[NTLK] write to Tim Cook

[Charles Mangin]

I'm glad my original post has sparked some discussion. one thing i want to point out, though, is that while Apple is still too legally encumbered by third party code and licenses to release the Newton OS to the community, they have effectively abandoned the Newton *trademark*.

this means that the community, or a legal entity representing the Newton using community, could begin using "Newton" and subordinate marks (Newton MessagePad, Newton OS) for new products. as long as we can claim to be the new exclusive and active user of the name, we can register the trademark as our own. this, of course, would be made more legally defensible if Apple were to write an affidavit to that effect, but its lack of action defending their trademark is tacit agreement of that fact.

hypothetically, then, a manufacturer or developer could fork Android (or WebOS, Linux, etc.), brand it "Newton OS" and establish the trademark anew.

again, i'm not a lawyer, but i've read Wikipedia pretty extensively on the subject :)


so, here's the scenario i envision:

Newton OS 3.0 is created, based on Android open source code, that runs on a particular OEM tablet, which can be rebranded as the Newton MessagePad 3000. it's a modern OS, not based directly on any of the Newton source, but replicates/emulates the functionality of the OS we all know and love. one of the core functions of NOS3 is speedy emulation of NOS2 to run legacy apps and communicate with legacy hardware (i.e. integrated Einstein a la Rosetta).


(as an aside, it turns out that when i send a message to the list that's PGP signed, i get a note back that says the message format wasn't allowed. i end up resending the message without the PGP sig, so if you see double posts from me, i apologize.)

 charles mangin | Alpha Geek and Chief Mental Hygienist
 option8 at option8.com
 http://mentalhygiene.com