The Russian

Posted by on Dec 18, 2010 in iPhone/iPad, Osmos | 30 Comments

Release day. A certain jubilant excitement was in the room. After months of work, we were finally submitting the iPad version of Osmos to the App Store! After a few short simple steps, the room would be filled with high-fives and the sound of caps being removed from bottles.

We filled in the App Store submission form. App Name: Osmos HD, Category: Game, Description: Absorbing awesomeness. We clicked the “next” button and saw the dreaded red font:

Error: The name Osmos HD is in use. Please choose another name.            

Really? That’s odd. How about just “Osmos”? Same result. Our concerns grew; had we taken too long polishing Osmos on iOS? Had someone else already used the name for an app? We searched the App Store to find out what this competing app could be. But in every country, an App Store search for Osmos returned no results. What was going on? A bug in iTunes Connect? We decided to try once more: “Osmos for iPad”, which met with success. Hmmm… ok. We completed the app submission process, punctuated by distracted high fives and hands on chins.

We decided to send an email to appstorenotices@apple.com (the contact point for naming/legal issues on the App Store), hoping to get to the bottom of this.

Hi,

We just submitted our game Osmos (for the iPad) to the App Store.

During the submission, we discovered that the application names “Osmos” and “Osmos HD” are both taken. (Not sure why, as we searched the store and nothing turned up.) As such, we named it “Osmos for iPad”. We would like to name it “Osmos HD” however, and we plan to name the iPhone version simply “Osmos” when we submit it next month. Osmos is a trademark of Hemisphere Games which we have been using regularly since 2008. Could there be an error in the iTunes Connect system? Or perhaps someone is tying up the name?

We received a prompt reply from appstorenotices, stating they had contacted the developers of the “Osmos” and “Osmos HD” applications. This was followed the next day by another email from a certain developer we will henceforth refer to as… The Russian. (Best read with a Russian accent. ;-) )

Dear Sir or Madam,

Official part of my message:

At the present time I’m working on the application я named Osmos and Osmos HD. Its development started in January 2010, in 27 March 2010 I was ready to release it and created a corresponding application in iTunesConnect, but due to discovered problems a considerable finishing was needed. So, the name of the application is currently blocked by me, but the application itself is absent at AppStore.

I’m not ready to admit criticism concerning piracy of intellectual property on the following grounds:

1. The term Osmos is commonly used and comes from the Greek word ὄσμος («push, pressure») (see a Wikipedia link)

2. In case Hemisphere Games has a document, confirming registration of the trademark, I won’t release the application under the name of Osmos / Osmos HD.

Anyway unlocking of names Osmos and Osmos HD in iTunesConnect has no legal basis due to the lack of violation of any rights, since my application is currently not offered AppStore.

Personal part of my message:

I admire the Osmos game by Hemisphere Games, and I’m really sorry that our interests have collided. The development had started before Hemisphere Games announced that they were going to port their application at iPhone.

I’m only an indie-developer and my company consists of me only. I understand that if Hemisphere Games presents a claim in the court, they will win the case (since I’m in Russia and Apple and Hemisphere Games are in the USA). [Hemi note: for the record, we’re Canadian.]

But on the other hand I think that Hemisphere Games was also a small company in the very beginning. And they understand which problems an indie-games developer faces in the very beginning of his career.

For the present time my expenses for development of the program named Osmos amount to $350, based on my experience of selling previous games I think that the profit from sales in case of release will amount to about $1000 (since I have no money for promotion and advertisement).

In case Hemisphere Games offsets the costs of development and loss of profit, I will drop the proprietary rights for Osmos and Osmos HD.

Amount of compensation is $1350

If Hemisphere Games has any other proposals for solving of our conflict I’m ready to hear them.

Thank you for attention. I really hope we will solve this conflict.

