Introduction: Leonardo Fights Back!

INTRODUCTION© 2000 ISAST 316 LEONARDO, Vol. 33, No. 4, pp. 316, 2000 Leonardo Fights Back! 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. Yes, Leonardo is under attack, and in this issue we would like to begin documenting this momentous battle. We publish here an update from Leonardo’s Executive Editor Roger Malina, dated 9 April 2000, summarizing the state of the lawsuit as of that date. Owing to the rather long interval since that update was written, certainly much will have transpired by the time this issue of the journal reaches our readers. For current news on the trademark infringement lawsuit, please visit Leonardo On-Line: . Leonardo is not the only non-commercial organization struggling to maintain its identity —indeed, its very existence—in the wake of the commercialization of the Internet. In this issue we also bring to readers one account of the recent etoy “TOYWARS” campaign, in which the on-line art group etoy won a legal victory over the e-commerce toy retailer eToys Inc. in a similar battle over domain names on the World Wide Web. Also in this issue, we continue to publish some of the letters of support we have received from individuals and groups around the world expressing anger, disbelief and frustration about Transasia’s lawsuit against the Leonardo network, as well as solidarity with Leonardo in this ongoing battle. Readers who would like to add to this growing body of support for Leonardo are invited to send letters to . To all of our readers and supporters, we wish to express our heartfelt thanks. PAMELA GRANT-RYAN Leonardo Managing Editor F I G H T S B A C K L E O N A R D O ...