Not the Commissioner, but the beer.
Personally, I don't often drink it. Not that it's swill. It's okay. But it's just not in my wheelhouse.
But I won't be drinking it again, due to the idiocy of their corporation.
Mark and Dave, the afternoon drive guys at KEX radio, recently registered a couple of domain names for Commissioner Sam as he runs for mayor of Portland. One is www.samadamsformayor.com, and the other is www.mayorsamadams.com .
All well and good, right? Well, it was all well and good until the Boston Brewing Company, owners of Sam Adams Beer, got wind of it. After hearing that the domain names had been purchased, they knee-jerked a reaction and fired off a cease-and-desist letter as fast as can be. If Mark and Dave don't give up the domain names by October 29, something ominous will apparently occur.
Better bloggers than me are all over this. You can check out Isaac Laquedem, Jack Bogdanski, and Betsy over at Metroblogs, among others. Isaac in particular notes that it appears that Sam Adams is arguably in a more legally actionable position than Adams for some sort of election law violation. It's ridiculous, of course, but not as ridiculous as a beer company getting all nutted up over a guy named Sam Adams, running for mayor (and likely to win), using his name as part of a web address. Any responsible IP lawyer would have looked into things before firing off the letter, and (as it seems that KEX's attorneys have talked to them to fill them in on the context) likely would have dropped the issue once some light was shed on their apparent confusion.
Just stupid. So I call on whoever sees this to boycott Sam Adams Beer for being un-American and generally ridiculous, for having no sense of humor, and for generally sucking. And, while you're at it, tell them they suck and that they should drop this idiotic issue before they get even more negative press than they're already getting from it.
Viva La Revolucion!
October 23, 2007
Boycott Sam Adams
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5 comments:
Dude, we're with you.
I'm 100% with you. Come visit http://samadamssucks.org
and sign the petition saying you think Mark and Dave should be able to keep their domain names!
I'm tired of giant corporations using their economic muscle to stomp on everyone else.
This reminds me of how the huge Asian bike company Specialized put a local PDX company out of business. Their crime? The local company made a commuter bike named Stump Town (Portland's nickname). But Specialized made a mountain bike called the Stump Jumper and they claimed copyright infringement. Specialized didn't win in court, but the local company couldn't afford the legal fees.
Something has to be done in the law to stop this kind of abuse. Legislators, are you listening??? But in the meantime, boycotting is VERY appropriate.
Sam Adams is a good beer, brewed by Boston Beer
BTW they own the name, its a commercial name
They have the right to it,
I imagine both Sam the candidate and the beer company are really enjoying this nice little wave of free publicity. It occurred to me that there is a pretty good chance we're all just being manipulated to keep repeating this story as well as the candidate's and the company's names. Gee - do ya think maybe Sam the candidate cooked this whole idea up with the beer company (or vice-versa)? Or was it really just a happy "accident" that will end up helping both and hurting neither? Surprise, another viral marketing trick! Dontcha just love the sleazy coolness of the Internet!!! PS: Sam the candidate ... if you thought this one up I give it a two thumbs up, but I still wouldn't vote for you cuz $45 million is way too much money to spend for a fancy shuttle bus system when Portland has so many important issues that need to be addressed. I imagine when historians in the future write about Portland's politics in 2007 they will have a good chuckle about that boondoggle deal. Nothing quite like having having the fox guarding the hen-house!
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