Outside of generating income from the use of trademarks, I personally don't see an issue with a group managing themselves financially. Though, I also don't see an issue with the group requesting money from the NPO either.
Of course it makes sense. But, reading the trademark policy RFC, I'd say anyone using the word "Haiku" in its name (any HUG would be) could not get any income, particularly the 'officially endorsed' ones. Maybe I'm wrong ? In this case it would mean people have to make the choice between requiring the money from the NPO and haiving the Haiku name, or find some other name in order to get its own incomes.
The risk is that someone will choose another name for the project if the restrictions on Haiku are too restrictive. You have to find a balance between trademark protection and community feeling. If people feel that the "Haiku" name is really something that Haiku, Inc. may or may not decide to give you, they may just decide to choose another name and forget about it. Even the project may change name at some point. We are not there, of course, but think about it. What's the purpose of this nice logo if no one can use it ?
On Mon, Apr 19, 2010 at 10:32, Jorge G. Mare <koki@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:In case I did not express myself properly, I did not say (nor did I mean)that Haiku Inc. had (the power) to define a HUG structure.I mostly agree with this, but the owner of the trademarks have a right to say who can and cannot use it, as well as how it can be used. That is the part where the NPO has the final say. To balance this, it's worth mentioning the obvious: Yes, the NPO does take the project's wishes into consideration. As for defining the rest of the HUG, yes, that'd definitely be the Project's role.
Without having defined the HUG status (the H in HUG allows the NPO to decide who is and who isn't, after all), it is not possible to create a trademark policy deciding what we allow for HUGs or other communities that may not be allowed to use the name for whatever reason.
-- Adrien Destugues / PulkoMandy http://pulkomandy.ath.cx
