ritbook.com — After setting up a free non-profit website to buy and sell used books at the Rochester Institute of Technology, RIT has slapped the website's creator with a trademark infringement letter. RITBook, the website, is being studied in RIT's MBA classes, and was featured in the college's print magazine.
Apr 4, 2007 View in Crawl 4
yoshokunApr 4, 2007
I'm pretty sure this falls under Fair and Nominative Use (<a class="user" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nominative_use).">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nominative_use).</a> I hate it when big bureaucracies abuse the law just to scare individuals. I bet RIT gives up their students to the RIAA too. =P
vcardilloApr 4, 2007Submitter
Actually, they do. RIT's IT people scour any sharing networkings students setup, and comply with all RIAA and MPAA letters requesting and requiring IP/Name combinations.
lathicentropyApr 4, 2007
i think you may have something with the nominative use defense.but it's sad to see RIT come down so hard on an entity that in no way exploits or profits off of it's name or image. honestly it's just a trading site where people come to swap books with each other, but i'm sure thats the same reason they feel the need to shut it down: it competes with the bookstore. if this took off it might keep B&N from moving in to College Town and that would be more of a loss to the college. Dan's site is the kind of free, more egalitarian model of a website that is needed in this bloated system of commercialism and capitalistic oppression.I think Dan needs to fight it, get the media to blow up in RIT's face. Talk to the Reporter (I could help with that), talk to WHAM and every other station in town. I'm sure WITR would put you on the show, more than anything though, just show them you're not afraid. it's the ability to stand up and defend one's self that frightens the tyrant most of all.peace & Godspeed.
aspirApr 11, 2007
He already has interviews with Democrat & Chronicle along with one of the local TV stations. I agree that he really needs to pursue this, too. RIT is just being a bunch of pricks trying to scare Dan, especially now that he changed RITBook to stand for "really inexpensive textbook." And they are *still* complaining!!!!!!
dxk3355Apr 12, 2007
I hardly find RIT's position to be anything unusual or evil. If they do not make sure that his site is sufficently different than an RIT stie from an offical RIT organization then they might be associated with RITbook when they are not infact related. This can have negative consequences.
mikhaelritApr 12, 2007
This is retarded. Does it mean they will go after facebook because there are book groups that serve the same purpose as this site? Tell RIT to go f**k a duck.