Nintendo Threatens Suicidegirls Over IP Use 845
An anonymous reader writes "Suicidegirls (a not safe for work adult community) posted a nasty letter they received from Nintendo demanding they remove a member's page on their site because the member listed Metroid and Zelda as their favorite video games." Update: 10/28 02:49 GMT by Z : BoingBoing has an update to the story (probably where the reader saw it in the first place), saying the law firm that represents Nintendo Seattle is looking into it.
Well, clearly Nintendo is crazy (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Well, clearly Nintendo is crazy (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Well, clearly Nintendo is crazy (Score:4, Funny)
Moan
YEEEEEEEES
What was that, again?
Re:Well, clearly Nintendo is crazy (Score:5, Funny)
You say that like it's a bad thing.
Re:Well, clearly Nintendo is crazy (Score:5, Funny)
You say that like it's a bad thing.
Or uncommon
-matt
Re:Well, clearly Nintendo is crazy (Score:5, Funny)
What suicide has to do with geeks, I don't know. Perhaps it's what the girls do after dating one?
Re:Well, clearly Nintendo is crazy (Score:4, Insightful)
Maybe it is this "opposites attract" theory. Geek men want DIFFERENT women
Overlap between geek-goth subcultures... (Score:5, Insightful)
There's a fair overlap between the tastes of at least a certain subset of geeks and a certain subset of goths (or sort-of-goth) in terms of music, books, tv shows, and so on - they probably bump into each other at Buffy conventions and the like :) Both groups tend to have a dislike of the mainstream subculture - they may well have both suffered through high school.
And finally, goth girls seem to often be quite intelligent and worldly, and they seem to appreciate somebody they can have a decent conversation with. Most geek guys, if they can get over their shyness, can do that.
Anyway, that's my 2c...
Suicide Girls at Powell's bookstore (Score:5, Interesting)
It was different than I thought it would be. The Suicide Girls concept actually is not porn-oriented. The young woman who developed the idea and took the original photos said that she wanted to capture the unique spirit of the women that she knew and hung out with in Southeast Portland. The Suicide Girls concept is about sharing the self-actualization of women in Portland's post-punk subculture. Suicide Girls was developed to be a celbration of attitude of young women rather than specifically providing a visual stimulation for male sexual climax.
The Suicide Girls website is primarily designed to provide a place for other women who share the same lifestyle throughout the world to find each other. It's not intended to be a porn site although it has the secondary effect of invoking male sexual arousal. It does that rather well and that goes a long way to pay the overhead costs, but it is not the site's main purpose.
That's what gives the Suicide Girl photos the ambience that they are mocking male sexuality as opposed to the standard porn approach of manipulating male sexuality for profit.
Many of the original models attended the event since the website started here in Portland and they live here. Talking to them afterwards they seemed just like ordinary people, not porn stars.
As for the 'ownership' of the name, the author said that it just "came from an old song".
Nintendo should just lighten up and forget this nonsense. I suspect that the name probably originated somewhere else because a Japanese Nerd video game giant corporation would not be likely to come up with a name like this. Personally, I suspect that William Burroughs thought it up, and a search of his novels from the 1950s and 1960s would find it as a casual reference.
No, I am not a 'Suicide Girl' myself.
Re:Suicide Girls at Powell's bookstore (Score:3, Interesting)
I've met a couple of the suicide girls here in Portland, nice people, very real. The only way I knew that I'd met them was a willy week article that pointed out where they worked (??!!). Never been to the site, my relationships forbids, but I can't see what nintendo would possibly have against a free bump from presumably attractive women.
After all, it seems like advertisings age old adage is, 'SEX SELLS'. IIRC correctly, if you enter the right code in metroid, you end up playing as
Re:Suicide Girls at Powell's bookstore (Score:4, Funny)
Aside from sunlight, I mean.
Hawt, pale, sun-deprived punk-goth chicks of Portland, watch out! I'm coming to the Promised Land!
Re:Suicide Girls at Powell's bookstore (Score:4, Insightful)
I can tell you: She doesn't hate you at all. She just think you are a dork. Because OF COURSE she would die without the sun, everybody would. That's not what she meant.
Strong left-brainers and strong right-brainers don't match. She think you are a boring nerd and you think she is snotty. Probably neither is true.
Re:Suicide Girls at Powell's bookstore (Score:5, Funny)
You do realize most of us lost our "virginity" to the women's underwear section of a Sears catalog.
Re:Suicide Girls at Powell's bookstore (Score:5, Funny)
Don't ask. Seriously.
Re:Suicide Girls at Powell's bookstore (Score:3, Interesting)
Theoretically, nearly anything may be used, by someone, to cause sexual arrousal. However, the main point, the main design may not be for that purpose. But then that begs a few questions. What if two people create an image of two people having sex. The
Re:Suicide Girls at Powell's bookstore (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Suicide Girls at Powell's bookstore (Score:5, Funny)
John Katz? Is that you?