Sincerely yours, The Russian

Ah, extortion. (I particularly like the part that says “I think that Hemisphere Games was also a small company in the very beginning.” Ah yes, Hemisphere Games, the giant multinational. ;-) ) It seems that cyber squatting, so popular in the late-90s is once again alive and well on the App Store. Domain name squatting naturally died off after Google arrived on the scene. Now everyone knows that you’re more likely to get the information you need by searching for “milk” in Google, rather than hope that Milk.com has the information you’re looking for. Unfortunately, the name is still vitally important on the App Store.

So, how did it end? Well, some of you may have noticed that Osmos HD actually appears as “Osmos for iPad” on the store. We didn’t want to delay that release. But a few weeks later, when we were almost ready to submit Osmos (for iPhone) we tried the submission process again and – lo and behold – the name Osmos was available! We’re not sure what happened, but we suspect we owe someone at Apple a thank you. [Edit: Actually, we’re now thinking it’s more likely the developer’s submission expired! See Greg C’s comment below for details. Thanks, Greg!]

All’s well that ends well. But the message for all you developers out there is: begin an App Store submission early — perhaps you’ll beat The Russian to it.

30 Comments

  1. Peter DePasquale
    December 18, 2010

    Thanks for sharing that… it’s a good story to share with all developers. I’ll be doing just that with the student developers at my school.

  2. Kevin Williams
    December 18, 2010

    Very interesting, and a little sad. Didn’t know you guys were Canadian though; doubly glad I supported you by buying the app for Linux when it was first announced (then again later via the Indie Bundle — yes, Linux users are this starved for good games on our computers, which is why we’re so generous with our donations). Shout outs from Ottawa; thanks for being awesome guys.

  3. fucking racists
    December 18, 2010

    > (Best read with a Russian accent.)

    was that really necessary? I hope you’ll never get the name.

  4. John
    December 18, 2010

    Apple has recently tried to stop this name squatting, by forcing developers to upload an app within one month of creating the App details and taking a name, or losing it.

  5. John Humphrey
    December 18, 2010

    I think you guys did get lucky. The Russian made the mistake of asking for money. It shows ‘bad faith’ and probably made it an easy decision for Apple. But otherwise he was kind of right- it’s a generic term and he got it first. If something like that did go to court, you probably would have been able to get it, but only because the app he was developing was also a game. Lots of companies have trademarks for the same name, but in different kinds of products. I’m not a lawyer, I’ve just read a lot of decisions around domain names. Interestingly, Apple recently won APPL.com in a UDRP decision, largely because the parked domain was populated with ads for Apple products- not because Apple has the right to own all instances of the word apple. I’m not that familiar with App store submissions, but I agree, get your submission in early… for the App store, the .com, Twitter, Facebook, etc. Just part of starting any web project nowadays.

  6. Greg C
    December 18, 2010

    If you do begin your app store submission early, make sure you can get a binary uploaded to Apple within the 4 month window, otherwise your app will be deleted and the name will become available for another developer to use and you will not be able to reserve it again.

  7. Simon Hawkin
    December 18, 2010

    Did he actually write “application _я_ named Osmos”? That’s funny but not too easy to believe, somehow.

  8. Cybermario
    December 18, 2010

    nice reading, btw about racism i think people need to chill out, i found the “(Best read with a Russian accent.)” kind of fun so people need to learn to laugh.

    just now i got osmos (win) via the humble indie bundle, im sure ill enjoy it a lot!

  9. ron
    December 19, 2010

    i’m a racist too, because i hate canadians, but moreso because i hate people whose name begins with an я

  10. Enlaces Indie Game: Cuidado con los extorsionadores | Minijuegos
    December 19, 2010

    […] Hemisferio Juegos: El ruso “Parece que la ciberocupación, una vez más viva y bien en la App Store. Nombre de dominio en cuclillas, naturalmente, se extinguió después de que Google entró en escena. Ahora todo el mundo sabe que usted es más probable conseguir la información que necesita mediante la búsqueda de la leche “en Google, en lugar de esperar que Milk.com tiene la información que buscas. Desafortunadamente, el nombre sigue siendo de vital importancia en la App Store.” […]

  11. Jonas
    December 19, 2010

    Best read w… wtf?

