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UFC files trademark for 'UFSEA' following satirical suggestion from John Oliver
- Simulacra 6y agoI wonder what the international (or national) law would be if UFC did take over an island somewhere. They could pretty much do whatever they wanted, unless the jurisdiction interceded.
- jcranmer 6y agoI'm not sure there are any islands in existence today that are outside of some sovereign state's territorial jurisdiction.
- wincy 6y agoAnd if you try to create one you’re gonna get a reality check really quick when you allegedly threaten the sovereignty of some nation state like those seasteading people did.
- _trampeltier 6y agoHow about just about to make your own island in international water?
- jcranmer 6y agoUNCLOS says that any artificial islands within the exclusive economic zone of a country are subject to that country. This means in practice that you'd have to build an island that's not on a continental shelf... good luck with that.
- nexuist 6y agoWhat about a really, really big oil rig?
- CyberDildonics 6y agoI don't know if you would even need a big one. There are definitely shipping container ships that have huge decks that are more than enough space. I think if you have a decent margin around a helicopter pad you might even be able fit the octagon, cameras, corners and judges.
- chromaton 6y agoIn the Antarctic: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_nullius#Current_claims_of_terra_nullius https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_nullius#Current_claims_o...
- antoncohen 6y agoThe UFC does put on events in places without fighting regulations. For context, in most of the locations the UFC puts on events (fights) there are government regulation around combat sports, where a government commission sets the rules, and provides judges and referees. When the UFC puts on events in unregulated locations they act as their own commission, following the rules of the Nevada commission or the rules of Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC). They hire experienced judges and licensed referees that would normally be used in regulated places like Nevada. The UFC already contracts out to the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) to do what is basically olympic level drug testing of all their athletes. There are unified rules for MMA, set by the ABC. The UFC very much wants to be legit and legal, so "whatever they want" will be following established rules and regulations.
- dclusin 6y agoBloomberg has a great article explaining this in more detail and the history of the UFC: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-05-08/as-ufc-pushes-may-mma-event-fighters-say-deals-are-getting-worse https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-05-08/as-ufc-pu...
- dfxm12 6y agoNot exactly. MMA governing bodies could revoke licenses from fighters, refs, doctors, etc. participating in events on the island if things aren't up to spec. The threat of never being able to work in Nevada again would be enough of a deterrent, for example, to make everyone involved keep things on the up and up.
- itsoktocry 6y ago>MMA governing bodies could revoke licenses from fighters, refs, doctors, etc. participating in events on the island if things aren't up to spec. The governing bodies are utterly toothless. What would be the point of "banning" anyone involved with the world's premier MMA organization? Then they'd have no work to do, and no purpose. Nevada needs the UFC more than the UFC needs Nevada. Remember, MMA was banned in New York state for a long time, so the UFC held events elsewhere. Who loses then? It's a weird captured relationship.
- avelis 6y agoI guess UFC is worried that someone could file it and do damage to the UFC brand.
- 7thaccount 6y agoOr Dana White wanted to get some publicity. I dunno. I feel for the fighters trying to stay healthy as well as the business which employs them all.
- Apocryphon 6y agoThought it was an anti-typosquatting type of maneuver at first.
- hhs 6y agoUseful point, credit bureaus have been trolled [0], as cited by Wikipedia [1]. [0]: https://www.mediaite.com/online/john-oliver-creates-fake-web-sites-to-troll-major-three-credit-bureaus/ https://www.mediaite.com/online/john-oliver-creates-fake-web... [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typosquatting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typosquatting
- gameofcode 6y agoTrademarks normally work under a "use it or lose it" policy, so it's slightly different to avoiding typosquatting like you could with a domain, in that you actually have to demonstrate usage of it to maintain the registration.
- greatgib 6y agoCan they enforce any trademark if it was used before publicly?
- hinkley 6y agoYou can trademark a lot of stuff, but John Oliver isn't going to challenge this, except perhaps to make a joke of it. There's plenty of evidence on Last Week Tonight that he's a generous guy in general. If he manages to hold onto his money I expect him to become a sort of comedy-philanthropist a couple gigs from now.
- hhs 6y agoIndeed, John Oliver tends to say what charity the comedy piece would go to.
- tyingq 6y agoJohn should follow up with UFCEE, UFSEE, YOU-FC, etc.
- mrlatinos 6y agoThe suggestion is related to the naming of Fight Island, not typos.
- fuckJohnOliver 6y agoFuck John Oliver.