AmazonBitcoins shut down by Amazon

http://amazonbitcoins.com/gone

by atomon • 13 years ago

32 25 13 years ago

amazonbitcoins.com

aaronpk2• 13 years ago

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

SEMW• 13 years ago

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

rhizome2• 13 years ago

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

atomon4• 13 years ago

See my comment below about what we were expecting

Frozenlock• 13 years ago

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

atomon4• 13 years ago

It's mostly because we used their logos. It didn't help that they had just released Amazon Coins themselves...

slinkyavenger• 13 years ago

Quite obvious that it has to do with trademark infringement.

garyrichardson• 13 years ago

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

atomon4• 13 years ago

We allowed you to buy Amazon gift cards with Bitcoins

cgusto• 13 years ago

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?

tedchs• 13 years ago

> 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?

tylerlh• 13 years ago

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?

atomon4• 13 years ago

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.

jack-r-abbit• 13 years ago

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).

illuminate• 13 years ago

"we made it very clear that we were not affiliated with them"

I'd say that there were probably better ways to make this clear.

Tuna-Fish• 13 years ago

> We were hoping that they wouldn't mind

I really don't think you understand how trademarks work.

If you willingly let your trademark be diluted, you will lose control over it. Amazon had absolutely no choice about shutting you down. That they shut you down was a completely foregone conclusion from the start. It's not about whether they mind what you are doing or not, it's about whether they lose exclusive access to their trademark. Had they not shut you down, and let you run for long enough, anyone could have used your existence as a point in their favor at court when arguing about using the Amazon name.

rhizome2• 13 years ago

Do you still think it was a good place to start?

joshbaptiste• 13 years ago

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

ruxkor• 13 years ago

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?

KaoruAoiShiho• 13 years ago

Why are you shutting down instead of rebranding?

ceejayoz• 13 years ago

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

mrbill• 13 years ago

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.

AmazonBitcoins shut down by Amazon

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