And by the way, this is not (mainly) because it was front page on HN.
HN users do not overlap (a lot) with the target audience for Tumblr. (not a lot at least)
HN is of course an important news outlet in the industry.
Retraction from Tumblr
21–30 of 64 posts
Re: Retraction from Tumblr
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
This type of thinking is poisonous to the industry and to all industries.
It's not "thinking." It's a question. It's annoying that I can't ask a startup question in a startup community without being characterized as an evil capitalist.
No it's not a "risky" move by Tumblr to not sue someone.
Re: Retraction from Tumblr
#23So essentially, a legal team was spamming anything with the word tumblr in it?
[deleted]
Re: Retraction from Tumblr
#24This seems like a risky move for tumblr, no? Doesn't this mean they're not actively defending their trademark? In which case this could cause them legal problems in the future.
IANAL, but to me it seems more like "we are actively defending our trademark (ala the hiring of the legal company), but we do not believe that you are infringing on that trademark and what you are doing is fair use, so carry on"
DannyBee (who is a lawyer) pointed out in the thread last night that this doesn't need to be "defended" against. He explained that, since they use the term "Tumblr" to refer specifically to the real company Tumblr, and since it's clear that they're not trying to masquerade as Tumblr or cause any confusion, that this is a legitimate use of the term and does not need to be "defended against" in order to protect the trademark.
Re: Retraction from Tumblr
#25With our powers combined....
Re: Retraction from Tumblr
#26The cynical reaction would be to say this is all about damage limitation to their brand since it appeared on HN, as they meant to do it rather than it being a 'clerical error'. Good thing I'm not cynical.
HN, and its readership, simply isn't that important to tumblr. If it were reddit, maybe the cynical reaction would be accurate.
Yes it is. Tumblr's parent is Yahoo and Yahoo will be keen on being friendly to the developer community to attract top talent. Much of which reads HN.
Re: Retraction from Tumblr
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
IANAL, but to me it seems more like "we are actively defending our trademark (ala the hiring of the legal company), but we do not believe that you are infringing on that trademark and what you are doing is fair use, so carry on"
DannyBee (who is a lawyer) pointed out in the thread last night that this doesn't need to be "defended" against. He explained that, since they use the term "Tumblr" to refer specifically to the real company Tumblr, and since it's clear that they're not trying to masquerade as Tumblr or cause any confusion, that this is a legitimate use of the term and does not need to be "defended against" in order to protect the tra…
Thank you for answering my question.
Re: Retraction from Tumblr
#28It doesn't matter to Tumblr if HNers boycott Tumblr the web site.
It might matter to Tumblr if HNers boycott Tumblr the employer or Tumblr the business partner.
Re: Retraction from Tumblr
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
Let's not flatter ourselves here.
I agree and disagree. HN is not massive, but it is a force. HN can be one scary angry mob which is nice to be backed by, but horrible to be on the end of. Remember the Aria Richards debacle which was heightened by this community. Just one of many. (That wasn't my intention by the way and everyone's been pretty calm.) The HN effect is a strange one. :)
HN's readership wields significant influence in SV/SF tech, both collectively and individually. Check your server logs, I bet you got hits from inside Tumblr's IP block almost the instant it hit the front page, along with virtually every other tech company, whose employees and even executives were glowering at their friends (and former and future colleagues) at Tumblr.
To use the indelicate phrasing of my first manager, bay area tech is highly incestuous.
Re: Retraction from Tumblr
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
HN, and its readership, simply isn't that important to tumblr. If it were reddit, maybe the cynical reaction would be accurate.
Yes it is. Tumblr's parent is Yahoo and Yahoo will be keen on being friendly to the developer community to attract top talent. Much of which reads HN.
I know it seems that way, but that's actually reddit and r/programming. Based on sheer numbers, I think most engineers don't frequent Hacker News.
I was just at dinner with an ex-Zynga game dev last night who had never even heard of it.