This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/technology/7191264.stm
The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Facebook asked to pull Scrabulous | Facebook asked to pull Scrabulous |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| Facebook has been asked to remove the Scrabulous game from its website by the makers of Scrabble. | Facebook has been asked to remove the Scrabulous game from its website by the makers of Scrabble. |
| The Facebook add-on has proved hugely popular on the social network site and regularly racks up more than 500,000 daily users. | The Facebook add-on has proved hugely popular on the social network site and regularly racks up more than 500,000 daily users. |
| Lawyers for toy makers Hasbro and Mattel say Scrabulous infringes their copyright on the board-based word game. | Lawyers for toy makers Hasbro and Mattel say Scrabulous infringes their copyright on the board-based word game. |
| The move has sparked protests by regular fans of Scrabulous keen to keep the add-on running. | The move has sparked protests by regular fans of Scrabulous keen to keep the add-on running. |
| Fan protests | Fan protests |
| Scrabulous is currently one of Facebook's ten most popular applications - little programs that Facebook members can add to the profiles they maintain on the site. | Scrabulous is currently one of Facebook's ten most popular applications - little programs that Facebook members can add to the profiles they maintain on the site. |
| The request to remove the add-on came from both Hasbro and Mattel because ownership of the Scrabble trademark is split between the two. Hasbro owns rights to the game in the US and Canada while Mattel has rights everywhere else in the world. | The request to remove the add-on came from both Hasbro and Mattel because ownership of the Scrabble trademark is split between the two. Hasbro owns rights to the game in the US and Canada while Mattel has rights everywhere else in the world. |
| Scrabble makers are claiming intellectual property theft | |
| Facebook told the PA newswire that it had no comment to make at this stage. | Facebook told the PA newswire that it had no comment to make at this stage. |
| The Scrabulous add-on was not created by Facebook but was built for the site by Rajat and Jayant Agarwalla - software developers based in Kolkata. | The Scrabulous add-on was not created by Facebook but was built for the site by Rajat and Jayant Agarwalla - software developers based in Kolkata. |
| According to the Scrabulous website it has 594,924 daily active users - about a quarter of the total that have signed up to play it. | According to the Scrabulous website it has 594,924 daily active users - about a quarter of the total that have signed up to play it. |
| The game has spawned a host of "scrabble cheat" sites which work out every possible word that can be made from the available letters. | The game has spawned a host of "scrabble cheat" sites which work out every possible word that can be made from the available letters. |
| The threat to the game has spawned a new facebook group "Save Scrabulous" that already has more 600 members. | The threat to the game has spawned a new facebook group "Save Scrabulous" that already has more 600 members. |
| One message read: "I didn't have any Scrabble sets when I started playing Scrabulous a few months ago. Since I got hooked on that I have bought two sets." | One message read: "I didn't have any Scrabble sets when I started playing Scrabulous a few months ago. Since I got hooked on that I have bought two sets." |
| Links have also been posted to the customer service areas of the Hasbro and Mattel websites so fans can register their protests with the toy makers. | Links have also been posted to the customer service areas of the Hasbro and Mattel websites so fans can register their protests with the toy makers. |