Re:Suicide Girls at Powell's bookstore (Score:5, Funny)
As for the 'ownership' of the name, the author said that it just "came from an old song".
Nintendo should just lighten up and forget this nonsense. I suspect that the name probably originated somewhere else because a Japanese Nerd video game giant corporation would not be likely to come up with a name like this. Personally, I suspect that William Burroughs thought it up, and a search of his novels from the 1950s and 1960s would find it as a casual reference.
The dispute is over the use of "Metroid" and "Zelda". OK, you don't have to RTFA, but at least RTF...Slashdot summary!
Re:Suicide Girls at Powell's bookstore (Score:5, Insightful)
I call bullshit. Worse, pretentious bullshit. If they weren't intending to profit from arousing men then they wouldn't be charging for access. It's a straight up porn site, one that found a smart niche-- pictures of "alternative girls" for the guys with weirder tastes (like punk or goth.) Perhaps it makes the models feel better about what they're doing to say they're "empowering" themselves or whatever, but in the end they're taking their clothes off for money.
Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Well, clearly Nintendo is crazy (Score:5, Insightful)
What you really wanted was for one of us liberal "First Amendment" ACLU-types to get offended by your flamebait post and respond in insulting, hostile and/or crass terms, proving your moral superiority. I'm not going to give you the satisfaction.
There is a line. It's called the First Amendment. And Slashdot's been quite responsible enough in this matter, by bringing to light yet another attempt by a mega-corporation to cram our rights into the wastebasket.
If you're not into porn, good for you. Don't look at it. Post volumes, should you wish, anywhere that you're allowed to, on how evil and horrible and destructive you consider porn to be. But don't you dare interfere with my right to look at and enjoy it, for I do have that right. That's my business...it is surely none of yours.
Re:Well, clearly Nintendo is crazy (Score:5, Insightful)
What you really wanted was for one of us liberal "First Amendment" ACLU-types to get offended by your flamebait post and respond in insulting, hostile and/or crass terms, proving your moral superiority. I'm not going to give you the satisfaction.
Then you go ahead and DO respond as a "First Amendment" ACLU-type! Don't you see the irony in that?
Irony, the most sublime of the humors.
Re:Well, clearly Nintendo is crazy (Score:5, Funny)
Almost like a black fly in your Chardonnay...
Re:Well, clearly Nintendo is crazy (Score:5, Interesting)
They are very appreciative of the portion of their audience that appreciates them as human beings and not objects; that's the same portion of the audience that gets off by enjoying the pornographic atmosphere in a deep way, rather than just ogling over eyecandy. SG actually tries to cater more to that type of person than the pr0n-hoarding AOL'er.
But, I don't think a link belongs on slashdot, given that MANY people read
I also think it's unfortunate that a fair bit of the amateur porn out there is a bunch of desperate girls in college who can't afford their tuition, but, I'm not really sure what to do about that social issue, and I don't thing censuring porn (and thus pushing it farther underground, which some claim is a factor in the harm of voyeuristic child abuse (kiddie porn) and teenage drug use.. err... somehow that didn't come out right (legalizing those things doesn't make them harmless, obviously), but I hope you know what I'm trying to say) is going to fix the problem, though...
Re:Well, clearly Nintendo is crazy (Score:5, Insightful)
So what? If your workplace is so anal that you can get in trouble for bringing up a page with a *link* to an adult site, then they're probably also not happy with you reading Slashdot in the first place.
Re:Well, clearly Nintendo is crazy (Score:5, Insightful)
Excuse me? You mean the portion of their audience that sends, for example, Christy Canyon letters talking about how the first beautiful thing about her they noticed was the intelligent look in her eyes and the appreciation they have for her non-sex acting ability? Give me a break. I don't even appreciate MAINSTREAM actors - the ones I like - as "human beings"; instead, I appreciate their skill at their job. When I watch porn, what bloody interest should I have in the naked women I see on the internet, in magazines and in videos APART from how hot they are?
Your post seems typical of the kind of drivel people spout in an effort to make themselves feel better about their guilty pleasures.
Re:Well, clearly Nintendo is crazy (Score:5, Insightful)
So. Do what people usually do: DRTFA.
Simple, easy, no one gets hurt.
Its a link about internet censorship! It belongs on slashdot more than most of the crap that gets posted (and then reposted a couple more times, for luck).
I also think it's unfortunate that a fair bit of the amateur porn out there is a bunch of desperate girls in college who can't afford their tuition
You're right, desperate girls should not have ways to make money. They should stay poor and fully clothed and uneducated... Sheesh. If you have no money, but a nice body, and people are willing to give you money to look at it: Its a way to make ends meet. Its not the ideal way, but its either that or no money, then I'm happy they have that option. It beats having no option.
