[SoaS] What distro is sugaronastick.com distributing? (was: Re: SoaS decision panel: Do we ignore/protest two week deadline?/Starting deliberations?)

[David Farning]

A couple of times a day I get emails about how the current uncertainty
about SoaS is ruining the project and why don't I do something about.
The uncertainty and how, as a community, we are resolving that
uncertainty is necessary for the long term success of the project.

--What we have learned--

1.  Individuals and organizations have interests.  The most important
lesson is the realization that Sugar Labs is competing and
collaborating with other companies and individuals.  Sugar Labs
_needs_ to define and articulate how it is going to do this so others
know what to expect.

In this instance Sugar Labs did not have a clearly defined trademark
policy with regard to Sugar on a Stick. Legally and morally solution
Grove was within their rights to do what they did.

2.  Decision have ramifications.  Interestingly, Sugar Labs has no
trademark policy because some community participants wanted Sugar on a
Stick to be narrowly define a product.  The goal _needs_ to be
defining and articulating policies which are the best interest of the
ecosystem.

In this instance, Sugar Labs suffered from 'goal fever.'[1]  Many
people want to stake a claim on the Sugar on a Stick 'pot of goal.'
Alan Greenspan used the term irrational exuberance[2] to describe
escalated asset values in the stock market.  The same term applies in
this situation.  Marketing had dreams of finally breaking the 2% Linux
market share. Solutions Grove had dreams of cashing in on their
investment. Fedora had dreams of creating an long term association
with the term Sugar on a stick.  Individuals had dreams of being
recognized for their work.

3.  Those who have the most to gain from winning also have the most to
lose from losing.  SoaS depends on the upstream sugar developers
working to make Sugar great.  SoaS depends on distributions making and
supporting great distros on which to run Sugar.  SoaS depends on on
system integrators to pull together the Upstream Sugar Code and the
distribution packages into a useful, stable, and supportable product.
SoaS depends on deployer taking it into classroom.  SoaS depends on
Marketing and public relations to raise it's visibility

It is easy to see how individuals add value to SoaS.  It is harder to
see how the total _value_ of SoaS comes from the developers,
distributors, integrators, deployers and _others_ in the ecosystem
working together.

4. It is the _projects_ responsibility to make it worthwhile for
individuals and organizations to participate in the community.  It is
not the duty of individuals or organizations to work with the project.

--Moving forward--
1.  Recognize that the DP is having trouble coming to a resolution
because it is attempting to manage symptoms rather than identify and
cure the disease.

2.  Recognize that the current value of Sugar on a Stick and Sugar is
low.  Their value is in their potential and the communities ability to
work together to realize that value.

david

1. http://www.museumca.org/goldrush/fever01.html
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraordinary_Popular_Delusions_and_the_Madness_of_Crowds


>> b) what feedback from the SoaS / Sugar Labs community was sought
>> before Solution Grove registered a domain name that was the exact same
>> as a distribution the creation of which was substantially not done by
>> Solution Grove (I was not involved at this point).
>
> I'm new to the list, but to me http://sugaronastick.com is a very
> interesting case. I didn't realise this site wasn't endorsed by Sugar Labs,
> given that there is so much Sugar Labs branding on the site.
> Solution Grove is using Sugar Labs' registered trademark prominently on the
> front: the pictures of the USB sticks, the scrolling photos and very
> prominently at the bottom. Without consent, it's very likely that this is
> trade mark infringement. Therefore, I can only assume that there was very
> explicit consent granted.
> I understand that the test for trademark infringement is likely consumer
> confusion. http://sugaronastick.com is using typefaces, colour schemes that
> seem to be designed to show that Solution Grove is associated with Sugar
> Labs. I personally was confused,  especially as the site is using Sugar
> Lab's registered intellectual property.
> There's another discussion though: is "Sugar on a Stick" a trade mark?
> While (as far as I know) Sugar Labs has only registered "Sugar Labs", my
> impression is that "Sugar on a Stick" is being used as an unregistered
> trademark by Sugar Labs and the wider community. To me the term Sugar on a
> Stick only means designates thing, which is Sugar run via a USB device (or
> possibly emulation or virtualisation). On the flip side, it is partially
> descriptive, so there's an argument that Sugar on a Stick can't function as
> a trade mark.
> Still, on the face of it, I think there's a strong chance that a court would
> find that Sugar on a Stick is a trade mark. Therefore, just for the
> avoidance of doubt, I would have assumed that there would have been explicit
> consent granted.
> Could someone fill me in the details of what actually happened?
>
> Regards,
> Tim
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