Trademarks are a fuck if you do, fuck if you don't type of law. Was not an easy decision, but had to be made. I own it. If you don't defend it, you lose it. And If someone made an evil version of our products we would have less recourse. Running your sales site of your knock off out of the same repository as your codebase is retarded. Trademark has nothing to do with the code. Things are never as simple as the cancel ppl try to make it be. The drama seems to always originate from the same sources...

Replies (88)

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DETERMINISTIC OPTIMISM 🌞's avatar DETERMINISTIC OPTIMISM 🌞
Trademarks are a fuck if you do, fuck if you don't type of law. Was not an easy decision, but had to be made. I own it. If you don't defend it, you lose it. And If someone made an evil version of our products we would have less recourse. Running your sales site of your knock off out of the same repository as your codebase is retarded. Trademark has nothing to do with the code. Things are never as simple as the cancel ppl try to make it be. The drama seems to always originate from the same sources...
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Vdub's avatar
Vdub 1 year ago
I had to do it too. Not a trademark but a patent. The process is exhausting when you do it yourself without a lawyer. I definitely felt like I had to defend my design. Got it done tho. I own my creation as well and it was worth it once the process was finalized with a patent number. 🤙🏼
I like all the work you do, but I've only heard context about this through the rumor mill. Was someone selling a "blockclock" and essentially taking the name you've built? I find it hard to believe you have a problem with an open-source build of the idea of a blockclock. Can you provide some more context?
Cavern Harpy's avatar
Cavern Harpy 1 year ago
The block clock sucks. Not a single smart person would pay for such an item. You made some money selling stupid shit to idiots(we all do this) so take the win and let it go. Bat now you'll be remembered as a douche, which you are... So I guess it works out actually... Nevermind
the way you are supposed to compete is making a better product and/or a cheaper one. A clone cant damage your sells if its a bad clone. A good clone, better than the original, would. You have based the success of your company selling hws to a niche that understand the quality and the value of products, noone will benefit by your bad fiat move, noone needed this paternalistic intervention except you. The same people that appreciated and respected coinkite are the same that could loose their respect after a move like that, you know, bitcoiners love free markets and fair competition.
MelonKuma's avatar
MelonKuma 1 year ago
I’m out of the loop here. What’s the 🍵?
@DETERMINISTIC OPTIMISM 🌞 sits on the 9 member board that determines what projects are funded by the organization. There is a growing view that Bitcoin projects are not being funded by OpenSats due to conflicts of interests from board members. Regardless if NVK is abstaining or not, his presence on the board only leads to concerns from members of the Bitcoin community. There are very qualified members of the community that could provide the technical guidance to the Board's decisions that are not nearly in a level of conflict that NVK brings.
I was one of the few people who was able to see the sailboat within just a few seconds. I could even see it as I was walking past. Lol
Opensats is losing credibility and thereby donations with him on the board, which hurts the greater FOSS community upon which Bitcoin is built. Some of my personal favorite FOSS projects are clearly discriminated against by the Opensats board.
The "Bitcoin community" should start it's own non-profit to pay devs. Especially if there are very qualified members. OpenSats is an organization. Organizations are not decentralized. They are centrally controlled. If you don't like Open Sats because you don't like 11.1111% of the board, I would consider donating to a different non-profit. I understand your concern but your recommendation sounds entitled and irrational.
Conflicts of interests, absolutely. In the name of transparency you should probably disclose your business relationship causing your own personal bias here. I have no dog in this fight. Only interested in FOSS, which is what Opensats is supposed to be supporting. No one has worked harder to obfuscate the definition of FOSS.
I don't either but I can certainly see how this will affect funding for the organization in total. I hope @Gigi would consider these calls from many members of the Bitcoin community and at least call a special meeting per Art III, Section 7 to allow board members to make that decision on an individual personal level. I also trust mayn of the other board members and would hope they'd do the right thing for the organization.
