Scrabulous told to shut it down

In a move that reeks of short-sightedness and old business, the brass at Hasbro and Mattel have told Rajat and Jayant Agarwalla (the brothers behind the facebook application Scrabulous) to shut down their facebook application because it infringes on their copyright.

Scrabble is a old standard board game that is probably past it’s prime (like most board games). The target for those games is not the 15-30 year olds that are on facebook. However, there are about 550,000 daily users of Scrabulous on facebook. Most facebook users fall within that 15-30 year age range. That seems like a market that is excited about your product Hasbro and Mattel. Seems to me that you should try and capture those users, and not piss them off.

If you burn this bridge, it doesn’t mean that they won’t play Scrabble, but it does mean that they’ll find ways to not have to pay to play Scrabble. Whether it’s a facebook application, or some other software developer who decides to distribute a version of your game. Turns out that you should have led the way and developed a facebook application of your game. But you didn’t, so these 2 brothers did. They developed the game for you. People love it. I love it. Seems like it would be a great idea to tell them that you want to partner with them. Hell, even ask them to develop other games into facebook applications for your companies. It’s obvious they know how to do it, and you don’t.

I’m all for copyright protection, and digital rights and all that stuff. It’s essential to the ecosystem we live in, but it’s just so short-sighted to throw lawyers into a situation that should be handled with  tip of the cap, and compensation for the work the Agarwalla brothers have done to market your game to a new market. 

Don’t take Scrabulous away from us. It’s fun, and it’s a way to enjoy your game with people all over the world. I understand you want a piece of the action. Can’t we all just get along, drink some tea, eat one of Grandma’s cookies, and play some Scrabble?