What is Digg?230 Comments
- FeloniusMonkey, on 07/30/2008, -28/+598Don't Has me, bro!
- AnthonyC, on 07/30/2008, -2/+279When I tried to log in last night and Scrabble wouldn't start, I assumed it was because the game was produced by EA.
- bowe, on 07/30/2008, -10/+250M3 A1 L1 I1 C3 I1 O1 U1 S1 (13 pts.)
- loudthing, on 07/30/2008, -17/+161I can haz bro?
- Sub7, on 07/30/2008, -17/+15115yr olds that spend all their time on #chan never learned to spell, so at least you know it wasn't Anon.
- omgsideburns, on 07/30/2008, -17/+128I hate EA.
Hasbro? No problem.
People whining because they replaced the bootleg version of a game with the real thing for FREE... Pussies. - abdo, on 07/30/2008, -4/+77You shanked my Jengaship!
- landmonster, on 07/30/2008, -1/+74Ooooh, Scrabble hackers. Someone should spell out the dangers to other game makers.
- zydeco, on 07/30/2008, -2/+62"Hasbro" was actually a contraction of "Hassenfeld Brothers", so you're closer than you think...
- HonestAbe, on 07/30/2008, -11/+67Scrabble was invented 70 YEARS AGO. Copyright protection was never meant to last that long; decades after the creator's death. It was originally 14 years+14 year renewal. Now it's 100 years or more! Scrabble's copyright should have expired decades ago.
Besides, creating a new game board with a new layout and writing out the rules in a new way is not copyright infringement. Someone needs to read up on the purposes and details of copyright law.
'The U.S. Supreme Court has long held that copyright protection is extended only to the particular expression of an idea — never to the idea itself. In other words, copyright law only protects the "artistic" aspects of a work, but not the "mechanical," "utilitarian" or "functional" aspects of the work.'
You can't copyright the rules to a game, only your particular expression, or description, of those rules. Feel free to digg me down if you support corporate welfare at the expense of innovation and public benefit. - Drithyin, on 07/30/2008, -11/+59[["i will never buy another game by hasbro - what a ridiculous and petty attack this is - grow up- we are in the 2000's now - i will never buy anything with a hasboro label - had gm taken the same stance with asian competitors they would have been driven out of the market- grow up -play fair - you are looking petty and desperate"]]
How is protecting their property NOT playing fair? If anyone needs to be told to play fair, it's the developers of Scrabulous. The game (and name for that matter) are BLATANT copyright infringement.
Now, I'm no fan of groups like the RIAA or MPAA, but at some point the line needs to be drawn. This has nothing to do with sharing, it's a completely different sort of copyright infringement. Scrabulous was benefiting from the idea of Scrabble, not their own idea. The developers of Scrabulous seem bright enough that I imagine (hope?) they can put together a new game that is all their own idea and design.
That's the real spirit of competition. Innovation. Not mindless imitation. - Ymeg, on 07/30/2008, -17/+64They had every right to take that down.
- trpnblies7, on 07/30/2008, -4/+48Triple word fail
- WoollyMittens, on 07/30/2008, -2/+41The "real" one is slow as hell, cashes and sucks.
- joshhan, on 07/30/2008, -2/+38They did try to buy them out for a rumored TEN MILLION US DOLLARS.
The developers said no...apparently holding out for more. - Spankov, on 07/30/2008, -21/+56In my 40 years on this planet I have found it's more the right-wing, conservative types who usually expect something for nothing...they just don't want others to have it as well.
- WiretapStudios, on 07/30/2008, -5/+38So companies can make real life knock-offs of Jenga, Connect Four, Battleship, etc. and sell them in the same stores as the originals...but you can't have a knock-off online game? Weird.
- Brew, on 07/30/2008, -34/+66No, this is what happens when a company like Hasbro fails to adapt and create an online presence.
- Iwantawii, on 07/30/2008, -2/+33At least Rock, Paper, Scissors hasn't been taken down yet.
- HonoredMule, on 07/30/2008, -4/+31I prefer quality over legitimacy.
- alexkball, on 07/30/2008, -0/+25I mean I guess this is cool, but scrabulous was never really that amazing. Let's be honest most people just cheat and google all of their words.
- ho0ber, on 07/30/2008, -0/+25That depends. How much is the letter 3 worth?
- haracas, on 07/30/2008, -10/+31Well filing a court case against the makers was pretty extreme. Probably would have been better to just buy out the original developers rather than hire EA to do any coding for it, woulda made a smoother and much more palatable transition.
- DifferentAngle, on 07/30/2008, -7/+27Copyright should be like patents - 20 years max lifetime. Scrabble has been around forever.
- das7282, on 07/30/2008, -5/+25Yeah, I heard the same thing. They were offered a buy out and the brothers were greedy and wanted more. Hasbro said FU and is now suing them. Good for Hasbro... sue those greedy bastards into oblivion.
