Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The intriguing legal ramifications of Pokémon Go

brettterpstra.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 40 posts

Re: The intriguing legal ramifications of Pokémon Go

#31

Post by scentedmeat »

3s933x7dpsh wrote: post #21
yaur wrote: post #16

> Let’s take the example of a restaurant that advertises itself as a “Poké Stop” and utilizes a game image in connection with the stylized “Poké Stop” mark in its store window. That is arguably an instance of both copyright and trademark infringement. It seems crazy to me that a developer can put a pokestop(or w/e) inside of a store with no notification or permission from the property owner, but the property owner ca…

How do you feel about the Michelin Guide giving a restaurant a Michelin star without their notification or permission?

You can reject Michelin stars.

Re: The intriguing legal ramifications of Pokémon Go

#32

Post by SuperPaintMan »

tsunamifury wrote: post #13
jondubois wrote: post #6

I think things will get interesting when augmented reality becomes so ingrained in our society that it becomes difficult to separate it from what is real. As virtual entities take over the mindshare of 'real entities' in our lives, we might start integrating the virtual entities more into our thought processes and into our artworks - Which would increase the frequency of copyright infringement. So basically, as the v…

A) we already do, its called a "concept" -- its pretty much the fundamentals of how we see and understand the world around us. Concepts don't need a physical manifestation to have real effects. (e.g. wave patterns) B) This isn't much different than headphones, just for your eyes. Temper your fears with what being able to take music everywhere did to make a dystopia.

>Temper your fears with what being able to take music everywhere did to make a dystopia.

A culture of self-isolation in public spaces where 50% of inhabitants are stuck in semireality instead of a functional member of the environment? It's a bit dystopic, just socially acceptable.

Re: The intriguing legal ramifications of Pokémon Go

#33

Post by edmund_barton »

the_watcher wrote: post #14

From what I've seen, many of these locations can be accessed without ever actually entering the property. The name, description, and photos are user-generated, and no more illegal than what Google Maps provides. Some locations are unique (airports come to mind), but most of the IP risk seems completely frivolous to me.

There is a PokeGym smack-bang in the center of the pentagon. I don't think you can't even enter the building without security clearance.

https://www.inverse.com/article/18034-pokemon-go-in-white-ho...

Re: The intriguing legal ramifications of Pokémon Go

#35

Post by URSpider94 »

vacri wrote: post #27
3s933x7dpsh wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you feel about the Michelin Guide giving a restaurant a Michelin star without their notification or permission?

That's only half the analogy - to make it match, you'd have to say "... and the restaurant can't advertise that fact"

Consumer Reports does this. They can review or write about your product, but they steadfastly refuse to let any company use their name or marks in their advertising, and will sue to prevent it.

Re: The intriguing legal ramifications of Pokémon Go

#36

Post by [deleted] »

eximius wrote: post #22
yaur wrote: post #16

> Let’s take the example of a restaurant that advertises itself as a “Poké Stop” and utilizes a game image in connection with the stylized “Poké Stop” mark in its store window. That is arguably an instance of both copyright and trademark infringement. It seems crazy to me that a developer can put a pokestop(or w/e) inside of a store with no notification or permission from the property owner, but the property owner ca…

But the developer didn't place anything inside the store. They merely advertised that their app will function in a specific way at certain locations. The terminology confuses us with its use of 'a pokestop in a store'. It's still a perverse situation where you can incentivise such behaviour, but its no different from somebody posting a challenge online stating they would send money to the first 10 people at a locatio…

[deleted]

Re: The intriguing legal ramifications of Pokémon Go

#37

Post by khedoros »

freshyill wrote: post #30
yaur wrote: post #16

> Let’s take the example of a restaurant that advertises itself as a “Poké Stop” and utilizes a game image in connection with the stylized “Poké Stop” mark in its store window. That is arguably an instance of both copyright and trademark infringement. It seems crazy to me that a developer can put a pokestop(or w/e) inside of a store with no notification or permission from the property owner, but the property owner ca…

Are there any Pokéstops (and gyms) in stores? Almost all of them that I've seen are public art, plaques, signs along nature trails, etc. Some of these are on private property, but I haven't seen any that you'd need to actually enter the property to use. One near me is literally a mailbox. The closest I can think of as a business is a church. All of these things are accessible from sidewalks. They're not really "putti…

Yes. I know of a local empanada/pizzeria place, a burger place, a furniture store, and a taco place that have stops inside of them (that is, marked on the map as being inside of the building). Also, hotels and office buildings with indoor fountains marked as stops.