Re:Well, clearly Nintendo is crazy (Score:3, Insightful)
I remember when one of my friends (in grade school) called Mother Brain (of Metroid fame) Mother Hemorroid. (Yes I know I misspelled that. I'm too lazy to look up how to really spell it.) Do you think Nintendo will sue me now for saying that?
Re:Well, clearly Nintendo is crazy (Score:5, Insightful)
You think there should be a "line" for what consenting adults do in their own privacy? Are we a fan of small government... so small it fits into the bedroom?
People are sheep, they will protest whatever a stronger, more influental person tells them too. Hence religion.
So is that subversive for religous responsibility? Morality is a highly subjective topic. I'm sure there are people out there that find women with more than 2^2 inches of exposed skin a threat to society. I'm also sure there are people out there that find all clothing a threat to society. How about we let
I submit you are smoking crack.
Re:Well, clearly Nintendo is crazy (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Well, clearly Nintendo is crazy (Score:5, Insightful)
So who gets to define that black and white you mention so easily? You? Your religious leaders or inspiration? Your political party of choice? What gives any of them a greater right to define those absolutes than anyone else?
You can argue that moral relativism sucks, and in practical application I might sometimes agree, but the absolutes it would seem often get proposed are based on belief, and belief is subjective and quite individual.
Re:Well, clearly Nintendo is crazy (Score:5, Insightful)
And far be it from me to deny someone the right to their definitions, though I would necessarily deny them the right to dictate mine. (Barring points of obvious exception, such as gun-to-the-head, etc.)
2. Actually, nobody defines them. It's just what they are.
Oh, come now - we're not discussing HTML color codes, or even portions of the visible spectrum. We're talking about moral absolutes versus moral relativism. If you want to discuss how relativism in its purest form advocates anarchy, and how to best mediate this in societal function to prevent collapse of the human community, that's one thing. But to indicate that there are actual moral absolutes when we can't even quantify the "best" text editor is kind of silly, in my thoughts.
Often, those who advocate a specific morality base such upon their religious beliefs. I'm not saying that makes them inherently wrong, but at their core, religious beliefs are items of faith, not fact. They are not quantifiable or scientifically provable or dis-provable. They are neither correct nor incorrect, and they are as varied and variable as the day is long.
Do they make a good starting point for a discussion on agreed-upon moral standards? Sure. History shows it's far from an easy discussion, and someone claiming their side is in the "right" simply because their faith says it to be true doesn't lend credibility to their argument. Show me, for example, that it's not in the community's best interest to presume guilt first, and illustrate the benefits of erring on the side of caution, thinking things through, etc., and we're having a viable discussion about agreed-upon standards of moral conduct. Tell me, however, that your religious beliefs dictate that you know what's best for me and that your decision about it supercedes mine, that your choice in my life is more important than mine - and it's no longer a discussion.
3. Logically, some things must necessarily be black and white.
Again, by whose standards? The logic follows only if the assumed premise (morality is physical fact, immutable truth) is correct. I'll agree that standards are necessary, but someone claiming a moral high-ground based on their beliefs and opinions is not contributing to the facts. It sounds as silly as Manifest Destiny.
Morality is necessary, but realize it is not immutable fact or truth. It is an agreement that is generally (to greater or lesser degree, varying from topic-to-topic) accepted by a populace. "Thou shalt not kill," for example - I think we can (mostly) agree on that. There are plenty of others (many related to sexuality, since so many people are so messed up about that) where there's not a whole lot of consensus going on. Should one wish to bring their religious beliefs or personal opinions to a discussion of morality, fine - but let's keep it a discussion, and not a dictated demand.
Re:Well, clearly Nintendo is crazy (Score:5, Insightful)
You should at least go to the trouble of reading a little about that which you criticize. Did you even bother to read what SG is, who run's it, where and why it was created, or what the whole point to the page is? Clearly not, by your comment.
It doesn't take a webpage to objectify women, that happens everyday while we're breathing... it does take brave, smart, woman/women with attitude to turn objectification into a platform for self expression. The fact that these women are sexy is precisely because these women are sexually powerful, proud, and are absolutely clear at the inside out, upside down insanity of this culture. Putting a page out, to turn objectification against itself, is genius.
Intelligent, artistic men, have always been intrigued by women who are smart, beautiful, iconoclastic, and have attitude. That however, is a byproduct of the site, not it's primary purpose. It allows this site to get empowerment, and subvert the dominant paradigm.
I applaud these women, and as far as I can see, it's all upside.
I'm sure there are those who will argue about freedoms and consenting adults and such, but I always wonder where one should begin to draw the line on such things. Clearly many would object to advertisement to sites that promote bestiality or child pornography. I submit that if a site is not suitable for work, there should not be a damn hot link to it on Slashdot's front page.
