Yeah, SPARC International's web site got hacked. Even after cleaning out the hack-ery, it took a LONG time working with Google to get the warnings removed. Some non-Google services still report it as infected, even though (in theory) it's no longer hacked. SI is still combing its site, looking for any additional hacks that might have been missed.

This whole thread reminds me of the wild rumors that we all get, propagated through email ... you know, the ones that get us righteously(!) riled up on some issue. We feel totally justified in our indignation -- until we discover that the reality isn't nearly as interesting as the story was depicted, and all the fun goes out of the discussion :-(.

I don't want to spoil all the good Fun(tm) in this lively discussion, but here are some actual facts to consider:

1. Sun Microsystems does *not* own the SPARC trademark. SPARC International ("SI"), an industry trade organization, has owned the SPARC trademark for *over 20 years*.
2. Sun, along with many other companies, pays fees to SPARC International to license its uses of the SPARC trademark. Sun is a SPARC licensee, it doesn't own the trademark. Sun has no issue with SparkFun.
3. Sun neither owns nor controls SI. Sun, however, is a member company of SI and Sun does hold one seat on SI's board of directors.
4. Sun did *not* send the C&D letter in question to SparkFun. It does not own the SPARC trademark so can't send a C&D letter to anyone. The C&D letter came from SPARC International.
5. Many of us reading this forum are geeks (and proud of it!). But anyone with business experience knows that if you receive a letter from a lawyer, it can only truly be understood by other lawyers ;-). A C&D letter like the one SparkFun received isn't nearly as omninous as it sounds -- in fact, it's quite routine (companies like IBM, Intel, and Apple, for example, probably each send out hundreds of C&D letters per year). When lawyers read a C&D letter, they see right through all the boilerplate and what they read is simply, "We think there may be a conflict; let's talk". That's it. And in fact, that's exactly what SI and SparkFun have been doing this week -- while flames were raging on this forum, the two companies have been working on an actual resolution. All the public drama does not help either SparkFun or SI (and least of all Sun, which is essentially an innocent bystander).
6. Parts of Sun have had contact with SparkFun over time, and in fact have had a very favorable impression of it.
7. Sun is (understandably now, I hope) totally dumbfounded over the flames directed at it about an issue between two other companies (SparkFun and SI).

I serve as Sun's representative to SPARC Int'l (to whom WebMink referred, above). As you can imagine, I've been hearing about this issue this week.

My understanding is that a resolution between SI and SparkFun has been in progress (despite the negative chatter that has been going on). Let's chill out for a few days and wait to hear how that turns out. There really isn't anything to discuss until the two companies have completed their talks ... at which time we can either all go home satisfied, or if we want, get all riled up again ;-).

But please don't dump on Sun for something between two *other* companies.