Mirror, Mirror

Out of random vanity googling I discovered that we are not the only search result on Google for "Forumshire", though we are still #1.  There is another...

http://forumshire.com/index.php

We came very close to registing forumshire.com when we were picking a domain of our own, but a few of us, including Paul Erickson and myself, advocated for the inclusion of "hobbit movie" in the URL in an attempt to help our search ranking.  However, we have used the nickname "Forumshire" unofficially since mid-2010 and as part of the forum's title since June 2011.  Not that we have any legal ownership or indeed any moral right to prevent anyone else from using the name, but I personally wouldn't use an already taken name for a site of mine.  Nothing against them for doing so though, as it piqued my interest.  Maybe they've used it as an informal nickname too.

Anyway, I was intrigued, so I began poking around and it turns out that this site was founded in January 2015 by refugees from a recently-deceased forum!  It's at about this point that I began to suspect we might be looking at a mirror universe or other paranormal involvement here.  Unfortunately they partake in the regrettable forum design trend of hiding almost all boards to non-members, but curiosity outweighed my general disinclination to signing up for more websites, so I made an account.  They're still pretty small at this point but do appear to be growing.  I didn't see any Tolkien discussions yet.  They do seem pretty cool about LGBT issues, having a dedicated subforum for that (they have a lot of specific-interest subforums) and listing trans as an option for gender during registration.  That was nice to see.

http://forumshire.com/showthread.php?t=174

This did kinda feel like trying too hard though, especially for a forum that has only just started.  I'm curious what their paid full-time staff does with the rest of their time when not running a brand new forum.

I just wanted to share this with you all as a curiosity and because I enjoy stumbling on weird shit online.

There's also a "Forum Shire" out there apparently, but it's in Polish. They appear to have started in March 2011, which before we started using the name officially but after Odo had come up with it.

http://shire.forumpl.net/

But what the hell is that first place for?

I've often poked fun and rolled my eyes at executive committees spending a whole day arguing about a mission statement, but now that it slaps me in the face, I'm suddenly all about mission statements.

The fact that they are clearly involved in subterfuge about their true purpose raises suspicion.   I say declare all out WAR!!

That's interesting, because I know when I'm looking up this forum on google I type in Forumshire and this pops up right away! I'm assuming it's because the url doesn't have to match the title of the forum, but if you were really stingy Eldo, could you claim copyright on the name? I don't see how fair use could be used in their defense except that our url is different...

I say declare all out WAR!!- Halfwise

I'll get my helmet, its under my kilt where I can keep it safe and clean (Oh dear, might need a polish back in a mo)

halfwise wrote:But what the hell is that first place for?

They want to be a general discussion forum. There are plenty of forums out there that don't really have a particular mandate other than to provide a medium for discussion of whatever their members feel like discussing. These are a minority of forums overall, but some of them have gotten quite big. Offtopic.com comes to mind, and they actually used to be a lot bigger than they are now. But most forums do have at least a vague theme that they structure themselves around.

Wouldn't it be good to have a little more protection down there when heading into battle, Petty?

Tinuviel wrote:That's interesting, because I know when I'm looking up this forum on google I type in Forumshire and this pops up right away! I'm assuming it's because the url doesn't have to match the title of the forum, but if you were really stingy Eldo, could you claim copyright on the name? I don't see how fair use could be used in their defense except that our url is different...

I never registered a trademark and I don't think you can copyright a name (though Blue would know better than me).  I don't want to pee on someone else's parade, but I do find this situation kinda strange since we rank quite well on certain Google searches.

And you can find us on youtube by searching for Forumshire


'Wouldn't it be good to have a little more protection down there when heading into battle, Petty?'

Don't you worry Eldo, a childhood of being the unwilling guinea pig in Pretty's ongoing surprise scientific experiments into which bit of her newest pair of stilettos makes for the most efficient groining, I can retract those suckers faster than a Scotshobit can think of an excuse for why its not his round. (Also handy in a bitter northerly breeze)

{{{ Where's the image deletion service when you need it? }}}

The phrase "TMI" comes to mind, Petty.

What?! Its just a pulley system with string, pulls my precious jewels up out of the way and into the folds of my plaid. I can take a groining but no one is breaking open my sporran on the way in and getting the family jewels

not sure about the guy with the finger.

Its very weird seeing another Fourm with our name- also the one post I could look at was a list of there different url's all forumshire. something. There must be at least ten of them. And a warning that other sites with the same name are not part of their Forumshire group.

I think Halfy is right, time to afix the bayonets! (I think I left mine in the Duck n Muck, wont be long, well no longer than closing time anyway)

could always scare them with a copyright violation notice. Big companies do it all the time to the unknowing average joe. Sure we don't really have the grounds to do so, but they don't know that. Just make an impressive bluff!

Spoken like a true lawyer.

A single word, even one that is a combination of two, forum+shire, wouldn't normaly merit copyright protection. Although as little as a quite short sentence might. In the Infosoc case for the European Court of Justice, it was judged that a sentence of as little as 8 words merited copyright protection. The case handled how Google as a meta search engine for news would republish an extract of linked news articles on their own site, together with the link.

The more relevant means of protecting the phrase "Forumshire" would be by trademark, but that requiers registration as Eldo said.

Hypothetically Blue, what if we dont register the name and then this other lot do? Do we lose our name?

Bomb 'em! Stealth attack!

Go in SAS style

I say send the Vikings in. thatll sort them out.

Pettytyrant101 wrote:Hypothetically Blue, what if we dont register the name and then this other lot do? Do we lose our name?

Fair point, particularly considering their apparent ambition and corporate structure. Hopefully Blue will be by with another knowledge drop shortly, but my initial thought is that since we are non-profit and not trying to pretend to be them we're in the clear. But we are both forums so I'm not entirely sure.

Anyway, I made a post in their introductions forum almost 24 hours ago but no one has responded yet. They're a really quiet forum so far but there are a few regulars.

Mrs Figg wrote:I say send the Vikings in. thatll sort them out.

But we're not done with you lot yet! Jeez...  

Just look at you all! Ready to attack a bunch of people for using a name you have no more rights to use than they do (probably) . I knew you lot were protesting a bit too much back in the days; you'll become good Dark Planetarians yet.

It is kinda funny that everyone seems to have skipped over my post about the Polish forum that's been using the name officially for longer than we have.

But it's that rowdy spirit that sent the Dark Planet packing all those years ago!

Eldorion wrote:It is kinda funny that everyone seems to have skipped over my post about the Polish forum that's been using the name officially for longer than we have.

But it's that rowdy spirit that sent the Dark Planet packing with its tail between its legs all those years ago!

I seen it... checked it out too. couldn't read a word on it but looked at it ever so briefly LOL

it's that rowdy spirit that sent the Dark Planet packing all those years ago!- ELdo

Damned straight- over-the-top kneejerk reactions. That's us. In with all guns blazing or not at all

luckily we have large sofas to hide behind when it all goes pear shaped.