When is a trademark not a trademark
When DB says it is. TFN has lost its trademark infringement claim against FreecycleSunnyvale. This news is hot off the press. See this post on fcnext for more info.
Get this Deron Beal, your trademark claims were bad for this freecycling industry. They were divisive and control freakery of the worst dimensions. And you have spent corporate donations unwisely chasing a stupid dream. You have forced the closure of groups whose only goal was to remove items from landfill. You have denigrated people who worked so hard for a dream that they initially thought they shared with you.
You have lost. Time to be graceful in defeat.
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About
Stemming from my experiences of giving and receiving items through the concept of Freecycling, this blog is a critique of the industry known as the “gift economy”. I started out as just another freecycler, then moderator. Then something happened that propelled me into being a movement activist. Much of what is written concerns the controversy surrounding The Freecycle Network (TFN). There are many articles referring back to the origins of the company, and indeed events that led up to its creation. This is therefore an activists blog.
If anyone sees anything incorrect please let me know and I will do what I can to correct them. Any errors and omissions are mine. All comments are welcome and indeed if anyone wishes to suggest future topics, or other sites related to the subject of the future of freecycling please tell me now, not tomorrow.
Returning freecycling back to the movement.
Andy Swarbrick, UK
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So far, no word from db. He’s probably having his lawyers come up with a wishy-washy statement that places blame on someone (anyone!) else. I expect some of his top people will lose their “jobs”.