So should we hide Michelangello's David, because certain gay men might find it purient? How about "Venus rising from the foam", a tremendous amount of classical art was the pornography of it's day. What about differing standards and cultures? To a Mullah, any woman with any hair or skin showing is obscene. To an Amazonian tribesman, nudity is the norm, and there is no meaning to the word "objectification". Even inside of our own culture... During Elizabethan times, bare breasts were perfectly acceptable, but a bare ankle or uncovered head was absolutely scandalous.
Who would you have secure the air waves, webspace, or any other venue for human interaction. Would you use the lowest common denominator for all human culture. That would certainly leave a pretty barren space with which to share and trade ideas.
Our Puritan heritage has left us with terrible discomfort and dis-ease with regards to sex and sexuallity. One must be concerned about bestiality and child pornography, not because sex is involved, but because it's a violent act committed against a helpless being that hasn't the capacity to protect or defend itself. The sexualization of these act, like the sexualization of rape, actually get's in the way of properly responding to these heinous acts. Sex is not evil. Women who are proudly sexual are not evil. Human skin is not evil. In fact, the very idea of making these things evil perpetuates the sad behaviors of objectification, prejudice, abuse, fear, violence, and addiction. One doesn't make these problems go away, by avoiding the subject of sex. One makes them go away, by addressing the fear and ignorance surrounding the subject, and in this case the Suicide Girls are providing a wonderful service to those with the intelligence, and human dignity, to step beyond their own phobic behavior.
If I were interested in porn, it is easy enough to find.
But how many sites can you find, that have real women, no artificial colorings, or flavors added? Where can you find artists, and scholars, strutting their stuff because they are proud of who they are? Where can you go to find a site that shows skin because the women want it that way, more than the men who pander to it? Where can you go to read a woman's thoughts... and trust me, that's way sexier than her skin. Tell me of a site where women display their beauty, and find there isn't a "Stepford Wife" in the bunch. That's why this sit
Re:Well, clearly Nintendo is crazy (Score:5, Insightful)
Done, done, and the last part got you a "funny" mod : )
I submit that if a site is not suitable for work, there should not be a damn hot link to it on Slashdot's front page.
They say its porn, if you follow the link, you're obviously looking for porn.
What's your problem? That there's porn out there, or that you can't resist looking at it?
I find the site offensive as an objectification of women
Yup, you went and looked.
I wasn't gonna RTFA, but now, I just have to see what got your panties up in a notch...
Ok, so the link up there points to a page devoid of porn, you'd have to keep on looking, in a site you know has porn, knowing you hate porn, to see the porn that so disturbs you.
You need counseling. You have some unhealthy impulse to go view pornographic images and then post message about how it offends you to be given the opportunity to view pornographic images. Go see a shrink, or a priest, someone that can help you being less of a troll. Don't wanna see porn? Don't dig in the site untill you get to the porn. Simple, easy.
Its not like they lured you to goatse under false pretense. They say its a porn site, you clicked the link, then had to dig deeper. Slashdot is a site for nerds, not puritains. Go read "bibles and angels and resisting our urges dot com" or something, if this bothers you so much.
freedoms and consenting adults and such, I always wonder where one should begin to draw the line on such things.
Stop wondering, its straight forward: Your freedom ends where mine begins. And vice-versa.
Is anyone forcing to RTFA? Having read the FA, seing that it was devoid of pornographic imagery yet hosted on a pornographic site, was anyone forcing you to look deeper into the site to get to the naughty bits? Your freedom to not seing porn isn't infringed by the existance of porn sites. And when that sote makes the news, don't go see it and then complain about it. Just -don't clink the link-.
Clearly many would object to advertisement to sites that promote bestiality or child pornography.
Those are illegal. Clearly, the jusdicial system has drawn that line.
And BTW, there'a absolutly no reason for you to mention these, you have horse-dick-into-preteen-virgins on the brain buddy. You're kinda sick if you ask me. I wasn't picturing any of those things until you mentioned them. Its like saying to someone "don't think about elephants". Why are you thinking about bestiality? Why do you feel the need to talk about bestiality?
I reiterate the suggestion to go get some form of counseling to help you deal with these issues, you aren't supressing them well.
Oops (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Oops (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Oops (Score:5, Funny)
2. pornographic site
3. ???
4. Slashdotted!
Daniel
Re:Oops (Score:4, Funny)
I wonder how many "members" they gained over this incident. Hhhhuh huh.
wait a minute... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:wait a minute... (Score:5, Funny)
"But boss, I was looking for our company's name being mentioned on these sites!"
Re:wait a minute... (Score:5, Funny)
Every nintendo game that is not a 3rd party title is already a cross between pure fantasy and hardcore Sci-Fi. No Zelda is not real!
Re:wait a minute... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:wait a minute... (Score:3, Informative)
More likely they've got staff doing google keyword searches and found it that way.
To Insane Levels (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:To Insane Levels (Score:5, Funny)
Nintenlawyer: "Your honor, the defendants like our games enough to tell that fact to other people."
