“Scout Stuff®”… well, there you go!
SpiralScouts could be very convincing evidence of trademark dilution in a case against BSA. (ie. that “scouts” isn’t a name that’s used exclusively to refer to the BSA). Any other (US) youth programs with “Scout” in the name you could think of? The Madison Scouts come to mind, but “youth organization” there is debatable (they’re a DCI drum corp).
Let’s not forget the Blood Pact Scouts, Weird Scouts, Dreadnaught Scouts, Dark Scouts, Fear Scout and the Eternal Scouts…
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So how about “Hackfinder”?
“My neice is in this new scouts program where they get badges or something.”
“Oh, you mean she’s in Boy Scouts?”
all races, creeds…
Yeah, BSA discriminates and most of us (I’m an Eagle Scout) hate it. Back around 2000 when the Supreme Court ruled that BSA could exclude gays, I read a great post from an old scout (60-70) about what happened when BSA won the case in the 70s allowing them to exclude women. He argued that it’s good for BSA to win these cases because BSA is a very conservative organization (even if its members aren’t). He argued that the ruling allowed BSA to change itself rather than be forced. It allowed the younger generations of scouts to make the changes as the older scouters phased out. BSA will change, but it will always lag behind progressive opinion. The policy against gays is already changing. It’s just a matter of time. Most scouts don’t care about BSA corporate policies. I knew of 2 girls who attained the rank of Eagle Scout while growing up. The troops helped them and hid them because we all love scouting more than the BSA itself. No one was going to snitch on those girls. We were proud to have them.
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My understanding is that trademark law requires a holder to defend
a trademark if there’s any question of an infringement.
Isn’t there a middle road, where the trademark holder (BSA) could show up with an offer to contractually allow the use of the potentially-conflicting name (Hacker Scouts), now and forever, in any universe known or yet to be discovered, however the f you feel like, in exchange for $1 and agreement that the trademark belongs to the group claiming ownership (with an infringement suit as the fallback if unable to reach agreement)? Would that not constitute adequate defense of trademark?
You made me so happy.
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Transgender Scouts!
While I think this is a jerk move by the BSA, I’m thinking it may actually be better if Hacker Scouts changed their name. I’d like my son to participate in Hacker Scouts and I would hate for someone to get confused and think he was in Boy Scouts.
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It would be kind of fun to troll the BSA and start a group (on paper) called… I dunno… Sodomy Scouts or somehting. Heroin Scouts.
I think that’s the most important question here. Do the Girl Scouts require permission from BSA to call themselves scouts? If they don’t, then BSA clearly doesn’t own the phrase _____ Scouts.
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Wel, they did get the cav scouts changed to “armored reconnaissance specialists”, so I dunno.
Ah, another scout? I was in the 2nd ACR when I was a scout. 
Please post again if there’s a legal defense fund, because I’d be happy to kick in to that.
Do the Girl Scouts require permission from BSA to call themselves scouts?
No, the Girl Scouts are part of the charter.
Challenging the Hacker Scouts because they violate a trademark? What are they going to challenge next? Blood Pact Scout? Weird Scout? Dreadnaught Scout? Dark Scout? Fear Scout? Eternal Scout? If they pull this off, who will we put in the glass display cases to demonstrate the rewards for bravery, loyalty, and being a scout?
Lifelong Scout (Well, I’m just past being a Rover now, so I’m just a plain old Adult member till I decide on a particular path to take) from outside the US here.
While we love individual American Scouts, and the Boy scouts of America are part of the same movement…Well, I’ll stop pussyfooting around and be blunt. They’re a fucking embarrassment. They’re one of the handful of scouting organizations who don’t allow homosexuals, and they’re one of fewer still that have not become co-ed, and they’re one of the least tolerant regarding religion. They’re constantly doing somefuckingthing that’s frankly just horrid to the rest of us, and of course, since it’s true of them and they’re also Scouts, everyone thinks it’s true of us too!
I mean, guys - I’m sure individually, you’re great Scouts, but sort your shit out for fuck’s sake.
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Dear BSA,
It’s things like this that make me ashamed I was a Boy Scout and makes me nervous about putting my kids anywhere near your programs.
Check out your law sometime, specifically Kind, Courteous, Friendly, and Helpful. Your Reverence and Obedience to Law count for only half as many items.
Regards,
SPB
PSA: You can donate to Hacker Scouts without having to be part of their organization.
Go to their website and click on the Join tab. There is a nice big PayPal donation button.
The Empire will not be pleased.
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