Readers should be aware that SSC., Inc. has sent the demand letter that numerous people (including numerous SSC employees) warned them would be disasterous to its standing in the Linux community -- attempting to take Linux Gazette magazine's domain. Here is a draft response that may (or may not) be sent, pending review:

Dear Mr. Hughes:

We are surprised to hear your claim of Linux Gazette being a trademark of Specialized System Consultants, Inc., and of our magazine at [*domain SSC doesn't permit mention of here*] violating that alleged trademark, for numerous reasons:

1. The magazine Linux Gazette was created not by SSC,, Inc. in 1996, but rather by John M. Fisk in 1995. We know of no conveyance of any trademark to SSC, Inc., if such trademark can be said to exist at all.

2. The magazine Linux Gazette was always explicitly, from its 1995 inception, a non-commercial magazine, as was repeatedly acknowledged within the text both before and during your firm's hosting of the project. We cannot see that the mark "Linux Gazette" has ever been used in commerce -- neither in 1996 or at any other time. Your demand letter provides no evidence of such usage.

You cite "sponsorships sold by us": That refers solely to money donated to SSC by Linux firms to help support the Gazette, and acknowledgements of those donations. That doesn't make your firm's use of the name from 1996 to 2003 commercial; that makes it a charity. If necessary, I'm reasonably sure we can provide further evidence that Linux Gazette has never been a commercial effort of any sort -- if you seriously dispute that matter.

Since your firm did not, in fact, make use _in commerce_ of the name Linux Gazette during any part of that time period -- i.e., you did not sell any product or service marked as "Linux Gazette" -- your claim that a common-law trademark was established thereby appears to be baseless.

3. Moreover, even if a trademark interest existed and even if it were the property of SSC, Inc., by both common law and Federal statute (where applicable), the only uses that could be enjoined thereby would be sale of goods or services using the covered mark in a way likely to confuse customers into believing the trademark owner endorsed or produced them.

Linux Gazette (the magazine operating at [*domain SSC doesn't permit mention of here*] ) offers no goods or services for sale, whatsoever, and does not contemplate offering any such sales in the future.

Accordingly, we deny your assertion that a trademark exists, we deny your assertion that SSC, Inc. owns a trademark, and we deny your assertion that the [*domain SSC doesn't permit mention of here*] domain or any operations thereof violate any trademarks that might be owned by SSC, Inc. or by anyone else.

Sincerely,
[etc.]

CC: Legal Department, Central Registrar (dba Domainmonger.com), 14128 126th Pl. NE, Kirkland, WA 98034 USA
CC: Legal Department, Tucows Inc., 96 Mowat Avenue, Toronto, ON, M6K 3M1 Canada
CC: support@domainmonger.com
CC: [an e-mail address for Mr. Hughes that may be private], phughes@ssc.com
CC: support@tucows.com"

(Just a further comment: Further action to take our domain name will, if successful, not succeed in coercing us to drop our magazine's name. It will just make us really flippin' annoyed.)