Game over: Scrabulous exits Facebook in North America

UPDATED: Electronic Arts says the official version of Scrabble isn't working because it's fallen victim to a "malicious attack." Read this post about the Scrabble attack for more information.

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A minimum 13-point word that might signal game over for Scrabulous: N-I-X-E-D.

Hasbro scored big in its legal match against the popular but unauthorized version of Scrabble that's played online by millions of Facebook members. The creators of Scrabulous today shut down the game to players in the United States and Canada, where Hasbro owns the rights to Scrabble.

Mattel, which owns the rights to Scrabble elsewhere, has filed suit in India, where the two brothers behind Scrabulous, Rajat and Jayant Agarwalla, reside.

The shutdown came a week after Hasbro sued the Agarwallas and their company, RJ Softwares, for copyright infringement in New York federal court.

In a statement issued this morning, the Agarwallas said:

In deference to Facebook’s concerns and without prejudice to our legal rights, we have had to restrict our fans in USA and Canada from accessing the Scrabulous application on Facebook until further notice. This is an unfortunate event and not something that we are very pleased about, especially as Mattel has been pursuing the matter in Indian courts for the past few months. We will sincerely hope to bring to our fans brighter news in the days to come.

Scrabulous had half-a-million active players daily on Facebook, making it one of the most popular applications on the social networking site. Hasbro last month introduced a beta version of its official Scrabble game for Facebook. Initially scheduled for release to all users in July, Hasbro's version, developed by Electronic Arts, has been pushed out to mid-August, presumably to iron out issues spotted by players, including an inability to log on and delays in loading the game.

Hasbro, in a statement issued this morning, said it was aware of the problems and cited concern for players in its decision to wait several months before filing a lawsuit to shut down Scrabulous:

In deference to the fans, we waited in pursuing legal action until Electronic Arts had a legitimate alternative available.  We invite SCRABBLE fans in the U.S. and Canada to log onto Facebook and try out the authentic SCRABBLE application, now in open beta.  Both EA and Hasbro are monitoring feedback from fans, and we are already in the process of making changes that will result in a variety of improvements, including faster game play, leading up to the official launch scheduled for the first half of August.

That didn't go over well with Amber Loranger, a 24-year-old Scrabulous player in Portland, Ore. who woke up this morning to find that her games had been yanked. "I definitely think Hasbro lost some goodwill with people," said Loranger, who typically had 8 Scrabulous matches going at any one time, including a couple with her parents. "I'm trying to be an adult about it, but it's still sad. I wish they hadn't done that." 

-- Alex Pham

Photo: Screen shot of the Scrabulous game on Scrabulous.com

Comments

[Steph W]

Ack! Tell me about it, sister! I was shocked and saddened to see it shut down on facebook. Why can't they just pay the indian dudes for the software that's already working?!

[alec]

can anyone talk about the credit given to scrabulous for providing the image... which just so happens to NOT be scrabulous... or even close...
i am saddened by the loss of this wonderful program (especially cause hasbro is trying WAY to hard with the beta version of "authentic scrabble") , but even more disappointed in the researcher behind this article.

[ScrabulouSquirrel]

Because Steph, they lose money that way by paying for someone that ripped off their copyrighted material-- essentially paying someone for something you already own. Better to sue and get it shut down.

I'll miss it.

[Chris Gaither]

Alec, thanks for your comment. The image we used is indeed of Scrabulous, but it may look different than the one you're used to because it's not of the Facebook application. There are many versions of the game for different platforms. The image is from Scrabulous.com. We've updated the caption information to make that more clear.

[Rich Seymour]

I don't know the details of the case, but it always surprises me when a company sues instead of buying a company in a situation like this. Did the brothers ask for too much money? Were they too blatant in their stealing? There have been similar, but not exact copies of scrabble online in various places for a while.

Perhaps Hasbro and Mattel's lawyers thought that would've set bad precedent. Allowing people to make fake barbies until Mattel bought them might not be the best practice... yet... fake dolls are all over 99 cent stores famous for their lack of quality.

In this case, it seems scrabulous has the EA official Scrabble version beat in terms of usability.

Interesting stuff. Can't say I'm surprised... perhaps it's all just desserts for India calling on the WIPO for a mark on Basmati rice... Just kidding. ;-)

-Rich

[nellie bly]

i am really bummed. i lost my ranking and all my games and will not play "official" EA scrabble on priciple. why wouldn't hasbro just pony up? it was such a great application, one of the best i've ever seen on anywhere on the web ever. makes me not want to even play the board game anymore.

[Dave]

You know few things irk me more than these aging boomers who totally miss the positives of applications like these.

VP #1: Hey, people are talking about Scrabble again!

VP #2: But they are doing it without us getting money.

