[Foundation-l] Trademarks

[Anthony]

On Tue, Nov 25, 2008 at 12:10 PM, Thomas Dalton <thomas.dalton at gmail.com>wrote:

> > Well, like I said, my purpose wasn't to make a point, but to ask
> questions.
> > I've learned better than to try to make points in this particular e-mail
> > forum.
>
> Your second question was something of a leading question. It came
> across as if you were trying to make a point.
>

Well, like I said, I was trying to clarify what exactly it was about his
statement that I didn't understand.  To ask a good question, you kind of
have to make a point, don't you?  (Was that last question I just asked a
question, or a point?  What about that one?  Or that one?)

Maybe I should make a confession here.  I honestly believe that Mike Godwin
has much more knowledge than I do about free speech issues, and especially
how they relate to trademark law.  In fact, I haven't yet formed an opinion
on how free speech issues apply to trademark law.  It seems to me to be
self-evident that telling people that they can't use your trademark and not
policing the use of your trademark are contradictory, and apparently this
seems self-evident to others on this mailing list as well (hence the
accusations that I'm trying to make a point).  But having not devoted my
life to studying this issue, it may very well be that I'm wrong.  If that's
the case, I hope Mike can clarify for all of us why this isn't
contradictory.  On the other hand, maybe Mike misspoke and can correct
himself, or maybe I misunderstood him and he can clarify.

When I was in college I quite often asked professors questions which pointed
out seeming contradictions in what they were saying, and I never did so to
make a point.  Sometimes it turns out the professor was wrong.  Sometimes
they misspoke.  Sometimes I misunderstood them.  In all three cases there
are possible positive outcomes to my having asked the question.  Yes, there
are also possible negative outcomes, but we're supposed to assume good
faith, aren't we?