IE? Indo-European/Internet Explorer

[carljweber]

The following just came up on cybalist at yahoogroups.com , the Indo-European
discussion group.
Carl Jeffrey Weber,
Chicago
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In 1998, Microsoft Corp., accused (oh, how unfairly) of stealing the name
"Internet Explorer" from Synet Inc., agreed to pay $5 million to Synet's
trustees to end a legal battle over the use of the name. In return,
Microsoft now owns Synet's trademark registrations for the name "Internet
Explorer" in the state of Illinois. This includes the abbreviation "IE",
which is regarded by Microsoft as a copyrighted product and a legally
protected brand name. Microsoft's lawyers have just notified eGroups that
the unauthorised use of the abbreviation "IE" on the Internet (regardless of
its actual reference) will qualify as copyright infringement and all
necessary legal steps will be taken to discourage it. We are therefore
requested to invent a new abbreviation for "Indo-European" or to use the
unabbreviated term. "PIE" cannot be used either, since it has also been
copyrighted as the abbreviated form of of "Personalized Internet Experience"
("The Microsoft PIE").

Piotr