4 ms·

> This seems to be a bit of a non-story, these kind of cease-and-desist letters (when it comes to trademarks) are usually triggered by automatic systems that mo

> This seems to be a bit of a non-story, these kind of cease-and-desist letters (when it comes to trademarks) are usually triggered by automatic systems that monitor trademark usage across the web. But you're still morally responsible when you set up an automated system to do an awful thing - if I set up an automated gun to shoot everybody who comes through the door because they might be criminals, it's the same as if I indiscriminately shot them with my own hand.

anigbrowl 3y ago
It's not an awful thing. They have no easy way to assess whether a given domain is a cool project run by a cool person or a malware sheltering scam site. Histrionic comparisons don't alter the fact that it would have been smarter to respond to the C&D letter directly.
- jjk166 3y ago
  > They have no easy way to assess whether a given domain is a cool project run by a cool person or a malware sheltering scam site There most certainly is an easy way: have a human check the website. What you meant is there is no easy way that costs little to no money. Unwillingness to pay for an adequate solution is not a legitimate excuse for negligence. If you can't afford to do things right, you can't afford to do them at all.
  - anigbrowl 3y ago
    The trademark attorneys aren't well qualified to do that, which is why it would have been smarter to respond to them directly and refer them to someone at ARM itself. Unwillingness to pay for an adequate solution is not a legitimate excuse for negligence. If you can't afford to do things right, you can't afford to do them at all. This is how you want things to be, not how they are. Corporations are focused on maximizing profits and lowering risk and cost.
    - Dylan16807 3y ago
      > This is how you want things to be, not how they are. Calling it negligence is a judgement, not a wish.
    - jjk166 3y ago
      Where did I say the work should be done by trademark attorneys? They should have hired the appropriate people to do the required work. The original domain owner should not be responsible for fixing someone else's negligent mistake. And that's very much how things are. Go into any court room and argue "it's okay that someone suffered material damage as a foreseeable result of my actions because I saved money" and see how it goes. Corporations maximize profits within the limits of still carrying out their obligations.
- mrighele 3y ago
  “I wrote my thesis about Arm security features and exploit mitigations for Arm's internal use, [have] given internal presentations, keynoted their conference, advocated for them, visited them at their HQ in Cambridge – all without compensation because I wanted this to be a mutually beneficial relationship instead of a gig." They already knew she was a cool person
  - anigbrowl 3y ago
    The law firm didn't, and as I said in my other comment, having a good relationship with people at a corporation does not mean you have a good relationship with the corporation. Corporations aren't people, and the people who run them don't care about those relationships, unless they extend into the C-suite. That's why it would have been smarter to respond to the law firm directly, and to get agreements from ARM about domain names in writing. Relying on handshakes is foolish.

anigbrowl 3y ago

It's not an awful thing. They have no easy way to assess whether a given domain is a cool project run by a cool person or a malware sheltering scam site. Histrionic comparisons don't alter the fact that it would have been smarter to respond to the C&D letter directly.

jjk166 3y ago
> They have no easy way to assess whether a given domain is a cool project run by a cool person or a malware sheltering scam site There most certainly is an easy way: have a human check the website. What you meant is there is no easy way that costs little to no money. Unwillingness to pay for an adequate solution is not a legitimate excuse for negligence. If you can't afford to do things right, you can't afford to do them at all.
- anigbrowl 3y ago
  The trademark attorneys aren't well qualified to do that, which is why it would have been smarter to respond to them directly and refer them to someone at ARM itself. Unwillingness to pay for an adequate solution is not a legitimate excuse for negligence. If you can't afford to do things right, you can't afford to do them at all. This is how you want things to be, not how they are. Corporations are focused on maximizing profits and lowering risk and cost.
  - Dylan16807 3y ago
    > This is how you want things to be, not how they are. Calling it negligence is a judgement, not a wish.
  - jjk166 3y ago
    Where did I say the work should be done by trademark attorneys? They should have hired the appropriate people to do the required work. The original domain owner should not be responsible for fixing someone else's negligent mistake. And that's very much how things are. Go into any court room and argue "it's okay that someone suffered material damage as a foreseeable result of my actions because I saved money" and see how it goes. Corporations maximize profits within the limits of still carrying out their obligations.
mrighele 3y ago
“I wrote my thesis about Arm security features and exploit mitigations for Arm's internal use, [have] given internal presentations, keynoted their conference, advocated for them, visited them at their HQ in Cambridge – all without compensation because I wanted this to be a mutually beneficial relationship instead of a gig." They already knew she was a cool person
- anigbrowl 3y ago
  The law firm didn't, and as I said in my other comment, having a good relationship with people at a corporation does not mean you have a good relationship with the corporation. Corporations aren't people, and the people who run them don't care about those relationships, unless they extend into the C-suite. That's why it would have been smarter to respond to the law firm directly, and to get agreements from ARM about domain names in writing. Relying on handshakes is foolish.