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Discussion: Ultracade and the Mame Trademark
SpamMe:
--- Quote from: 1UP on February 27, 2005, 12:59:42 am ---..Snip-
Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I did not get into the Mame scene to get free games. I did it because I wanted to play the ORIGINAL games, which are harder and harder to find in arcades these days.
--- End quote ---
I think you're probably in the majority, as far as the people here go. Most people do not build $200-1000 cabinets just to play a few games for free (the exception being, perhaps, the few people who show up once in a while to ask if <recently released arcade game> has been emulated yet).
daywane:
why is it just Mame?
there are other arcade emulators. Why is the @$$hole bringing MAME into the spotlight?
( not that I wish him to drag any others down)
I must have missed this in the posts. How come he can sell them? he might have the boards but is he passing the boards along with his arcades.
he should run out soon.
As far as the EBay comments he made . How does he know if the Roms are on there. I did not have any on the one I sold. Maybe I can sue him.
They were NOT on the hard drive or in the PC or shipped with the arcade.
I just told them were to get them , same place I got mine
>:(
lloydcom:
I had this in a new thread, but was stopped because "there was a thread already regarding it" so I'll repost it here.
Fat_Trucker:
Have you actually bothered to read the issues debated in this thread?.
Its not a protection issue. The reason so many have been incensed is generally twofold.
Firstly that someone with no connection to MAME would try to trademark it purely for their own financial gain and to prevent anyone from competing with them.
Secondly because prior to all of this blowing up, that same person contacted people providing MAME related services (artwork services to enthusiasts) claiming that he owned the trademark and trying to extort royalties, establishing that the attempt to trademark was a clear attempt to exploit that trademark commercially.
Since it has become public knowledge a great deal of backpedalling has been done that doesn't seem to be consistent with the actions that were taken.
People can empathise with someone trying to stamp out illegal practice to protect a legitimate business. What people cannot empathise with is someone identifying a business opportunity and attempting to steal someone elses IP and further use that IP to claim royalties from legitimate vendors and strangle any competition.
Subsequently there has been a great deal of negative attention and claims have been made that the attempt to TM MAME was a benign action designed to prevent illegal practice. That same person has now announced they intend to launch an iRoms service catering to people who only a couple of weeks ago were accused of using an 'illegal' emulator.
It was further stated there was no interest in using the MAME logo or TM in any commercial capacity and yet they are preparing to go live with iRoms which provides legitimate roms for use with MAME.
Its a shame that the attempt was made in this way. If Mr Foley had simply tried to launch legitimate support services (like iRoms) he would have recieved widespread support from the MAME community. You will find most of the people who operate here would not only support actions to close down illegal vendors but would welcome the opportunity to download roms legally with open arms. We are not gamers trying to beat the system or get a free ride. We are enthusiasts preserving properties that without projects like MAME would be irrevocably lost in their original format.
Its important to be clear here that Mr Foley only elected to make contact with MAME devs and adopted this inclusive attitude, after people started to complain that he was claiming ownership of the mark and trying to use it to claim royalties from other vendors.
If you feel this is simply propagandist hype then by all means contact emdkay, scott at MameMarquees and other vendors who are not involved directly or indirectly in the trade or promotion of illegal roms, for clarification of what took place directly after Mr Foley filed for the MAME TM.
Fat_Trucker:
Sorry for the double post.
--- Quote ---They were NOT on the hard drive or in the PC or shipped with the arcade.
I just told them were to get them , same place I got mine
--- End quote ---
This is all part of the same issue. Even if someone is not selling a machine with illegal content, they are still using the potential for using that illegal content to promote and sell it. In this context the argument for removing adverts makes perfect sense as it does pervert an individuals ability to compete using legitimate licenced products.
After all, would you buy a product that comes loaded with x number of licenced games or a cheaper product that comes with no games but the vendor states they will show you where to get thousands of illegal games for free?.
My issue is with the (apparent) original purpose behind the attempt to TM the mame name and logo for simple financial gain and to take complete control of the whole marketplace in general.
I can understand the ability to trademark the stylistic MAME logo, but surely the abbreviation of the actual words Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator simply relates to its function (like DVD or TV). I didn't think you could trademark that sort of thing anyway.
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