Kevin vs Foley... Whatever Happened?

[IntruderAlert]

The Waiting Game

3/2/05: Another follow up. Posting the following is still illegal:



As are posting the following phrases:

MAME

Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator

Where Things Stand

As far as I know, the Trademark Application on the MAME phrase and logo made by David Foley of Ultracade has still not been withdrawn, despite his assurances that it would be.

Aaron Giles (part of the MAME development team) is taking steps to get the trademark assigned to Nicola (the founding father of MAME), and this is a good thing (still not trademarked by Martha Stewart).

Mr. Foley wanted assurances that the MAME logo would not be used commercially, and as far as he is concerned this whole fiasco is a great success. He got what he wanted, or so he claims.

I've got to admit I'm curious as to the level of "cooperation" given him by the MAME development team, since they really owed him nothing (but might have had to prove that through the use of a lawsuit, always an expensive proposition).

The Future of MAME??

Which brings me to another question I have yet to find an answer to: what is the future of MAME??

Will the name now require a licensing agreement to be used, will it be prohibited from use in commercial endeavors, and can a vendor even mention that his cabinet can be used for MAME? applications?

All of these aspects of a newly-trademarked MAME? (hopefully by the MAME development team) are unanswered as of now.

The Crackdown

With the news of his upcoming iROMs service, David Foley is planning an all-out assault on pirate ROM sites. As he puts it:

"We'll have the only legal means to get hundreds of games, AND, we will shut down every pirate site in the coming year. If people want them legally, they'll get them from us."

There are signs this may already be starting: US Amusements apparently has just announced that they will no longer be allowing "multiple game" machines in their auctions.

True Colors

In my emails with Mr. Foley, I mentioned that I would not be reviewing his upcoming iROMs service because I felt I couldn't recommend a product from a company that would behave as unethically has Ultracade has. His response?

"In the end, you will review our iROMs service, and talk all about it. You won't have a choice as it will have a huge impact on the community and you wont' want to be left out. I don't care if you don't review it, or even mention it, your participation will have no impact on it's success."

With regards to Mr. Foley's attempted theft of the MAME logo (as a writer I am particularly concerned over copyright violations), Mr. Foley had this to say:

"I didn't steal anything; I simply put in motion the protection and ultimate registration of the MAME logo to Nicola, and enforced the MAME non-commercial statement. You may not agree with our methods, but we have accomplished what we set out to do."

I cannot believe that he is so blind as to not see that what he did was both ethically and legally wrong, but he's right about one thing: I definitely do not agree with his methods.

The Game is Never Over...

Sorry but I've been away for quite some time...

So whatever happened?

Did Kevin do a review on Foley's iroms service?
Did Kevin talk all about it?
Did Kevin have a choice?
Did Foley's iroms service have a huge impact on the community?
Did Kevin want to be left out?

On the other hand..
Did Foley care if Kevin reviewed it, or even mentioned it?
Was it a success?

I checked the USPTO and Foley still has the trademark on iroms...

[FrizzleFried]

Bottom line:

    * Ultracade is no more (went bankrupt, assets absorbed by GlobalVR)
    * David Foley is out of the biz (fired by GlobalVR about a month ago)
    * MAME is safely trademarked by the creator of MAME.


All is right in the world. Happy Holidays...

That was posted by Kevin just before Christmas 2006...

What ever happened to irom?  Apple sue?   

[IntruderAlert]

That's great news!

[Thenasty]

Foley took my advice and accepted a position at McDonalds, where he can make an honest $$$$, and also took my advice not to trademark the BIG YELLOW "M" thats outside the restaurant .

Good Boy Foley.... 

[IntruderAlert]

FOUND:  http://www.myspace.com/davidrfoley 

[danny_galaga]

FOUND:  http://www.myspace.com/davidrfoley 

ok, so which one of us becomes his friend so we can read his profile?

[Havok]

Haha, not me. We'll need to have someone sign on as a chick - then he'll add "her"...

 

[AlanS17]

You sure it's the right guy?

[IntruderAlert]

I think so. Compare these images and judge for yourself.
(Links are included on the images. Just click for the source material.)

[Goz]

Dooooooosh has a pretty hot wife

[AlanS17]

Dooooooosh has a pretty hot wife

No kidding!

[IntruderAlert]

.. OOPS WRONG TOPIC

[danny_galaga]

Dooooooosh has a pretty hot wife

im hoping its his sister, or a passer-by, or summink...

[FrizzleFried]

I never got why everyone hated this guy.

He saw the legal mess that constituted MAME and tried to clean it up.  If the MAME devs had any sense, they would have secretly embraced it while publicly denouncing him.  Then once some ownership was established, get a piece of that pie.  Really the only way they were gonna make any money off it and not end up in jail.

Wouldn't be surprised to hear more than one person was cashing checks from GlobalVR

From what I have read it's more HOW he went about doing things more than WHAT he went around doing.  I wasn't around back then (well,  I was around,  but not around here) but from the interesting material I've found it seems that more and more people were pissed at him for being less than upfront with his intentions & activities.

It's a moot point now though...

[Tiger-Heli]

He was completely upfront with his activities and intentions.

He attempted to trademark the use of the term MAME (even though he had no connection with either MAME or it's development) in an effort to shut down competition with his company's sales of arcade games and in an effort to shut down legitimate businesses on the basis of copyright and trademark infringement.  He relinguished his attempt when MAMEdev agreed to file for the trademark themselves and place some tighter restrictions on commercial usage of the term MAME and it's logo.

Ask EmdKay about it if he is still around or search for his posts on the subject.

[GoPodular.com]

He saw the legal mess that constituted MAME and tried to clean it up.

MAME doesn't violate any IP of his.  He had no legal right to challenge MAME.

However,  filing a trademark like he did is a federal crime:
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/tac/tmlaw2.html#_Toc52343954
"to the best of his/her knowledge and belief, no other person, firm, corporation, association, or other legal entity has the right to use the mark in commerce that the United States Congress can regulate, either in the identical form thereof or in such near resemblance thereto as to be likely, when used on or in connection with the goods/services of such other person, firm, corporation, association, or other legal entity, to cause confusion, or to cause mistake, or to deceive."

http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/tac/tmlaw2.html#_Toc52344201
"whoever, in any matter within the jurisdiction of the Patent and Trademark Office, knowingly and willfully falsifies, conceals, or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact, or makes any false, fictitious or fraudulent statements or representations, or makes or uses any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any false, fictitious or fraudulent statement or entry, shall be subject to the penalties set forth under 18 U.S.C. 1001"

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/18/usc_sec_18_00001001----000-.html
"shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years or, if the offense involves international or domestic terrorism (as defined in section 2331), imprisoned not more than 8 years, or both."

Foley knew Nicola "owns" MAME and could use/sell/grant permission for use commercially (as is currently being done).  It was a pretty risky move that could have ended very bad for him.  If he did have a valid IP claim against MAME, he could have sued for IP infringement.  Instead he tried a round-a-bout (and illegal) method.

What he should have done is to bring the illegal cabinets to the attention of the IP owners (Namco, Capcom, Atari) and worked with them to shut down the offending auctions/cabinet sales.  If he wanted to challenge MAME directly, he would have to use those guys.  They are the ones that have a legal standing.