On 16/02/2024 20:59, Glen Fernandes wrote:
On Fri, Feb 16, 2024 at 3:55 PM Niall Douglas wrote:
On 16/02/2024 18:55, René Ferdinand Rivera Morell via Boost wrote:
Has the Boost Foundation enforced licensing of the current logo? If so, can you give an example of what that was?
I remember cease and desist letters being sent to some people many years ago who were sticking Boost branding all over their code and claiming it was a Boost library, when it was not. They promptly removed their claims. This was before the Software Freedom association and long before any Foundations, so very long ago.
Wasn't that through the Boost Consulting (or the later Boostpro Computing) entity? Would not have been through SFC at least. (Nor during the Steering Committee or the Boost Foundation).
My memory is that it was at the tail end of the Boostpro era when most there had semi/official moved on. I vaguely remember the lawyers around before SFC were invoked to write the letters, and there was some trouble there because they hadn't heard from Boost in some time previous. But all this is a very long time ago now, and memory corrupts. In any case, it is important to have ownership of names, branding and logos otherwise you can't nudge internet people to not misbehave. TBH if somebody did flagrantly abuse the Boost IP and ignored cease and desist letters, would we actually sue? Probably not, especially if the persons were anonymous or in a jurisdiction where suing them would be expensive/difficult/pointless. Best we can do in practice is ask nicely, then cease and desist letters, and then rely on social media pressure thereafter. Niall