jul 31st, 2008
interesting case of copyright issues.
interesting case of copyright issues.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: S
From: S
http://preview.tinyurl.com/5agzjm
Rajeev,
These Agarwala guys from Calcutta are very smart. They first wrote a Scrabble like game for Facebook, hooking millions of Facebook junkies to that version of the game. Hasbro sitting on a "copyright" for Scrabble was daydreaming collecting monopoly rents on the game, and missed this opportunity. Now when they woke up to it and issued a challenge/showcause notice to the Agarwalas, the brothers shot into fame overnight - sometimes there is no such thing as bad publicity! Now the brothers "meekly" gave in to Hasbro, but then they also pulled out a rabbit from the hat - a new and improved word puzzle, which the Facebook has lapped up instantly. In the meanwhile Hasbro is trying to load up its own web version of Scrabble and messing it up - as big companies all too often do. Nobody of course asks where Hasbro got the idea of Scrabble from - Crossword puzzles anyone? But that is free to rip off right?
Smart guys these Agarwalas! That's Indian ingenuity for you. Did the guys at Hasbro realise they are dealing with Marwaris an Indian business community. As Nani Palkhiwala said it, an Indian can buy from a jew and sell to a Scot - and still make a profit legally!
Rajeev,
These Agarwala guys from Calcutta are very smart. They first wrote a Scrabble like game for Facebook, hooking millions of Facebook junkies to that version of the game. Hasbro sitting on a "copyright" for Scrabble was daydreaming collecting monopoly rents on the game, and missed this opportunity. Now when they woke up to it and issued a challenge/showcause notice to the Agarwalas, the brothers shot into fame overnight - sometimes there is no such thing as bad publicity! Now the brothers "meekly" gave in to Hasbro, but then they also pulled out a rabbit from the hat - a new and improved word puzzle, which the Facebook has lapped up instantly. In the meanwhile Hasbro is trying to load up its own web version of Scrabble and messing it up - as big companies all too often do. Nobody of course asks where Hasbro got the idea of Scrabble from - Crossword puzzles anyone? But that is free to rip off right?
Smart guys these Agarwalas! That's Indian ingenuity for you. Did the guys at Hasbro realise they are dealing with Marwaris an Indian business community. As Nani Palkhiwala said it, an Indian can buy from a jew and sell to a Scot - and still make a profit legally!
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