wireless carriers"

    Now that sounds like a terrorist group.

  15. RainbowTrout

    ISIS will always mean the pulsed neutron source at the Rutherford Appleton Lab to me........

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    bomb them!

    now, if I said that, and if I meant it as an encouragement to the evil doers (turban, long beard, camel stuffed with explosives, that kind of thing) - I'd be in trouble (I probably AM in trouble already). But if I meant this as an encouragement to the good guys (freedom flag on a pole, can of coke in hand, air-con base, joystick, monitor, predator or other bird of prey (pray? pry? ;) blasting away the evil camel and its pal, that would be, presumably, commendable? Asymmetric warfare, assymetric times.

  17. Arachnoid

    Maybe they should rename to........

    Cultural Islamic Axis or Glorious Church of the Heavenly Quaran

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