Logo War: Red Hat Takes On DataPortability

[John Babich]

On Fri, Feb 22, 2008 at 7:48 AM, Rahul Sundaram
<sundaram at fedoraproject.org> wrote:
> Hi,
>
>  Note: I have no other source of information on this and haven't verified
>  the claims. Just passing on information.
>
Here's my mini-investigation:

First of all, I am not a lawyer (IANAL). I am reading this as a person
who is an unpaid volunteer with one group (Fedora Project at
www.fedoraproject.org), who is trying to understand the motivations of
another group of individuals (DataPortability at
www.dataportability.org).

How do I go about doing this?

1. I read their charter at
http://groups.google.com/group/dataportability-public/web/charter.
2. I read the aforementioned forums at
http://groups.google.com/group/dataportabilityactionsteering
and http://groups.google.com/group/dataportability-public.
3. I see their affiliation with Identity Commons (IDC). More
information on IDC is available at http://wiki.idcommons.net.
4. I see that the Data Portability Group is in the process of
organizing itself as an officially recognized working group within ID
Commons.

My conclusion is that this is a well-intentioned group of men and
women who just happened to pick a logo similar to the Fedora logo. No
malice or intentional confusion is intended, and some in the group
would be more than happy to adopt another logo.

One individual decided to publicize the "cease-and-desist" letter from
Red Hat. I understand that Red Hat must protect its logos and
trademarks from infringement. All major companies must do the same
thing.

I hope cooler heads prevail. I actually agree with the aims of the ID
Commons and Data Portability Group. I wish them all the best. I might
even join.