Da Judge: Um, ok. I hope you have a point somewhere around here.
Jaysyn
Re:To Insane Levels (Score:4, Informative)
Not quite. The Aspriin was lost in the USA, true. However, Thermos was not. Another one that is incorrectly thought to have been lost is Kleenex. Others that are still valid, despite being used as a generic term by most peopleXerox, Dumpster, Coke, Band-Aid, Jeep, Rollerblade, and Speedo. Why are they still valid? Because to lose it, another company has to use it to describe their product, and you have to let them.
In other words, it doesn't matter how many guys on the street, or TV characters, or whatever, call a waste bin a "Dumpster", they can keep their trademark. However, if another company sells a "Dumpster" the company holding the trademark either must sue, or give up the trademark.
Is that legal? (Score:5, Insightful)
It seems to me, that a trademark infringement like creating a new game with Link and Zelda or Samus Arun in it is very obviously a legal event waiting to happen. But simply stating "Hey, I love playing Zelda" ... That can't possibly be an event Nintendo would win in anything other than "We have enough money to out lawyer you into the poor house"
Right?
Re:Is that legal? (Score:3, Insightful)
This is the stupidest cease and desist letter I have ever seen.
this type of thing backfires when someone fights (Score:5, Insightful)
Of course with me, Mattel learned their lesson, as they didn't say a word about Mattelabuse.com [mattelabuse.com] or BarbieSLAPP.com [barbieslapp.com].
But, they didn't learn their lesson before they were ordered to pay $1.8 million [barbieinablender.org] to a photographer that they sued for using the Barbie image.
This could be a great thing for SG (Score:5, Funny)
(I'm a member and love the site!)
http://suicidegirls.com/members/djblair/
-DJ
Re:This could be a great thing for SG (Score:4, Interesting)
Is everybody on
Not a good move, Nintendo (Score:4, Interesting)
I am not quite sure what the Nintendo executives think they're doing, but a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of 1% of people would have been offended by a couple of this Suicide Girls' favorite games being "Zelda" and "Mario." And yet, they expect far, far more people to buy their new Nintendo portable system. I was just thinking today about how much I wanted this new system... but this unnecessary anal retentive actions has given me a sour taste in my mouth, if only for its blatant stupidity.
Re:Not a good move, Nintendo (Score:5, Insightful)
From the content of the letter
" It has come to our client's attention recently that you are using the Nintendo trademark(s)/works in the hidden text/visible text/meta tags and/or title and/or links of the above-referenced sexually explicit Web site."
it sounds like that's the case.
They certainly can't forbid people from listing one of their games as being their favorite though. I would hope that somebody at the law firm or Nintdeno would look at the real issue here and retract their little infringement letter.
Re:Not a good move, Nintendo (Score:3, Funny)
It is like when I worked for the MCI High Toll Department. Sometimes someone doesn't do all the research and blocks the Pentagon from making long distance calls.
Good for the goose! (Score:3, Insightful)
Should we all cry foul because a far, far bigger company has decided to pull the same sort of stunt SG has pulled dozens of times?
I think not.
Re:Good for the goose! (Score:5, Insightful)
This is just a few members saying "Hey, we like nintendo."
I enjoy a cool, crisp Coca-Cola. Think they're gonna sue me for saying so? Even on a porn site?
Re:Good for the goose! (Score:4, Insightful)
Another question: was SG justified in protecting their own interests? If it was a copyright infringement situation, then they were within the bounds of the law - whether you like it or not.
Two wrongs do not make a right.
Re:Good for the goose! (Score:5, Interesting)
Here is a story.
I photograph flowers for a living. Have a website devoted to it. Have photographed some exotic flowers over the years, and I charge to let botonists see my collection.
Someone takes those photos and pretends they made them. Makes them publically available. I take legal action, as this hurts my legitimate business.
A third party happens to mention on my site that a set of specific varieties of daisies prefer a specific fertilizer. Then I get a nasty letter from the fertilizer company for mentioning their product.
Under your reasoning I'm supposed to be like 'Fuck, my fault for aggresively pursuing those who were ruining my business"?
Unless you are anti IP across the board (which I doubt) this position makes no sense.
Additionally I'd like to defend SG a bit by saying that aggresive protection of their photos is completely reasonable. Your average hard core porn site probably does not have a personal relationship with their models, nor is their much expectation of trust. Spreading their work is a legal issue only.
But Missy knows many of her models personally. They've posed under conditions where they have creative control over how they look and who sees them. Missy has every right to aggresively protect the spread of naked pictures of her friends for god's sake. SG has nothing but a good reputation in the indie adult community, and it is for exactly this kind of "aggresive protection" that they deserve it. I would expect nothing less from Missy, from Eolake Stobblehouse (of domai.com) or Alex Firestone (firegirls.com).
