Scrabulous leaves Facebook

by Rob Peters | July 29, 2008 at 09:12 am

1326 views | 11 Recommendations | 30 comments

Scrabulous addicts in the U.S. and Canada who try to play a round on Facebook today are in for a rude awakening, as they'll likely get this message when they click on the application:

"Scrabulous is disabled for US and Canadian users until further notice. If you would like to stay informed about developments in this matter, please click here."

If you're thinking it's lawsuit-related, you're right. Hasbro, which has jurisdiction over the game in those countries, is filing a suit against the creators of Scrabulous. Mattel owns the Scrabble rights in other countries, however, and luckily that company is being a little nicer about the whole thing--so far, anyway.

Note that the Scrabulous site itself is still up and running and can help with all your at-work slacking needs. It's only Facebookers who will have to suffer.

Incidentally, I've already been the victim of trash talk from opponents who say I'm lucky to escape my current games without any losses. (Little did they know I was brewing a seven-letter Q word).

Facebook users in the U.S. and Canada can no longer access Scrabulous, the faux-Scrabble game that quickly became one of the most popular applications on its developer platform.

This was done independently on behalf of the Scrabulous creators, a Facebook representative told CNET News.com in an e-mail Tuesday. "In response to a legal request from Hasbro, the copyright and trademark holder for Scrabble in the U.S. and Canada, the developers of Scrabulous have suspended their application in the U.S. and Canada until further notice," the e-mail explained.

The game's disappearance comes in the wake of a lawsuit filed last week by Hasbro, the game manufacturer that owns the rights to Scrabble in the United States and Canada. In the suit, Hasbro named as defendants the creators of Scrabulous--India-based brothers Rajat and Jayant Agarwalla, and their company, RJ Softwares. The suit asked Facebook to pull the game, citing the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and asked the Agarwallas to close their Scrabulous.com site.

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farleyj

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 10:24 on July 29th, 2008

Rob Peters, I like this story. It's good stuff.

julianw

at 11:37 on July 29th, 2008

Nooo! Take Word Challenge. Take Bubble Town! Take anything else!

Amy Judd

at 11:40 on July 29th, 2008

I've never heard of Bubble Town before...

Rob Peters

at 11:43 on July 29th, 2008

I know, I'd even be willing to part with Super Pang, and that's saying a lot.

Ampersand Duck

at 15:25 on July 29th, 2008

If Hasbro were smart, they'd do a deal with the brothers where they get a cut. Taking it away is just plain silly and hurts their business reputation.

jasonainsworth75

at 17:06 on July 29th, 2008

Scrabble is really big in Canada--just like Facebook. Many of my friends play it; in Toronto they even play Scrabble outdoors just like this board I took the photo of.

jasonainsworth75 has contributed a photo to this story.

julianw

at 17:12 on July 29th, 2008

The superpoke application is also under fire.

Amy Judd

at 17:20 on July 29th, 2008

What's superpoke? I've only heard of the poke one...

Fidel Cathro

at 18:02 on July 29th, 2008

Shot of playing Scrabble taken one lazy Sunday by the fire in NSW coastal town of Avoca, Central Coast, Australia.

Shot by Fidel Cathro

http://www.flickr.com/allthegoodness

Fidel Cathro has contributed a photo to this story.

JoVaNnItA

at 19:36 on July 29th, 2008

JoVaNnItA has contributed a photo to this story.

JoVaNnItA

at 19:39 on July 29th, 2008

I like Scrabble to play and to take photos...Thanks for the invite :)

carinkyle

at 20:15 on July 29th, 2008

this is sad news... i just got into playing it with several friends. funny that i got the photo invite today!

Prezzo the Pirate

at 20:19 on July 29th, 2008

Me and my girlfriend are long distance. We play Scrabulous online to stay in touch. I don't know how we're going to maintain our relationship now that Scrabulous has been suspended.

Prezzo the Pirate has contributed a photo to this story.

DuckeeDiva

at 20:25 on July 29th, 2008

I miss Scrabulous on Facebook already... *sob*

DuckeeDiva has contributed a photo to this story.

drozdpaula

at 22:28 on July 29th, 2008

...

drozdpaula has contributed a photo to this story.

Miss Sophie♥

at 23:29 on July 29th, 2008

Just for fun we tried to prove a Chuck Norris fact on Scrabulous on Facebook: "If you spell Chuck Norris in Scrabble, you win. Forever.", but we failed. It was great fun.

Miss Sophie♥ has contributed a photo to this story.

jaydeepmensa

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 01:06 on July 30th, 2008

Rob Peters, I like this story. It's good stuff.

The Yann

at 01:34 on July 30th, 2008

The Yann has contributed a photo to this story.

Jordan Yerman

at 06:27 on July 30th, 2008

Dang! Nicole Billard and I were nearly at the end of an intense match, with only a few points separating us... a real nail-biter. Could have gone either way.

jrubinic

at 06:50 on July 30th, 2008

One of my favorite games. We were about done with the game and still hadn't opened up half the board. Have to admit after many passed turns, we did nudge a bit in the center, but not by much.

Down with Hasbro!

jrubinic has contributed a photo to this story.

quantumbrands

at 08:12 on July 30th, 2008

It's a shame that Hasbro has not negotiated a deal with the guys who developed the application. This is the 21st century, after all - and mash-ups are part of the new economy and way of life. For users, it spoils our fun and does not build brand citizenship up for Hasbro. People support the underdog instead of the bully.

Be creative, be open source and share in the possibilities!

paste eater

at 10:22 on July 30th, 2008

i was wondering how long it would take for scrabulous to get a cease and desist notice. its really too bad, i had multiple email games going when they shut it down. scrabulous help me quit smoking, now i need to find another online vice.

paste eater has contributed a photo to this story.

aliceinreality

at 10:33 on July 30th, 2008

I miss Scrabulous. =(

aliceinreality has contributed a photo to this story.

oh.my.stars.

at 15:30 on July 30th, 2008

vegetarian's choice.

oh.my.stars. has contributed a photo to this story.

oh.my.stars.

at 15:31 on July 30th, 2008

a choice meal for the two vegetarian's playing scrabble.

oh.my.stars. has contributed a photo to this story.

mchawk

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 04:19 on July 31st, 2008

Rob Peters, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Hasbro has just made a million enemies. Just how dumb can their PR department be? I can't see how they will ever recover from this. It has demonstrated how utterly out-of-touch they are with the zeitgeist. If they'd had half a clue, they'd have come to some arrangement with the brothers who wrote Scrabulous.

I've never before been so moved to boycott a board-game - this is a first for me.

sblyskal48

at 19:37 on August 3rd, 2008

I saw this "grafitti" in an alley in Ghent, Belgium last month. It looks like an on-going scrabble game using the bricks as the squares and using Flemish and English mostly, with a few other languages thrown in for uniqueness. Not knowing Flemish, I don't know if the non-English words are correct or not. Made some great final pictures for our afternoon in Ghent.

stone_singer48 has contributed a photo to this story.