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I've just read about this service on the BBC News website[1] where it's reported than Instagram have a problem with the name of this app. There is also a well

I've just read about this service on the BBC News website[1] where it's reported than Instagram have a problem with the name of this app. There is also a well known and well established (with many local councils) service called Fix My Street[2] the aims to solve the same problems. [1] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-36148093 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-36148093 [2] https://www.fixmystreet.com https://www.fixmystreet.com

specialdragon 10y ago
I wasn't aware of Fix My Street, thank you for that. The reason for bringing it to HN's attention was because I too read about the service on the BBC News website and their plight with Instagram. I was a little perplexed - it's a British company, operating entirely within the UK - why is Instagram getting involved? The 'gram' prefix has been around for quite a while [citation needed], is it an infringement of trademark? Then again, the company is posting pictures with captions, which is very Instagram-y, so I can see a certain level of cross over.
- throwaway049 10y ago
  I can see why Instagram want to defend their brand identity but hope they in turn are sued by a collective of kissograms.
- icebraining 10y ago
  The 'gram' prefix has been around for quite a while So has "Apple", yet Apple was still sued by Apple and had to settle. A generic term may be trademarked as long as it doesn't describe the particular goods or services being sold.
  - tamana 10y ago
    But "gram" does describe service of sending pictures.
    - celticninja 10y ago
      There is a messaging app called Telegram and they never went after that. This smacks of bullying.
    - icebraining 10y ago
      Not really. "gram" just means "written record". Mammogram, echocardiogram, sonogram, monogram - none have anything to do with "sending" or "pictures".
  - pbhjpbhj 10y ago
    Apple Computers were rightly sued by Apple (the music company, Apple Records?) as the computer company was getting in to the area of music. The suffix -gram is already well known from "telegram" and adopted in to other 'message sharing via different media' situations: cookiegram, kissogram, etc.. The Apple case is a million miles from Littergram vs. Instagram. If they'd tried to create "Binstagram" there would be a case to answer ... I consider the chance of actual confusion (which FWIW isn't actually the measure normally used to judge infringement) to be practically zero.
- Xylakant 10y ago
  > The 'gram' prefix has been around for quite a while [citation needed] I lately heard about that newfangled thing called tele-gram. (Nitpick: it's a suffix, not a prefix ;)
  - specialdragon 10y ago
    The nitpick is entirely fair. What's worse, is that I know the word is suffix, I just didn't use it. :(
proactivesvcs 10y ago
Fix My Street and Report That Pothole were black holes for me. Reports that I would usually send directly to my local authority (East Hants DC / Hampshire CC) were never followed-up. They always are when reported directly. Love Clean Streets didn't use HTTPS so I deleted my account after noticing. I did get some authority replies from that service, but also about half of the reports were ignored. The web site reporting pages for both the authorities are easy to use and I always get a reply so I won't waste my time with third-party apps again.
- noir_lord 10y ago
  To an extent it depends on the local council, I straddle the border between Hull City Council (Hilariously bad) and East Riding of Yorkshire (pretty good). I report potholes to both councils because I cycle a lot in and around Hull. Quick example of how bad Hull City Council are, when I signed up online for dealing with council tax, it took them 7 weeks to post me my password..
ZeroGravitas 10y ago
FixMyStreet do lots of other cool stuff that may be of interest to HN-types. They have Open311 compatability, which is an open project for standardizing systems like this so they can talk to each other and import/export data directly into council systems (apparently 311 is the standard number you phone in the US to report issues like this). https://www.fixmystreet.com/open311 https://www.fixmystreet.com/open311 And it's a project of MySociety, which builds various other web tools to improve finding information about your local goverment representatives, filing Freedom of Information Act requests etc. https://www.mysociety.org/about/ https://www.mysociety.org/about/ "We make websites that empower citizens worldwide"

specialdragon 10y ago

I wasn't aware of Fix My Street, thank you for that. The reason for bringing it to HN's attention was because I too read about the service on the BBC News website and their plight with Instagram. I was a little perplexed - it's a British company, operating entirely within the UK - why is Instagram getting involved? The 'gram' prefix has been around for quite a while [citation needed], is it an infringement of trademark? Then again, the company is posting pictures with captions, which is very Instagram-y, so I can see a certain level of cross over.

throwaway049 10y ago
I can see why Instagram want to defend their brand identity but hope they in turn are sued by a collective of kissograms.
icebraining 10y ago
The 'gram' prefix has been around for quite a while So has "Apple", yet Apple was still sued by Apple and had to settle. A generic term may be trademarked as long as it doesn't describe the particular goods or services being sold.
- tamana 10y ago
  But "gram" does describe service of sending pictures.
  - celticninja 10y ago
    There is a messaging app called Telegram and they never went after that. This smacks of bullying.
  - icebraining 10y ago
    Not really. "gram" just means "written record". Mammogram, echocardiogram, sonogram, monogram - none have anything to do with "sending" or "pictures".
- pbhjpbhj 10y ago
  Apple Computers were rightly sued by Apple (the music company, Apple Records?) as the computer company was getting in to the area of music. The suffix -gram is already well known from "telegram" and adopted in to other 'message sharing via different media' situations: cookiegram, kissogram, etc.. The Apple case is a million miles from Littergram vs. Instagram. If they'd tried to create "Binstagram" there would be a case to answer ... I consider the chance of actual confusion (which FWIW isn't actually the measure normally used to judge infringement) to be practically zero.
Xylakant 10y ago
> The 'gram' prefix has been around for quite a while [citation needed] I lately heard about that newfangled thing called tele-gram. (Nitpick: it's a suffix, not a prefix ;)
- specialdragon 10y ago
  The nitpick is entirely fair. What's worse, is that I know the word is suffix, I just didn't use it. :(

proactivesvcs 10y ago

Fix My Street and Report That Pothole were black holes for me. Reports that I would usually send directly to my local authority (East Hants DC / Hampshire CC) were never followed-up. They always are when reported directly. Love Clean Streets didn't use HTTPS so I deleted my account after noticing. I did get some authority replies from that service, but also about half of the reports were ignored. The web site reporting pages for both the authorities are easy to use and I always get a reply so I won't waste my time with third-party apps again.

noir_lord 10y ago
To an extent it depends on the local council, I straddle the border between Hull City Council (Hilariously bad) and East Riding of Yorkshire (pretty good). I report potholes to both councils because I cycle a lot in and around Hull. Quick example of how bad Hull City Council are, when I signed up online for dealing with council tax, it took them 7 weeks to post me my password..

ZeroGravitas 10y ago

FixMyStreet do lots of other cool stuff that may be of interest to HN-types. They have Open311 compatability, which is an open project for standardizing systems like this so they can talk to each other and import/export data directly into council systems (apparently 311 is the standard number you phone in the US to report issues like this). https://www.fixmystreet.com/open311 https://www.fixmystreet.com/open311 And it's a project of MySociety, which builds various other web tools to improve finding information about your local goverment representatives, filing Freedom of Information Act requests etc. https://www.mysociety.org/about/ https://www.mysociety.org/about/ "We make websites that empower citizens worldwide"