

AmazonBitcoins shut down by Amazon - atomon
http://amazonbitcoins.com/gone

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tedchs
> Amazon.com has requested that we shut down the site and discontinue use of
> their logos and graphics.

Soooo yeah, companies have things called "trademarks" and "copyrights"... you
can't just go putting another company's name inside your company's name, _and
then_ make your imagery the same as theirs, without their lawyers sending you
a strongly worded C&D. However I don't see why this would have to shut down
based on that -- why not restart under a new, distinct name and branding?

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aaronpk
Not sure what they were expecting using "amazon" in the name.

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SEMW
Not to mention "their logos and graphics"...

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rhizome
Definitely filing this one under the "No Shit" category.

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aaronpk
To their credit, they didn't sound very surprised or disappointed about
getting shut off.

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tylerlh
I'm genuinely curious as to how the site owners expected to not find
themselves in a precarious legal position using this name/imagery. Care to
enlighten us?

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atomon
We were hoping that they wouldn't mind since we made it very clear that we
were not affiliated with them.

Yes, it's true, they probably would not have cared as much if we weren't using
their name and referring to their logo. But ultimately we were a service that
sold Amazon gift cards, so it was always going to be up to them if they wanted
to let us continue to exist or not. We decided to give it a shot and see what
happened.

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jack-r-abbit
Seems like it would be fairly easy to rebrand yourself as just a place to buy
gift cards with bitcoins... and then only offer Amazon gift cards for now (or
forever if you don't/can't make it work with other gift cards).

~~~
hkmurakami
bitcard.ly would be apt.

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ceejayoz
You were told this would happen.
<https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5358720>

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KaoruAoiShiho
Why are you shutting down instead of rebranding?

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Frozenlock
Is this caused by the link with bitcoins, or is it simply because they used
"amazon" in the name?

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slinkyavenger
Quite obvious that it has to do with trademark infringement.

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ruxkor
Apart from the request of removing their logos, Amazon also requested that
"[you] shut down the site". Is this because of the specific business model you
had, or only because of the domain name? If it is only because of the domain:
Do you have any plans on continuing this service?

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garyrichardson
What did AmazonBitCoins do? I'm assuming allowed you to buy things from Amazon
using BC?

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cgusto
Had their website been called buywithbitcoin.com or something similar, they
would probably still be around.

They used Amazon's name/logo. What did they think was going to happen?

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mrbill
Damn, this was one of the only reasons I have a machine in the corner churning
bitcoins. I liked being able to directly swap them for Amazon credit.

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joshbaptiste
<https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5358720>

