TSGL: Gmail mania

[David Goldstein]

I only read the beginning opf this post so I can only comment on the
following statement:
"The reason that the sponsored links are a problem is because Mr.
Kolla has trademarked the software name "Spybot" and that Google was
using the term "Spybot" to advertise SpyHunter and SpyKiller."

Google's use of the search term "spybot" is not a violation of Mr.
Kolla's trademark since they are not using it as the name or
description of a competing product.  (In a previous career I worked
for a company that serviced trademarks so I know what I'm talking
about here.  Ask your local intellectual property lawyer for a
clarification in case you doubt me.)  It is NOT "akin to using the
brand name "Pepsi" to describe an off-brand knock-off" because Google
is using it as a search term and not a conpeting product.  If you want
to direct your ire toward someone on this issue then it should be
directed at the makers of SpyHunter and SpyKiller who are paying
Google for their services.  Google, in this case, is the tool and the
developers of the competing products are the ones using it.  If
someone uses a hammer to bash in someone's head you don't blame the
hammer, you blame the person who used it.  (A bit of a crude
comparison but it's all I can comem up with right now and it works.)

- Dave


On Sun, 29 Aug 2004 13:13:28 -0400, Jesse <holy_saiyan1 at hotmail.com> wrote:
> Wow. I must have touched a hot-button issue here.  What I was referring to
> in the case of SS&D and Mr. Kolla is located at this URL
> (http://www.safer-networking.org/en/news/2004-02-05.html).  The reason that
> the sponsored links are a problem is because Mr. Kolla has trademarked the
> software name "Spybot" and that Google was using the term "Spybot" to
> advertise SpyHunter and SpyKiller.  To me, this is akin to using the brand
> name "Pepsi" to describe an off-brand knock-off.  Further more, Kolla's
> Spybot Search & Destroy is free (which isn't to say that it doesn't work...
> one does not win multiple awards from various computing magazines by having
> an inferior product!), but SpyHunter and SpyKiller force you to pay for a
> product that is both inferior and misleading.  Who wants to pay for a
> product that lied to you about its identity, is an ersatz version of what
> you thought you were really getting, and is a "spyware destroyer" that
> installs new spyware on your computer?
> 
> While I will concede that the Internet has become commercialized, I will
> also point out that "catering" ads based on e-mail is really not any
> different from "catering" ads based on your surfing habits, as determined by
> a quick peeky-poo at your Cookies folder.  And no, I have never said that
> e-mail was secure.  However, there is an inherent trust that there is a
> measure of privacy to it.  Postcards can be read by the mailman, but they
> are not meant to be because it is a communication between two individuals,
> neither of which is the postman.  There is a difference between on-line
> security and privacy.  The two are linked and go hand in hand, but they are
> not the same thing.  I feel that G-mail's e-mail scanning process violates
> privacy.  Although, if records of the e-mail text were being kept in a
> central location, and that central location's security was somehow breached
> (which isn't a very far-fetched scenario these days), then security would be
> an issue as well and both would be in play.
> 
> And one more parting shot before I go... I did not ride the short bus, and
> I don't see how being a Hotmail user gives you that impression.  Hotmail
> serves my needs just fine, and I'm rather impressed with them and how little
> spam that gets their filters and into my Inbox.  Besides, who really needs
> gigabytes of storage space?  It seems like more of a bragging-rights issue
> than anything else.  So you have an inbox with storage space measured in the
> billions of bytes.  So what? As long as the messages get in and the messages
> get out, I'm happy.  Please reserve the derogatory comments to yourself.
> Thank you.
> 
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