Honestly, I imagine that Nintendo doesn't want to be associated with, say, child porn, drugs, etc, and runs a webcrawler that matches the use of certain terms ("Mario") with other terms ("boobs") and then emails the admin when it matches This is pretty clear from the email that at best, SG was only looked at by a human eye for about 30 seconds.
Intellectual property in dog tricks (Score:3, Interesting)
Pornographic website? (Score:5, Interesting)
But it isn't a problem when playboy uses (nude) nintendo characters?
Really Nintendo? (Score:3, Interesting)
Does that look like the email address a multinational corporation would use? Nintendo's sure to have their own in-house lawyers for stuff like this. It just looks to me like some random law firm is looking for suits to file and then hoping Nintendo will pay them for the favor. I'm sure I heard something about laws in certain European countries making this common practice.
Re:Really Nintendo? (Score:4, Informative)
Virtually all the absurd C&D letters I've seen on the web have come from firms representing the company that actually owns the intellectual property in question.
Yes, (Score:5, Informative)
Nice excuse (Score:5, Funny)
[Boss walks into a worker's cubicle...]
-Hi anderson, I was just.. whhaa?!? Are you browsing porn in the workplace?
-Uhh no, you see, [looks at screen, sweating all over] these pervert weirdoes are abusing our company's copyright!
-You're right! Launch every lawyer! For great justice!
IP versus Free Speech? (Score:5, Insightful)
What gives Nintendo the right to censor the mere mention of something? They weren't discussing any secrets of IP or using the namesakes or images illegally... their member simply named two games as their favorite.
How is it even conceivable that they should be allowed to do this??
Does this firm actually represent Nintendo? (Score:5, Insightful)
Then again it could just be some jerk who spoofed an email to get everyone's dander up.
Not the first time. (Score:5, Informative)
It would be interesting to find out more about thier relationship with Nintendo. It doesn't make any sense that Nintendo would actually want to sue it's fans for promoting their games. Almost seems like some lawyer who is paid on commision and got over eager, expecting that it would never garner Nintendo's or the press's attention.
Please repost the letter. (Score:5, Funny)
WARNING NOTICE
You have attempted to access a site that has been deemed inappropriate for our business and blocked from ALL internal access. A record of this request has been logged and will be provided to Business Security upon request.
For further information on why this web site was blocked, please go to the SmartFilter website.
PLEASE REFRAIN FROM ANY FURTHER ATTEMPTS!
If you feel this message was generated in error or if there is a business justification for unblocking a specific URL , please contact the
AT&T Wireless Business Security Group.
It's all about the children. (Score:3, Insightful)
Tarnish it how? Because the children are trolling the SG message boards? Because Hey, when I think Metroid, I automatically associate her with a SG pin-up girl? (Well, I do have a thing for chicks with ink, but I digress)
Yet another example of why a seemingly huge majority of lawyers contribute absolutely nothing to society. I honestly don't see this diluting the Nintendo trademark at all. What, I can't even mention a word associated with a Nintendo product in certain environments? This is akin to Nintendo saying that "If you are in a strip club, you can't talk to your buddies about Mario Kart."
Nevermind why you would be talking about Mario in nudie bar.
shares of your feelings (Score:3, Funny)
Automatic form letter (Score:5, Interesting)
From: Stop IP Infringement
Next take a peak at the actual To addres:
To: "'spooky@suicidegirls.com'"
The From address isn't from an individual. It certainly makes me think it's a bot. The To address contains the actual recipient address in quotes. I've never seen a MUA automatically use the email address in the double-quoted area. I've seen mass mailers do this before though.
"spooky@suicidegirls.com" is also the administrative contact address for the domain "suicidegirls.com." Their site's help page contains many other contact addresses, yet the one from WHOIS was what they used. It's easy for a bot to harvest an address from WHOIS. It's next to impossible to find the right address on some random website.
In addition to that the form letter notes the ARIN contact address of suicidegirls.com ISP. Again this is easily harvested via WHOIS.
The form letter also makes no attempt to name the site administrator by name or even address the letter to common responsible roles. Instead it repeated the address it harvested from WHOIS.
I say it's a bot, plain and simple. I'd contact a lawyer for some free advice. They'll probably tell you to ignore it. I'd also make sure your ISP also realizes it's a bot and that what your site member is doing is certainly not illegal (not even remotely, even in communist China). That would be my IANAL advice.
Re:Automatic form letter (Score:3, Informative)
If it's a bot, it would be drastically different. Then it's case closed.
