Google And Booble...

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
The news article:



Quote:

Article from abc.net.au:

Google, Booble in legal wrangle over trademarks



Google, the number one Internet search provider, has accused an adult search engine named Booble of infringing on its trademarks and wants it shut down, according to the porn search site.



Booble.com, a website that searches the Internet for pornographic content, said it "intended to be a funny parody of the world's largest and best-known search engine".



The website carries a disclaimer on its main page that says Booble.com is not affiliated with any other search engines.



The page also has a link for people looking for Google.com.



In an email posted on the Booble site, Google lawyers argue that Booble's "domain name is confusingly similar to the famous Google trademark" and that it "improperly duplicates the distinctive and proprietary overall look and feel of Google's" website.



Google asked Booble to disable its website, stop using its domain name and transfer it to Google, among other things, according to the email.



"In trademark law, parody is a defence to trademark infringement," lawyers for Booble wrote in a January 28 response also posted on the website.



"Our client's website is in fact a successful parody, which simultaneously brings to mind the original, while also conveying that it is not the original.



"We ask that Google reconsider its objections and accept the Booble website in the spirit that it was intended - as a parody," the lawyers wrote.



Representatives for both Booble and Google could not be immediately reached for comment.



At first, I laughed. The name of the search engine is Booble. Pathetic really, isn't it?



Then I thought, I hope Booble do get shut down. I don't believe that pornographic content should be promoted like this, or at all, really. Plus, the article is just free publicity for them.



Plus, their website seems to be a plain interface rip off of Google's.



"Hey children! Heard of Booble.com?"

"Sure you have. On the news..."



See what I'm saying?



Shut 'em down, Google.



Thoughts? m.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 10
    akumulatorakumulator Posts: 1,111member
    Yeah... it's not right. I'm all for porn and everything... but this is a blatant ripoff of Google.
  • Reply 2 of 10
    ast3r3xast3r3x Posts: 5,012member
    Quote:

    Boobles defence is that it is a parody of Google, which it is technically free to do under the first amendment. "The entire universe gets the joke. Only a lawyer could say 'Booble' without smiling," said a Booble representative.



  • Reply 3 of 10
    foadfoad Posts: 717member
    SWEET!! I have a new bookmark now! j/k



    They are wrong for infringing on Google's patent but it's still funny as all hell.



    Hell, they even put the prices on there!!!!!!!
  • Reply 4 of 10
    alcimedesalcimedes Posts: 5,486member
    i think they'll win in court. they've pretty much covered their bases, and it IS a parody after all. not sure why exactly they would be shut down from a legal perspective.
  • Reply 5 of 10
    ebbyebby Posts: 3,110member
    Sometimes parities can be funny. Take "Pyst" or example, a parity of "Myst". It mocks the whole island and turns it into a trailer park. I think google needs to lighten up, and take a joke.
  • Reply 6 of 10
    nebagakidnebagakid Posts: 2,692member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Ebby

    Sometimes parities can be funny. Take "Pyst" or example, a parity of "Myst". It mocks the whole island and turns it into a trailer park. I think google needs to lighten up, and take a joke.



    parodies can be funny, but something that if children are doing researched they are going to see the Google logo messed with a pair of breasts and blatant rip off of the design.
  • Reply 7 of 10
    The parody argument might be valid if it is not an actual search engine...but just mocking the Google site. If it is a search engine though, they will likely be unconvinving in their "parody" argument.
  • Reply 8 of 10
    ebbyebby Posts: 3,110member
    Chris Cuilla, good point. Very few people here actually change my mind. If booble returned joke searches or didn't search at all than it would be more of a parity. But the fact that it is a working search engine (I assume) makes it more of a copycat than a parity.
  • Reply 9 of 10
    its getting to the point that we're going to have to have 2 internets. one fumigated, and sanitized version for kids, and a second one for adults that dont want the internet turned into the disney channel.



    some people want to use the "i just want to protect kids" line as a way to take away the rights of adults to further their own plans of theocracy. they use "protecting kids" as a way to chisel away at our hard-won rights.



    this is why i belive in the seperation of church and state, thomas jefferson had it right...



    if someone doesn't like porno thats fine, but they shouldn't try to infringe on someone elses right to view it.



    we have the local "citizens for decency" who take underage kids and make them up so they look older and send them into stores to buy cigarettes. so you might have some new clerk make a mistake and the store gets slammed. this is "creating crime" this group is the number 1 source of underage kids trying to buy cigaretts in this city. this group should be stopped from using kids in this way.



    so if they really want to protect kids on the net create a 2nd internet and ban all adult ads or sites and leave everybody else on the first internet alone...
  • Reply 10 of 10
    I guess Elmer Fudd is gonna get sued too:

    I'm Feewing Wucky



    Thanks to Larry Flynt, we are free to parody what we want. I hope Booble wins in court.
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