    Osmos _is_ a generic term and I could just as well have used it before you for some chemistry app or whatever, and I’m Swedish and not Russian. Would that make me a cyber squatter? Hardly!

    I agree that asking for money is a bit over the top, but this is not “Microsoft” or “iPhone” we’re talking about, if this guy was a name squatter he would have chosen more well known name from someone with more money. He probably never heard of your game and acted in good faith.

    Your behaviour in this blog entry is something else entirely. I hope you end up on the other side of this some day.

  12. Igor
    December 19, 2010

    I think portraying the whole nation as a criminals because of one guy is very bad. If you’ll remove reference to russians it would be nice post. Why not calling man just ‘the guy’?

  13. Jason
    December 19, 2010

    Wow,

    Are some of you people really serious? You obviously don’t know Canadians very well. The comment wasn’t “racist” you morons. It may have been a little “stereotypical” but saying something like “best read with a Russian accent” does not make someone racist. They were not stating that all Russians were cyber-squatters, what they were stating was that this particular person (whom they found out to be Russian) was a Cyber-Squatter! Hence the funny remark at the beginning of “The Russians” letter.

    Plain and simple, entirely understandable. The majority of Canadians don’t have time for such trivial things as “Racism”. Not to say that there aren’t racist people in Canada, considering there isn’t a country in the world you could travel to where there are absolutely no racists, but given OUR track record, we’re fairly warm and welcoming people and have taken in Refugees from ALL countries on this beautiful planet we call Earth, including Russia. Truth be told, we as Canadians are much too busy shoveling snow out of our flipping driveways 6 months of the year to be bothered with the ignorance and stubborn nature of other countries, no matter how “civilized” they might pretend to be. We would much rather spend our time with family and friends laughing and having fun while drinking the occasional beer (oh wait, that’s racism towards Canadians! Damn Beer drinkers… Oh, whoops, no it isn’t, it’s more stereotyping).

    Anyway, now that this has been painstakingly pointed out to all of you people who perhaps read English as a second language (not an insult, just an observation) you’ll understand that the comment regarding the Russian was entirely made towards the Cyber-Squatter and to him alone. So you may now chill out.

    Peace!

    And Merry Christmas!

    Congrats on the Humble Indie Bundle 2 Hemisphere Games!

    $1,000,000 + and still going!

  14. eddybox
    December 19, 2010

    @Greg C: Thanks, that’s a good point! In fact, given the timing – the other developer starting his submission in March, and us submitting the iPhone version at the end of July – maybe that’s what happened here.

    @Jonas: We mostly agree with you. Osmos _is_ a generic term in some languages. It was the asking-for-money part that made this a clear case of extortion for us. But let’s assume his case was legitimate for a moment. Would changing the name of his game – of which there was no mention on his website, twitter, etc. – really have cost him all the work he’d put in, as well as all future revenue? (ie. Was its value 100% in its name?) Personally, I believe it’s a game developer’s resposibility – as well as in their own interest – to do a name search prior to naming their game to make sure it doesn’t conflict with other known games. In fact, our game Osmos was called “Blobs” for the first half of the project’s life; but after “da Blob” appeared (and doing a search for “blobs game” in Google — give it a try), I realized the namespace was too crowded, if not fully taken. It took a while to come up with “Osmos” and I wasn’t even 100% sold on it at first, but it grew on me, and it was unique at the time of release. In 2010, even if this developer hadn’t heard of the game before, a simple Google search would have answered his question. All that, coupled with the cooincidence of his much-delayed submission caused us to lose whatever benefit-of-the-doubt we may have had. Did he believe what he was saying? Maybe. Did we believe he was squatting? Pretty much.