Watch out Slashdot! (Score:4, Funny)
/.ted (Score:3, Informative)
> From: Stop IP Infringement <StopInfringement@PerkinsCoie.com>3 80354/ :ceh
> Date: October 27, 2004 10:12:06 AM PDT
> To: "'spooky@suicidegirls.com'" <spooky@suicidegirls.com>
> Subject: Infringement of Nintendo Intellectual Property Rights
> October 26, 2004
> VIA EMAIL ONLY
> Administrator: spooky@suicidegirls.com
> Re: http:/www/suicidegirls.com/members/RuneLateralus/
> Infringement of Nintendo Intellectual Property Rights
> IDENTIFIED PROBLEM: Pornographic Web site uses Nintendo in link,
> text, source code, Zelda and Metroid in text
>
> Greetings:
>
> We represent Nintendo of America Inc. ("Nintendo"), the owner of the
> trademark(s) and/or copyrighted works listed above (the "Nintendo
> trademark(s)/works"). It has come to our client's attention recently
> that you are using the Nintendo trademark(s)/works in the hidden
> text/visible text/meta tags and/or title and/or links of the
> above-referenced sexually explicit Web site. This use is
> unauthorized, and we are writing to demand that you immediately cease
> and desist this infringement of Nintendo's intellectual property
> rights.
>
> Nintendo has acquired substantial rights in the Nintendo
> trademark(s)/works. Nintendo's customers--including many children and
> their parents--have come to identify the Nintendo trademark(s)/works
> with the high quality of Nintendo products. Your unauthorized use of
> the Nintendo trademark(s)/works will tarnish Nintendo's reputation.
>
> This infringement of Nintendo's intellectual property rights can
> subject you to sanctions under applicable federal and state laws.
> Accordingly, you must immediately cease and desist from any and all
> use of (1) the Nintendo trademark(s)/works, (2) any other Nintendo
> trademark(s)/works, and (3) any mark which is confusingly similar to a
> Nintendo trademark. This includes, but is not limited to, your
> infringement of Nintendo's intellectual property as explained above.
>
> I look forward to your immediate confirmation that you have taken the
> necessary steps to resolve this matter. To that end, you may contact
> me at either 2063596742 or StopInfringement@perkinscoie.com.
>
> Sincerely,
> Melissa Morgan Nelson
> Perkins Coie LLP
> 1201 Third Avenue, Suite 4800
> Seattle, WA 98101-3099
> http://www.perkinscoie.com [perkinscoie.com]
>
>
>
> cc: Nintendo of America Inc.
>
> ISP: peter.luttrell@3jane.com
>
> File: 51.13
>
> NOTICE: This communication may contain privileged or other confidential
> information. If you have received it in error, please advise the
> sender by
> reply email and immediately delete the message and any attachments
> without
> copying or disclosing the contents. Thank you.
WHAT ARE YOU PEOPLE DOING?!?!?!? (Score:5, Funny)
For the love of god and all that's holy, don't do that again!!!
Makes me want to.. (Score:3, Funny)
oh wait my GF just volunteered to pose for the pic, so ummm forget the part about me naked.
Oh wait.
Really? (Score:3, Interesting)
OK, someone claims to be a law firm claiming to represent Nintendo. Clearly not a violation of the law. Oh, and the law firm is sending, um, Email. That's kind of weak, isn't it? Not even on a letterhead?
This story sounds very much like a way to generate web site traffic of Slashdot proportions.
Some background... (Score:3, Informative)
Most IP firms have 'Investigators' on staff...think of them like P.I.s, but with a legal background, who prefer using Google to walking anywhere. Their job is to sniff out when people are using any of the IP of their clients in a manner that would tarnish the client's image or take one cent out of the client's pocket.
These people sit at their desks all day searching for "Nintendo" + "Sex", and "Metroid" + "XXX"...I'd bet their search patterns are quite similar to that of an average
When they get a hit, they send a C&D to the ISP, Host or Content creator. I'd say 99% of the time, the site is gone or changed within a couple of days...such is the threat of big-time litigation.
-R
legal basis for the email (Score:3, Interesting)
Here, the argument would be that Zelda, etc. are famous marks, that suicidegirls's use of the mark is a commercial use, and that associating a site like suicidegirls with the marks dilutes the marks (n.b. Nintendo is particularly strongly associated with children's games, more than Playstation or Xbox).
Certainly there are arguments to be made on the other side (e.g., not a famous mark, not a commercial use, there's no actual dilution, etc.), but there's no doubt there's a good legal basis for the cease & desist.
Re:legal basis for the email (Score:5, Informative)
In short, no, there's no legal basis for the email, and Nintendo should be crucified for extortion, and hit with substantial SLAPP sanctions if they file a lawsuit.
I wish I bought their crap, just so I could stop. But then, this is nothing new from Nintendo. They've been dicks for a long, long time.
SuicideGirls could reply (Score:4, Funny)
It has come to our attention that one of our users has used the name of your company on his page. Since your company is often associated with videogames for children, it damages our site's reputation by suggesting that we are a childish adult site and don't have enough hardcore material to satisfy every visitor's darkest fetish fantasies.
Ob. Out the moron lawyer post... (Score:5, Funny)
Of course, one look at her picture [perkinscoie.com] will unearth the real reason for her going after SuicideGirls. She's Unattractive, dowdy, downright ugly even! ie: She's jealous. Ugly girls always hate the pretty ones.
