Facebook Shuts Down Most Scrabulous Access; Blames Complaint By Mattel
This story was written by Staci D. Kramer.
For the last few weeks, Facebook users outside the U.S. and Canada could do the superior dance between rounds of Scrabulous. Access to Scrabulous, the Scrabble knockoff developed by Indian brothers Rajat and Jayant Agarwalla, from those countries halted last month when the developers agreed to pull the program following a complaint by toy company Hasbro. But, as AP reports, the social network said Monday it has barred access in most countries following a formal complaint by Mattel, which holds rights outside the U.S. and Canada. This time, the brothers refused to withdraw the program themselves and Facebook stepped in. The main exception: India, where Mattel has filed an infringement lawsuit. Jayant Agarwalla told AP he was surprised Facebook didn't wait for the lawsuit to be resolved.
BBC: Rory Cellan-Jones suggests people unscramble these letters "EEDDDLU" to sum up "the attitude of all those who somehow thought that a game which looks and feels exactly like Scrabble would be permitted by Hasbro and Mattel to go on serving millions of Facebook users around the world, while reaping a steady flow of advertising dollars for its young Indian creators. You might as well expect Rolex to endorse those people selling 'Rolex' watches on street markets worldwide, or Viacom (NYSE: VIA) to say, 'Hey, YouTube, great to see our content on a whole new platform.'"
By Staci D. Kramer