Facebook loving secretary: Yeah it'd be totally unfair if the creators of that game didn't get money for their creation!

VP #3: Umm, Butts and Brunot haven't made money off of scrabble for years since our corporation bought the patent up. And while we have seen less than $1,000,000 a year in profits from this old game, what is vital is that no one makes money other than us!

VP # 4: Hear hear! Launch a lawsuit that will cost millions in lawyer fees and bad publicity! Huzzah's and multi-million dollar severance packages all around! I'd rather the poor starving third world nations which make the product now lose their $3 a day wages than have some free version of the game floating around. We're not communists!

Facebook loving intern: Oh hey, here's a new scrabulous knock off program, and it already has %60 of the old srcabulous users.

VP# 1: Wait what did you say?

Facebok loving intern: Nothing, I was talking about the music these days.

VP #2: Hrm. Not like the music in our days. Like the Beatles and the Who. Never trust anyone over thirty... we used... to say.

[John Kuehne]

Proxy servers can easily be built to get around this, the same we we encourage Chinese internet users to use proxies to avoid their laws, and it may be that existing sites at proxy.org will work. I don't know, but find a good proxy - you might have to pay to avoid the withering amount of advertising - and login to see if scrabbulous works.

This is a good example of how the copyright and patent laws have been hijacked by big companies. The idea, as stated in the U.S. Constitution, is based on "limited time" of protection. With enough money, the Congress can be lubricated by big companies into making this effectively unlimited time.

So, innovation and new ideas - the very things our laws are supposed to protect - are being impeded by big money.

[Dardar]

Hasbro should have just bought Scrabulous out or done a deal with them. That way there would have been a smooth transition and millions of users wouldn't be pissed off. This was a very bad PR move for Hasbro and sends a message out to consumers that they don't care about them all they care about is the bottom line. Web users tend to be pretty loyal. I wonder if the Hasbro game will pick up speed. Probably not, from Scrabulous users.

[Will]

Scrabble was invented in 1948, 60 years ago!! Why this deserves to still be under copyright protection is beyond comprehension. Its unfortunate there is not enough money and interest to fight this on constitutional grounds.

[Akahn]

I was surprised this site wasn't taken down sooner. It's such a blatant violation of copyright laws and the core philosophical values governing our economy--property rights. In America, people, laws protect your rights to things that you create, and although the medium is different--computer vs cardboard and wood tiles--it's the same game and Hasbro's creation.

I doubt any of you who've posted comments wouldn't want credit for your ideas. So what if Hasbro wants to make money from it? That's insignificant to the argument. It's a matter of having your constitutional rights protected.

I mean, if I painted an identical copy of the Mona Lisa and advertised it as the Mona Lisa, would it be "The Mona Lisa" or just "a copy of The Mona Lisa?" Answer: a copy, just like Scrabulous. I'm sure you wouldn't want to take credit away from Da Vinci, would you?

Those of you who think Hasbro should have paid the Argawallas money for the Argawallas' version are crazy. Absolutely not! There wouldn't be a scrabulous if not for Hasbro's Scrabble. Good for Hasbro.

[JS]

This really sucks.....I must admit that this is probably 75% of the reason I even go to Facebook.....I tried to find friends using the Scrabulous website (as I'm not interested in playing with total strangers) and it's impossible. I won't be using the 'official' version either. Bah!

[JS]

However, it works with proxies....if you know what you're doing and how to use them and all that stuff...so I can use it, but I fear that I'm living on borrowed time.

[Alyssa]

Tragic, I really might cry. But here are some things that people can now do in its stead: http://www.236.com/news/2008/07/29/hasbro_singlehandedly_boosts_o_7997.php

[Julie]

Hey --did you know you can play scrabulous via email?

Just go to : http://www.scrabulous.com/

Of course it's not the same as making friends on facebook.

[HasbroHater]

This is rediculous...I had the best game of my life going and boom-bada-bing...gone like it never existed. Hasbro...now it's personal.

[Roger]

Just a matter of time Really. I loved Scrabulous as much as the next guy, however, I saw this lawsuit coming the first day I installed the app.

I guess I'll have to scrap my ideas for a real time/turn by turn, 2-8 player Monopoly application. Milton Bradly would probably come after me for that.

Lawsuits would have happened for any other copyrighted game, that will/would become a popular application on Facebook.

[Matt]

Really strange they sued them for copyright infringement, especially since games are NOT COPYRIGHTABLE. Check this link out.

http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl108.html

[peke_ito2]

Scrabulously saddened
I loved Scrabulous... 30 active games almost all the time. I don't like the beta version...it sucks. uhm and maybe will stop using facebook too. the only reason i use facebook is because of scrabulous... its the only application in facebook that i like... and it looks clean compared to beta... i'll miss scrabulous... :-(