Re:Ob. Out the moron lawyer post... (Score:4, Funny)
Oh I don't know...
Just because she doesn't have any facial metalwear or bolts through her face...
Miyamoto what are you up to? (Score:4, Funny)
probably too late, but here's what probably happen (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm against what's happening here, and I doubt they have a legal leg to stand on, but consider what's happening around the web.
It's likely that Nintendo pays these lawyers to look around for their trademark being used to promote pornographic sites. Consider the case of John Zuccarini [wired.com], who was using domain name typos (like 15 variations of "cartoonnetwork.com) to lure children to porn sites. He got a commission for each "click", although the clicks were cauased by pop-up hell. He brought in around $1,000,000 in his last year of business.
It doesn't take more than a couple of minutes on Google to find someone using Nintendo's trademark [thepornseeker.com] to get search engine hits to their porn site. I often hit such sites while searching for information on other famous trademarks. Here's a site [koiy.biz] which uses "linux" as one of the search keywords, and it has nothing to do with Linux.
Anyway, overzealous lawyers, yes, but they do have a legitimate job.
This is crass advertising. (Score:5, Informative)
Suicidegirls is not a DIY, woman-run project. "Missy" is their PR point-person, who gives a progressive, friendly face to an otherwise pretty sleazy operation. The site is actually owned and run by a guy named Sean Suhl (public knowledge, not saying anything new here), who is not exactly the most progressive guy on the planet. His politics are solidly right-wing (although he's a neo-conservative, who are more libertarian when it comes to sex... as long as someone can make money from it). Dozens of models have quit or been kicked off the site, many of whom were basically removed for being too "opinionated".
Ultimately, Suicidegirls is the Hot Topic of alternative porn. They took an underground, DIY concept, polished it, and presented it slick and packaged back to the community that created it. You can read more about it in the SGirls community on Livejournal:
http://www.livejournal.com/users/sgirls [livejournal.com]
As a disclaimer, I'm not anti-porn. I'm a big fan of any porn that is sincere, DIY, and woman-oriented. There's a whole slew of sites, some of whom have been around longer than SG, such as FatalBeauty [fatalbeauty.com], ManicJane [manicjane.com], VegPorn [vegporn.com], along with DIY erotica zines such as State of Nature [angelfire.com].
SG is not DIY, they don't challenge patriarchal standards of beauty, and they don't give a crap about the women who pose for the site. This attempt by Sean for cheap publicity is yet another example of the only thing SG really does well: Marketing.
Re:WTF? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:WTF? (Score:3, Funny)
Bounce the email with:
Sorry, our spam filter has rejected your email for the reasons listed below:
* Categories: Games (Nintendo)
Re:WTF? (Score:5, Interesting)
Aside from the fact that such disclaimers have ZERO legal weight. You cannot bind someone to any agreement without their consent. This is why the SG site has no fear of posting the email even though the text at the bottom says they must not disclose the contents.
I could send you an email saying you have to flap your arms and cluck like a chicken. Or that you have to pay me 25 cents for each email I send. But it means nothing, because you were never in on the negotiations. You never signed a thing. I can't obligate you without your informed consent. And so I think the OP is correct: it does make the sender look like a moron, because she is a lawyer or representative for a lawyer, and yet she doesn't seem to understand a fundamental, basic premise of the law.
Re:WTF? (Score:5, Interesting)
NOTICE: This communication may contain privileged or other confidential information. If you have received it in error, please advise the sender by reply email and immediately delete the message and any attachments without copying or disclosing the contents. Thank you.
I don't see anything in there that suggests that there is any punishment or liability to not following the instructions. That's like saying I have a "please wipe your shoes before you come in" sign on my house or a bumper sticker that asks drivers to be considerate. That fact that no contract has been made and there are no legally binding situations doesn't make me look like a moron.
Fair use has nothing to do with it (Score:5, Funny)
Let's see if they'll send me a letter: Hey Nintendo! Zelda and Metorid love to get naked and oiled up and have sex with linux goth sluts all day long!! Black fishnets, fuck yeah!!!
Re:WTF? (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm pretty sure that this text was picked up by a bot that the lawfirm probably convinced nintendo to run. the bot probably ran a list of URL's that contained certain keywords and checked to see if any were adult websites. Probably part of a naked-nintendo-character-website crackdown.
Re:WTF? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:WTF? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:WTF? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Although It Begs the Question: (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Simple Explanation (Score:5, Funny)
Re:THE LETTER (Score:3, Informative)
Re:The case is... (Score:3, Interesting)
Which is to say, Playboy were (and probably still are) even bigger shitheads than Nintendo, but that's hardly news either.
Re:The case is... (Score:5, Funny)
You SERIOUSLY need to update your video drivers. I get 32-bit goth whores here.