- skipthefrog, on 07/30/2008, -3/+22don't forget your likely 50 point (I think?) use-all-your-letters bonus. Hell, if you put that up there, I'd be damn impressed.
- davewashere, on 07/30/2008, -5/+24Do you really think socialist hippies were spending their time playing Scrabulous on Facebook?
- davethe1st, on 07/30/2008, -0/+18... I shanked your Jengaship?! We're playing Connect Four!
- ibeetle, on 07/30/2008, -4/+21@Brew-
There is already an online Scrabble. Been one for years. It just wasn't part of a Social Network website but it was out there.
Hasbro not only embraced online game play 2 (or 3) years ago but there has been a electronic version of Scrabble going back 20 years. I had a Mac copy for my Apple IIce. Been playing it for years on my cell phone and just downloaded it for my iPhone. - macgyver4ever, on 07/30/2008, -2/+18I've worked with Hasbro before, and even attempted to license Scrabble from them a few years back. We lost out to another company offering close to a million dollars to make a few versions of Scrabble (like all of the Monopoly versions you see) for the same sort of idea. They do business the right way, and have proven it again with the way they handled Scrabulous. They offered a company that obviously infringed on their copyright TEN MILLION dollars for their idea and execution. Scrabulous got greedy and passed on it, preferring a lawsuit I guess. Hasbro waited until they got a working version of Scrabble ready, and posted it, and it is still free!!!
People dissing on Hasbro need to do their homework. For once, someone handles copyright law responsibly, and they still get hell for it. - Trifold, on 07/30/2008, -0/+15Ironically, 4.
- TravisOwens, on 07/30/2008, -5/+19I wonder how much the following word was worth?
'; DROP TABLE - mikedaul, on 07/30/2008, -1/+13The name is close enough that (at least to me) it seems very clear that their intent in building the scrabulous product was a recreation of Scrabble. Had they named it something like "Spelling Game" and made the board different looking, it would not be an issue. Case in point, the "Attack" application is a recreation of Risk, but it's different enough (at least I hope) not to raise the ire of parker brothers.
Also, scrabble has been available in an electronic format for at least 10 years as a PC game. - joshhan, on 07/30/2008, -0/+12http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/the_bigger_qu ...
http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/3/the_scrabulous_ ...
Is that enough, counselor? - terminal157, on 07/30/2008, -1/+12The replaced version is very inferior and a lot of games in progress were lost without warning.
- Flambo, on 07/30/2008, -0/+11In closing, they just compared themselves to the RIAA as a way to make themselves appear just, and gain your support. That makes me cry.
- tubbsthezombie, on 07/30/2008, -1/+12Actually, I own the internet. You all are in big trouble.
- Myonosken, on 07/30/2008, -2/+13Uh, do you even know what socialist means?
- duckley, on 07/30/2008, -4/+14Ah... American.
Infinite Corporate Copyright.
Just look at Disney; they pull their videos from circulation, modify them very slightly, then re-issue: BINGO, permanent copyright. - HonestAbe, on 07/30/2008, -3/+13The game wasn't taken down because it was actually infringing; it was taken down because of our old friend the DMCA. Facebook can't be held liable for a copyright infringement if they take it down, so Scrabulous gets taken down without a fair trial to save their asses. Welcome to America.
- norm7, on 07/30/2008, -2/+12"and the game was an electronic version of a real life game..so it's no the same thing.. if Hasboro had made an electronic version of the game already then they are only infringing on their rights then..."
Oh really? Because Hasbro did already have an electronic version of the game. So... - idavidcrockett, on 07/30/2008, -0/+10+1
I was wrong. Thanks for the info. - Brew, on 07/30/2008, -2/+12yeah good for them for replacing the game
- MaxMWood, on 07/30/2008, -1/+11Your comment was so true that no one has dugg you down.
You win my friend. Down with the EA syndrome. - saralk, on 07/30/2008, -0/+9space bar broken again?
- ayeroxor, on 07/30/2008, -1/+10Jerry: He's right, you're wrong. But other than that, he says one thing, you say another. Then you call him a child for expressing his interpretation of law, while you implicitly do the exact same thing.
According to your own words, you're both children, but of the two of you, you're the only hypocrite. - noodlez, on 07/30/2008, -0/+9yeah, i'd bet $20 that the "malicious attack" probably translates to "lots of people connected and our game crashed". they just probably want to save face, saying that they were a victim instead of admitting their version sucks.
- jonnyeh, on 07/30/2008, -4/+13Seriously, they've made their money a gazillion times over, what new games have they made lately?
- inactive, on 07/30/2008, -2/+10It is their property, according to copyright law.
- AnthonyC, on 07/30/2008, -0/+8I guess I'm bitter I can't get a good game of football on a next-gen system and its the 3rd year they've been producing games on the platform. Pathetic.
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