    @Cybermario, @Jason: Thanks for having a sense of humour! Indeed, this was *not* intended to be a racist post, and the Russian part of it is only incidental to the main message. It’s true that we play on the stereotype a bit, but only playfully, and in the interest of telling a good story. (More entertaining than using “the guy” IMO.) In fact, my father’s side of the family came to Canada from Russia, and I happen to love the sound of the language. It’s my favorite-sounding human language, actually. Мир. (“Peace”, in Russian.)

    @Simon Hawkin: yes, he did.

  15. Another Russian that squat, pirate and drink vodka with bears
    December 19, 2010

    I can’t see why do you insist on “squatting”.
    He told you that he was going to release an app, and will free the name if you have trademark.
    Also as was mentioned on HN, most likely name was freed due to the following rule

    “Once you have created your app, and it is in the state Prepare For Upload or Waiting For Upload, you will have 120 days (4 months) from your creation date in iTunes Connect, to deliver a binary to Apple. If you do not deliver a binary before the 120-day deadline, your app will be deleted from iTunes Connect. As a result of this deletion, your app name will be able to be used by another developer and you cannot reuse the app name, SKU or Bundle ID.”

    which makes squatting mostly pointless in appstore.
    It looks like he was relying just on you being a nice people (in which you actually failed).

    Not so long ago i read an article about appstores and marketplaces will kill indie-development, thought it was a bit “overstated”.
    But things must be really ugly if developers, when confronted by someone with resources, see the only option is to ask not to rip them off completely.

  16. eddybox
    December 19, 2010

    @Another Russian: If in fact he lost the name due to his submission expiring, then he couldn’t have released the game anyways. It seems to me you have the who-was-trying-to-rip-off-whom part backwards, and he was indeed “squatting” by holding a name ransom that he wasn’t going to use.

    Of course, it’s impossible to prove this unless he comes forward and says “Yes, it’s true. I was squatting.” But it’s the only explanation that seems plausible to me.

  17. Dmitry Dzhus
    December 20, 2010

    Are western people so brainwashed that whenever anything is told about someone’s ethnicity (not even race!) is dubbed «rascism»?

    Besides, your post is extremely unfriendly.

  18. Colin Northway
    December 20, 2010

    I’m personally very surprised by some of the reactions to this.

    First, in Canada, Russia has the reputation of being a source of cyber-crime (giant Russian Bot-nets anyone?) it also has the reputation for being great at hockey, full of deep philosophical thinkers, and producing phenominal chess players.

    If a Russian posts a letter from a Canadian about clubbing seals and says “Best read with a Canadian accent” that would also be funny. It’s all of our jobs to not take national steriotypes seriously.

    Second, I am shocked that anyone would see this as anything but extortion.

    You can’t claim Hemisphere is a large and well known company with resources enough to pay you off and also claim that naming your game Osmos isn’t missleading to the public. You can have one or the other, but not both.

    The best case here for him is that he had never heard of Osmos. In which case he should change the name and release his game. Trademark and copyright law as well as morality and common sense clearly dictate that him releasing a game with the name “Osmos” is wrong. He has no moral leg to stand on.

    As for doing a “good deed” by paying him off: better to give the money to the Red Cross than reward someone for not google searching the name of their game.

    That is spoken both as a Canadian and an Independent game author.

  19. Egor
    December 21, 2010

    I dunno why we(russians) are so angry to this entry :)
    dat’s a really funny comment, russian accent is pretty funny, so peace и мир всем.
    PS. Imho Russia= as Cyber crimers(hackers) and information thiefs sounds “sexy” to me, i’m feeling little proud (better than Americans = rich, but “stupid” and “fast food”)

  20. DevLinks: Holiday Hubbub « DIYgamer
    December 21, 2010

    […] Hemisphere Games — The Russian “Release day. A certain jubilant excitement was in the room. After months of work, we were finally submitting the iPad version of Osmos to the App Store! After a few short simple steps, the room would be filled with high-fives and the sound of caps being removed from bottles.” […]

  21. FingerGaming » Hemisphere Games Warns Developers Of Potential iTunes App Store Name-Squatting - Gaming on the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad
    December 21, 2010

    […] to a post on the Hemisphere blog, the company was told the name Osmos HD was already in use when they tried to upload the iPad […]

  22. Shamed Russian
    December 21, 2010

    Too bad. Our country is full of cheap people who will do any crap for money.