The radius of the stop is usually large enough that you don't actually need to go inside.

Re: The intriguing legal ramifications of Pokémon Go

#38

Post by WorldMaker »

freshyill wrote: post #30
yaur wrote: post #16

> Let’s take the example of a restaurant that advertises itself as a “Poké Stop” and utilizes a game image in connection with the stylized “Poké Stop” mark in its store window. That is arguably an instance of both copyright and trademark infringement. It seems crazy to me that a developer can put a pokestop(or w/e) inside of a store with no notification or permission from the property owner, but the property owner ca…

Are there any Pokéstops (and gyms) in stores? Almost all of them that I've seen are public art, plaques, signs along nature trails, etc. Some of these are on private property, but I haven't seen any that you'd need to actually enter the property to use. One near me is literally a mailbox. The closest I can think of as a business is a church. All of these things are accessible from sidewalks. They're not really "putti…

A BBQ chain here in Louisville, KY was advertising on Facebook their PORKé-Stops and PORKé-Lure events.

Re: The intriguing legal ramifications of Pokémon Go

#39

Post by nickysielicki »

freshyill wrote: post #30
yaur wrote: post #16

> Let’s take the example of a restaurant that advertises itself as a “Poké Stop” and utilizes a game image in connection with the stylized “Poké Stop” mark in its store window. That is arguably an instance of both copyright and trademark infringement. It seems crazy to me that a developer can put a pokestop(or w/e) inside of a store with no notification or permission from the property owner, but the property owner ca…

Are there any Pokéstops (and gyms) in stores? Almost all of them that I've seen are public art, plaques, signs along nature trails, etc. Some of these are on private property, but I haven't seen any that you'd need to actually enter the property to use. One near me is literally a mailbox. The closest I can think of as a business is a church. All of these things are accessible from sidewalks. They're not really "putti…

I was at Providence hospital at the University of Alaska Anchorage campus for the past week and a half, I had family that was there.

I wanted to get outside and walk around for an hour out of the day, so I downloaded the game and wandered around for a while.

Amazingly, there is a gym right at the ER entrance. (Their hockey arena is also right across from the ER, which strikes me as a poor decision considering how traffic could result in someone being delayed in getting to the ER but I digress.) There is a pokestop outside at the non-emergency drop off cul-de-sac. And to top it all off, there is a pokestop at a piece of art in one of the hallways in what should be a secure area-- there was zero security between my family members room and that pokestop.

The hospital is pissed about it, and rightfully so imo: http://www.ktuu.com/content/news/Providence-asks-Pokemon-Go-...

The issue is that the pokestops are really just the portals in ingress, and ingress was a low-traffic game where people weren't trying to come in every 30 minutes, so inappropriate locations could fly under the radar. Now that it went mainstream, they're being noticed.

Even outside of populated areas, the choices are bad. The closest pokestop to me currently, no longer in Anchorage but now in Fairbanks, is about a kilometer deep into private property.

Re: The intriguing legal ramifications of Pokémon Go

#40

Post by maxerickson »

jerf wrote: post #15
freshhawk wrote: post #12

I'm curious why so many of these issues seem to differ so greatly from any other reason people may be doing something in public. Does it really matter if they are using an app on their phone instead of reading Yelp or listening to a podcast while they crash into someone, act like an idiot, etc? If I put out a podcast that is meant to be listened to as a walking tour of somewhere do I have these same liability concern…

A sufficient difference in quantity becomes a difference in quality. Some of these concerns are merely amusing now, but could conceivably become real problems at scale. I'm hedging, because I think this is likely to be a fluke event and be a non-issue for a long time. Even if AR games become big, this is probably the first and last time we're all playing the exact same one. Plus over time this sort of thin connectivi…

I used a GPS that barely had a map. It was still useful. It was nice for day hiking in unfamiliar areas, just record a track and it's easy (within reason) to get back to where you started. I also used it as a "compass", where I set it to point at the destination and then chose a route that tended to head in that direction (say I didn't feel like driving on the busy freeway).
Post reply on HN