• @Synthead
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    1906 months ago

    It’s a shame how obvious they’re working their corporate bullying cards simply because of money. Imagine if I created a product called Google and tried to sue Google for it. That would be ridiculous, right? Well, that’s what Facebook is doing, just with money.

    • @EatYouWell
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      476 months ago

      It’s not what Facebook is doing. The company has owned the trademark for over a decade, and Facebook is trying to strong arm them into giving it up.

      This is also in the UK where they somewhat stand up to companies like Facebook. McDonald’s lost their trademark for the Big Mac for trying to do this exact same thing.

      • @Synthead
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        6 months ago

        Maybe I didn’t convey what I’m saying well. Facebook is attempting to take a name because they have money. Laws don’t really apply to them, they seem to think, and it’s because of their bullying and their money.

        • @RubberElectrons
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          -186 months ago

          Came across differently in your initial comment.

      • @Jivebunny
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        6 months ago

        Also, Wendy’s had this issue as well in Europe, but their issue was about their actual company name.

      • @Candybar121
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        36 months ago

        hahaha i didnt know this happened. Supermac FTW!

      • @EnderMB
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        26 months ago

        Eh, the UK isn’t in the best situation, in terms of big tech. If anything, most FAANG companies have got away without paying any tax here for over a decade because the alternative is they ship all of their jobs elsewhere, and the UK tech scene implodes.

        I think a UK court would likely stand up for the British company, as they should, but I would expect Meta to be allowed to throw their weight around a little.

    • squiblet
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      296 months ago

      Facebook isn’t suing Threads. The longtime trademark holder is suing Facebook.

        • squiblet
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          66 months ago

          Okay, pointing out the analogy of “Imagine if I created a product called Google and tried to sue Google for it […] Well, that’s what Facebook is doing” doesn’t match this situation.

          • @Synthead
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            6 months ago

            Facebook created a product called Threads and is attempting to bully Threads Software into taking their name. I was creating a hypothetical situation about how most small companies can’t just steal a company trademark, because it’s rightfully someone else’s. However, if you are a larger company and, have enough money, and have shit ethics, then you can just kinda… ignore that, and for some reason, the US is happy to let wallets write the law.

            They did this with Meta, too.

            • squiblet
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              96 months ago

              I agree, that is what they’re doing. My only point was they’re being sued, not suing someone. They just took the name and were ignoring the other company that was already using it.

          • @[email protected]
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            06 months ago

            I think the part that is missing is “imagine if I were a billion dollar company and I…”

  • PrivateNoob
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    766 months ago

    Fuck I wish my old elementary school friends and parents wouldn’t use Messenger. I’m eternslly stuck on that platform.

    • @camr_on
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      156 months ago

      Does Whatsapp connect to messenger like Instagram does? Not sure it’s any better though, since it’s still owned by Meta. I wish I could get everyone on signal

      • @AngryCommieKender
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        16 months ago

        Does Signal do end to end encryption? That’s why I use telegram.

        • @camr_on
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          36 months ago

          Yeah, encryption and security is signal’s whole thing. They even removed the ability to send SMS a while back because they were prioritizing security over all else. Def check it out

        • @[email protected]
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          16 months ago

          Of course it does? That’s like one of the main headlining features of both Signal and Telegram, and why people were looking at either instead of Whatsapp. And it was even louder than Telegram about it, since telegram uses (or used) a closed source encryption, while Signal was vocally using an Open Source encryption standard if I remember correctly.

    • @[email protected]
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      96 months ago

      i saw one person do something like this: messages JOIN ME ON SIGNAL(or anything not owned by Facebook and amazon) IF YOU DON’T WANT TO WELL WILL LOSE CONTACT SO PLEASE JOIN ME

      im not sure on how well this will work but maybe exclude you’re family but try to get them to atleast WhatsApp but even better a private messager also consider xmpp/jabber and matrix for jabber i recommend calyx institute jabber server

      • Billiam
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        96 months ago

        try to get them to atleast WhatsApp

        WhatsApp is also owned by Facebook, so switching to that from Messenger is a bit like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

        • @Number358
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          6 months ago

          Removed by mod

          • lemmyvore
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            16 months ago

            Yeah but that doesn’t prevent them from snooping directly on the app. For example they can look at who you’re talking to the most, or extract topics of interest from your conversations (“talking about cats? let’s sell them cat food”)

    • LUHG
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      36 months ago

      You can trial out a new platform called beeper.com

      It allows you to add all your chats to 1 platform. It’s in selected participants mode currently.

      • PrivateNoob
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        16 months ago

        Ahh thank you for the Beeper reminder! I’m still on the waitlist tho. :(

        • LUHG
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          26 months ago

          Yh same :-(

    • @GlitzyArmrest
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      -56 months ago

      You’re not stuck. Just leave, and make people talk to you over Signal. If they’re not trying to talk to me on Signal or Matrix, I will never see it. This not only got me off of services like Messenger, but also showed who gave enough of a shit about me to go through Signal’s simple setup.

