Commentaries

LEONARDO, Vol. 32, No. 2, pp. 159–161, 2000 159© 2000 ISAST COMMENTARIES sa défense contre l’attaque en justice par une compagnie commerciale récemment constituée pour investir dans le commerce sur Internet. Au cours des 30 ans écoulés depuis sa création, par le biais de sa revue Leonardo, l’Association LEONARDO a établi une crédibilité internationale et unique parmi les revues artistiques et scientifiques. La Fondation Daniel Langlois est d’avis que l’antériorité d’usage du nom LEONARDO devrait suffire à établir son bon droit. S’il doit s’établir une nouvelle économie basée sur l’Internet, le commerce ne doit pas y être la seule valeur, les échanges culturels, éducatifs, artistiques et scientifiques ont autant d’importance que le commerce et devraient être respectés en conséquence. Encore une fois, Cher Monsieur, veuillez compter sur le soutien moral de la Fondation Daniel Langlois pour l’art, la science et la technologie. Le Président, Daniel Langlois La fondation Daniel Langlois pour l’art, la science et la technologie 3530, Boul. Saint-Laurent Bureau 402 Montréal, Québec Canada, H2X 2V1 Received 8 March 2000 LEONARDO is a forerunner in the world of art and new technology and certainly one of the most interesting publications one can consult in this field. Since a long time it has been one of the main forums for a scientific and cultural exchange on a high and spirited level. To permit a profit seeking company to destroy their name would be to fall into a trap which lets unethic ideas rule the Net. This is an obvious danger and an invitation for other simplistic commercial ideas—which could eventually destroy the interest of the World Wide Web. I support the right of Leonardo/ ISAST and Association Leonardo to continue their use of the name LEONARDO in all their publications. Sincerely, Teresa Wennberg Media research artist Sweden/France Artist in residence at The Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) Stockholm, Sweden LA ASOCIACION CULTURAL PURGATORI DEDICADA AL DESARROLLO Y PROGRAMACION DEL ARTE CONTEMPORANEO DESDE 1991 CON SEDE EN VALENCIA , ESPAÑA. APOYA A LA ASOCIACION CULTURAL LEONARDO EN DEFENSA DE SUS DERECHOS ADQUIRIDOS MEDIANTE SU FUNCIONAMIENTO DURANTE 30 AÑOS. OSCAR MORA Presidente, LA ASOCIACION CULTURAL PURGATORI VALENCIA, ESPAÑA Received 8 March 2000 I don’t know anything about ISAST, Leonardo Network and the like. They don’t mean essentially nothing for me (by now). But I don’t need to know them to have an opinion about this case. I think that registering a word like Leonardo and denying its use by other groups or even companies is a deeply stupid thing, and the law was made to protect citizens against this kind of stupidity , not to encourage it. So if the law has any possible defect which allows people like the one in Transasia to take over “a word” (the name of Leonardo Da Vinci!), it’s the law’s fault, and it should be corrected. Transasia and the like should have no compensation at all. They are not playing a fair game. They are only searching some dirty bucks, not by means of honest work, but by using the law improperly. I think that their role in this case is Many readers of Leonardo and website visitors to Leonardo On-Line will be aware that the Leonardo network is currently being sued by Transasia Corp. in France for trademark infringement. Transasia claims to have recently trademarked in France the names Leonardo, Leonardo Finance, Leonardo Partners, Leonardo Invest and Leonardo Experts. The suit asks that the Association Leonardo be forbidden from using the word “Leonardo” in its web site projects or any other products or services. In the wake of this trademark dispute, we have been deluged with letters of support from many corners of the globe, for which we extend our most heartfelt thanks. We wish to share some of these letters in this space. The letters appear here in raw, unedited form. Readers who would like to add to this growing body of support for Leonardo and/or express the need for freedom and democracy on the Internet are invited...