[turdnagel]

To begin with, you've got a very narrow set of people who would even discover this project. Now intersect that with the people who will reliably miss context clues ("shitty network connections") to get a joke, and the set becomes even narrower.

[dylan604]

Yes, but once the lawsuit does come, which lets face it will come (at least a C&D), the dev(s) can have all of the tech trade rags/blogs/forums/etc paste it all over as news. Then, they'll become internet famous. At the end of the day, they probably know they'll have to change the name and are probably hoping for it just for the publicity. Let it live as long as it can, then ride the wave

[mh-]

> which lets face it will come

I've had this project starred for at least 7 years, so perhaps Comcast legal has more of a sense of humor than we're giving them credit for.

[ThunderSizzle]

Or they just don't know about it and/or they have bigger fish to fry first.

Trademark and copyright tend to requirement historic evidence of enforcement to be enforceable in the future. If they fail to enforce this and it's significantly in the public sphere, it could be used as evidence the trademark and copyright no longer apply, depending on the judge.

[mh-]

Perhaps. I wouldn't have named my project this, either, just for the avoidance of an eventual headache. But I find it unlikely this hasn't been flagged to their legal by now.

[dylan604]

Instead of the typical HN hug of death, mabye it'll be the HN Eye of Sauron that is the ultimate reaction to making the front page. <shrugs>

However, if you do get the eventual C&D, you might as well tweet about it and get another 15mins of fame!

*Edit, if you think that a corporate legal team is allowed to display a sense of humor, you'd be very mistaken. Sure, some might be cognizant of their corporate overlords, but to think that they would let something like this slide once made aware of it would/could be an expensive mistaken idea to have

[turdnagel]

Jeez. I'm starting to think the people on this thread want it to get a C&D.

[dylan604]

There's a difference wanting something to happen and being able to understand the world and realizing the inevitabilities that will occur when certain conditions are met. It's like wanting the snowman you made in the front yard to survive the summer, but it is inevitable that it will melt.

[colejohnson66]

Legally, it doesn’t matter. Trademark law (not copyright) requires active enforcement to keep yours. So, even if it’s a joke, the act of making a networking related thing while Comcast has a trademark in that category is enough to make their lawyers wake up.

[wumpus]

Comcast has to actively enforce against ISPs or network providers.

Comcast the ISP doesn't have to actively enforce against Comcast brand tires or Comcast brand coffee.

A lot of people are confused about this, and big companies use "we have to actively enforce" as an excuse to crush companies in unrelated fields. But you don't.

[bee_rider]

"Duty to police" seems up there with "requirement to maximize profits" in the realm of excuses to indulge in the sort of bad behavior that execs are fond of.

[mypalmike]

Perhaps being on the front page of HN will be the catalyst which leads to the lawyers being informed.