From a long time Coinkite supporter and BlockClock owner. You are acting like you have nothing to do with the open source community and not actively benefiting from it. Why did you not contact him first to change the name? How can you do this and not step down from @OpenSats board?
But the simple thing here is this. Trademarks and all other form of IP are an indefensible postion. When someone creates a thing of a new paradigm the first mover is the one everyone learns of first. So inherently that name whatever it may be is by necessity what people will call it. Kleenx & coke are some great examples. Everyone refers to these trademarks AS THE THING all the time when referring to the thing. Using the state to forcibly make others not use a similar name is just retarded and makes you look weak.
DETERMINISTIC OPTIMISM 🌞's avatar DETERMINISTIC OPTIMISM 🌞
Trademarks are a fuck if you do, fuck if you don't type of law. Was not an easy decision, but had to be made. I own it. If you don't defend it, you lose it. And If someone made an evil version of our products we would have less recourse. Running your sales site of your knock off out of the same repository as your codebase is retarded. Trademark has nothing to do with the code. Things are never as simple as the cancel ppl try to make it be. The drama seems to always originate from the same sources...
View quoted note →
Angela's avatar
Angela 1 year ago
No clue what this is about but team NVK all the way.
I WAS DONE WITH COINKITE AFTER THEY TOOK PREORDERS ON A PRODUCT THEY FAILED TO DELIVER & THEN KEPT EVERYONE'S FUCKING BTC DEPOSITS AND INSTEAD REFUNDED PPL BACK W/ THE SHITCOIN THAT IS STORE CREDIT. FUCK NVK THAT CHEAP FUCK
Vdub's avatar
Vdub 1 year ago
That’s a fair take. Fiction or not, the challenge was the was the real reward.
JackTheMimic's avatar
JackTheMimic 1 year ago
That literally what was said earlier. "They lose donations with him on the board." Meaning people ARE not donating if they don't like 11% of the board. The request to step down is a suggestion for Opensats, not you.
JackTheMimic's avatar
JackTheMimic 1 year ago
That process is irrelevant to stepping down, which was the suggestion.
You're a simp. I'm not engaging in your gaslighting. Everytime you've pointed the finger here three have been pointing back at you. People can have bad days. That was last night. You doubled down this morning. Showing who you really are. It's sad to see. Enjoy your bed with NVK. I'm out.
JackTheMimic's avatar
JackTheMimic 1 year ago
The contention is not that his vote would weigh more than others. The issue brought up is that FOSS is a mindset diametrically opposed to copyright. To be on a board promoting and funding FOSS projects has a responsibility to be objective. The conflict of interest involved with making copyright claims on a FOSS project because it seems to "Infringe" on one's own product leads one to think: If one 9th of the board is compromised ethically, I have an 11% chance of my donations being squandered by passing up projects "Too close" to projects NVK might have an interest in. This is not retarded or irrational. I don't care about Opensats myself as I give charity only to people I know personally. This is merely an explanation of where others are coming from.
DETERMINISTIC OPTIMISM 🌞's avatar DETERMINISTIC OPTIMISM 🌞
Trademarks are a fuck if you do, fuck if you don't type of law. Was not an easy decision, but had to be made. I own it. If you don't defend it, you lose it. And If someone made an evil version of our products we would have less recourse. Running your sales site of your knock off out of the same repository as your codebase is retarded. Trademark has nothing to do with the code. Things are never as simple as the cancel ppl try to make it be. The drama seems to always originate from the same sources...
View quoted note →
Imagine two people building a computer! Learn from the past. Stop feeding lawyers. Must we fight each other at this stage already?
DETERMINISTIC OPTIMISM 🌞's avatar DETERMINISTIC OPTIMISM 🌞
Trademarks are a fuck if you do, fuck if you don't type of law. Was not an easy decision, but had to be made. I own it. If you don't defend it, you lose it. And If someone made an evil version of our products we would have less recourse. Running your sales site of your knock off out of the same repository as your codebase is retarded. Trademark has nothing to do with the code. Things are never as simple as the cancel ppl try to make it be. The drama seems to always originate from the same sources...