    Sorry for them.

  23. Mark
    December 23, 2010

    The game is nice; the racist attitude isn’t.
    I think you owe an apology at least to the part of your paying customers who happen to share Russian accent.

  24. Sok
    December 23, 2010

    После прочтения всего, осталось впечатление как от пирамиды лебедева:
    http://img.artlebedev.ru/kovodstvo/sections/153/lebedev-pyramid.gif

    Причем автор явно причислил себя к верхушке.

  25. Alex
    December 23, 2010

    For those who say that “The Russian” hasn’t ever heard of this game, the personal part of his e-mail begins with “I admire the Osmos game by Hemisphere Games”. Nuff said.

    Now, about racism, sense of humor etc. Russians as usual are quick at accusing in former anyone mentioning them in negative context, and are completely luck of the later in such situations.

    At the same time I don’t know any other chauvinistic nation as they are. You have an example right above: comrade Sok didn’t even take a trouble of translating his message in English, he probably thinks that all other readers must understand Russian, otherwise they are racists.

  26. Raijinili
    December 23, 2010

    Alex, hush, people are trying not to be racist.

    Anyway: Was his offer of “other proposals” given a response?

  27. eddybox
    December 25, 2010

    @Mark: If you’ve read my comments, you know we had no racist sentiments when writing this post. “The Russian” represents a character in our story — not a people. But, if an apology from me can help convince anyone, I’m happy to do it. Sorry to all our Russian (and Russian-accented) friends out there! No insult intended. :)

    @Raijinili: After receiving his email, we felt his intentions and attitude were pretty clear, and decided no good would come of replying. Instead we followed up with Apple — though as I mentioned, we don’t know if/how they responded to our requests.

    The funny thing is, if he had presented his case a little differently we would have been willing to compensate him. For instance, if he had sent us a screenshot of his game showing the use of the name, saying it would cost him some time and money to change it, we would have been willing to pay him for the inconvenience. (Even though we feel we have legitimate rights to the game name.) But he began by asking us to offset his entire cost of development and future revenues, which is ludicrous. Moreover, he offered no evidence to back his claims. Given all that, and the tone of his email, we simply didn’t believe him. Yes, perhaps we could have gotten the name from him for a few hundred dollars and saved ourselves a lot of anxiety in the process. (It was tempting.) But we felt quite sure this was a cut-and-dry case of extortion and squatting, and decided to not deal with him.

  28. Cybermario
    December 31, 2010

    @Sok: peachy man, clear as water!

    @eddybox: i used to work as co-admin in an MMO years ago, i learned if you say wind people will say you was yelling HURRICANE!! and you will never convine them of the contrary, i dont know why people is like that, im mexican and i laugh of Mencia jokes (for those that know him, if not wiki!)

    P.S.
    Loving Osmos, got it with the Humble Bundle, awesome game!

  29. A Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy « The Bad End Blog
    January 17, 2011

    […] hit a snag when submitting an iPad version under the name Osmos HD.  Someone, known only as “The Russian“‘ had already submitted an app under that name.  Long story short, the […]

  30. How to Reserve an Application Name on the Apple App Store | Gutenberg Neto
    February 2, 2011

    […] peo­ple with no rela­tion what­so­ever to the orig­i­nal appli­ca­tion (take a look at the Osmos case). For­tu­nately, Apple allows you to reg­is­ter your appli­ca­tion even before it’s […]