        • @GlitzyArmrest
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          6 months ago

          Two way street indeed, I didn’t say all of them followed me or anything like that. I lost contact with many doing this, as expected and intended. But I got much closer to those who did move over. Most of them moved over without me even doing anything because they cared about their own data privacy and realized that it’s easier to setup Signal than it is to setup an entire Facebook account anyway.

          • @[email protected]
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            86 months ago

            Man… What happened to just texting your circle of friends?? I get by pretty well doing that. About half are on signal. The other half just text regular, which I’m cool with.

      • @SirQuackTheDuck
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        106 months ago

        That’s why the UK company is using a cease-and-desist approach, which apparently is an option in the UK.

      • @LemmyZed
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        56 months ago

        Absolutely zero care. Too much money gushing in.

        • @[email protected]
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          16 months ago

          I’d just sue em for a bunch of money and then license the name to them for a bunch more, and the website for a bunch more…

  • TherouxSonfeir
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    426 months ago

    Well, since Meta/Facebook will probably be pulling out of the UK along with every other social media company, that’s hardly a “threat”

    • @DannyMacOP
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      606 months ago

      You mean, “That’s hardly a ‘thread?’”

      I’ll see myself out

        • @Amastan
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          86 months ago

          Threadful this story. Poor wee nerds. Fight them Meta’s

        • @Crackhappy
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          56 months ago

          Do you want to destroy my sweater?!?

        • @Alchemy
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          186 months ago

          Your comment shows it will be posted “in 17 minutes”, I have never seen that before.

          • r00ty
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            76 months ago

            It’s a kbin/lemmy integration thing. Although I did think it was fixed now.

            • @Alchemy
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              86 months ago

              Too bad, I was thinking this future-past connection thing we had could be really lucrative for us.

              • r00ty
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                76 months ago

                Yeah, sorry. I can’t give you any lottery numbers just in time to buy a ticket.

                • @Alchemy
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                  36 months ago

                  That will raise too many questions after we win for the 3rd time. We need to ride the gold and soybean market fluctuations ;)

      • @EnderMB
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        16 months ago

        Probably not. They’ll farm the jobs off to Berlin, most likely.

        With that said, I’d be shocked if the inevitable UK/US trade deal didn’t include some degree of visa. British workers are cheap as fuck, and our service industries already do a lot of cheap labour for US companies that don’t want to pay domestic workers.

  • zerkrazus
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    356 months ago

    I wouldn’t be surprised if FB/Meta tried to just settle out of court and pay them off.

    • mPony
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      226 months ago

      “That’ll be one billion quid, please.”

    • @kautau
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      106 months ago

      They will. This was most likely planned by their legal team in advance, will cost Facebook a negligible amount compared to their revenue and marked as a “risk.” And when they settle it will be a planned business expense, like a fine

        • @frunch
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          36 months ago

          ~$1,000,000,000,000 USD, which is why they’re trying to do it the “easy way”

      • @SeabassDan
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        36 months ago

        The legal fees alone while it gets dragged out in court will definitely hurt the smaller company.

        • squiblet
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          56 months ago

          That’s the strategy, of course. Throw a ton of lawyers at it and hope the other company just gives up.

          • @kautau
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            26 months ago

            Yeah they don’t even need to hire a law firm. They pay millions of dollars in retainer every year to keep lawyers on staff, so this is just someone’s day job to go through the motions

    • southsamurai
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      86 months ago

      The company has said that they’ve spent a decade building their “brand” under that name. So, if they’re pushing for a big payout, they intend it to be gargantuan rather than the usual payoff. Changing their name would essentially be starting over in some ways. And the confusion they claim as their reason for action is a legit thing.

      I’m not saying that isn’t their goal behind the scenes, but FB tried to buy the name and failed, so I have a feeling they aren’t looking for the usual quiet payoff that’s the goal of that type of action.

    • @douglasg14b
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      116 months ago

      It is this is not technology news

  • @Fridgeratr
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    176 months ago

    Threads isn’t even a good name lol

  • Wothe
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    126 months ago

    Never download the Meta Threads.

  • rynzcycle
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    36 months ago

    ITT:…
    …wait why did I just get kicked off facebook.

  • @echo64
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    -306 months ago

    Eh I don’t think they have much of a claim here. Threads is a super common word in software and Facebook can so what they want with their own platform.

    • southsamurai
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      66 months ago

      The problem is that the company doing this is in messaging. It isn’t a direct competitor, but it’s a legit proposition, as per the analysis lawyers have made. It’s big enough news that the usual outlets have chimed in, and the gist has been that a suit would have standing