View quoted note →
Imo defending the name "Blockclock" goes against the ethos of decentralization and openness that Bitcoin and Nostr embody. Satoshi never trademarked Bitcoin, and Fiatjaf left Nostr open for all. Their choice inspired trust, innovation, and growth to me. Instead of claiming ownership, let’s embrace the spirit of abundance. Share ideas, not restrictions. Build together, not behind walls. That’s how we move forward. Bitcoin didn’t succeed by limiting use. Neither will we. Let’s free opensource everything and create a world where ideas thrive freely 🙏🤗 #Nostr #Bitcoin #OpenSource #foss #OpenSourceEverything image
JackTheMimic's avatar
JackTheMimic 1 year ago
I don't know why you wrote this. I know that, as I wrote, that is not the contention. Again, it is the mindset around FOSS and intellectual property when being on a board that awards donations to FOSS projects. Think about it this way: If someone was on the board for distribution of funds towards technological advancement but they were Amish. You might have a conflict of interest there right? But just one Amish person on the board doesn't sway the vote. They just don't have the requisite mindset for the position. Do you see my point?
This is not the way. Your reputation is and was far more important than this petty squabble, and it is being tarnished by this action. You will regret attacking the ethos of the community who supported you.
Imagine Satoshi going after every altcoin created. Half the stuff you use everyday are knockoffs of another product. I would feel flattered if people copied my idea or product, especially in a an environment that embraces openness. Could have at least contacted the person just to see if you could cooperate towards a new product. Or copy whatever they are doing better to improve your own product.
JackTheMimic's avatar
JackTheMimic 1 year ago
I feel like I am not being clear. Understanding is not the issue, either. I UNDERSTAND war-mongers, thieves, and globalist control fiends. I am just ideologically opposed to them. Like the Amish to technology in my example or NVK and and FOSS in real life.
twentyone's avatar
twentyone 1 year ago
Sorry, not sorry. I’m grateful to NVK and Coinkite for providing solid products and not skimping on security. All these attacks on NVK just seem like an attempt to smear and create division. I will continue to buy Coinkite products and recommend them to others.
The knock-off block clock is a joke because it's just a shitty copy with effectively no innovation. ... now my PlebClock is technically superior in every way but that's another topic. Also, remember when you said you wouldn't sue me? 😅 thx
Hardware wallets are a scam, and will never be as secure as @SeedSigner or a #grapheneOS device. But go ahead, keep on wasting your sats on them bro, keep on funding and supporting for-profit company's who bully open source developers, NVK thanks you.
Agreed. The bro is doing something rather than nothing. Makes a signing device which I choose to buy because it gets a job done. Yes, there's others, and it's good to have choice. I didn't have to buy a coldcard but I did. When I need a new signing device I'll go to market and see what's available.
Can someone explain what could Coinkite have lost by doin nothing and just keeping building better products , or shaming the competition with memes for their cheap copies and a of the blockclock and their lack of morality ?
what exactly is the trademark though the simple word "blockclock" cannot be trademarked neither can "coca-cola" or "microsoft" and for which reason the actual trademark is their distinctive way of writing that thing if they ripped off the actual logotype then ok, but if they just ripped off "blockclock" then sorry, you are wrong
what matters and only matters here, is did they copy the logo everything else is irrelevant
also, i see no problem with you pulling their website from your own domain, that's also completely fair play
Did you defend it? Or did you summonl a bunch of professional extortionists goons with guns to defend it on your behalf? This case could be solve without any Government intervention.
Coinkite makes the best cold storage hardware. I wouldn't trust a device from any other company for a significant bag. I don't know the details of this and don't really care, but if it was successfully defended, then it probably had legal merit. IP isn't truly established until you defend it successfully. When choosing a company to protect my Bitcoin, I'll go with the company that's vigilant in protecting itself.