Check out this ode to Scrabulous, set to Fergie’s ‘Glamorous‘:

I’m hoping Hasbro resolves their copyright dispute with the Agarwallas sensibly. The Scrabulous developers are either copyright pirates or innovators in the mold of Napster and the movie industry, which landed on the West Coast to escape movie camera patents back east:

Edison and his partners created the Motion Picture Patents Company in 1908, which until 1918 held an almost complete monopoly in camera and projection equipment licensing… These Jewish producers moved to Hollywood from the East Coast in the teens and twenties because of the abundant sunlight, cheap non-union labor and distance from the enforcers of the Edison Patents Company. [Link]

MP3 players and VCRs too were hounded by IP lawyers before content owners realized it was more profitable to supply people’s passion. I’ve played Scrabulous with people I haven’t talked to in years, wondering whether the words turning up were ouija-like, passive-aggressive assessments of our friendship. (Hello, ‘apathetic.’) People truly love the game, so licensing or acquiring Scrabulous is a distinct business opportunity, though it’s unclear whether it’s large enough for Hasbro.

… she checks her games as many as five times a day… “For someone like me who doesn’t even play Scrabble the board game, but love, love, loves Scrabulous, it’s disappointing…”

Elisha Boudreau, a 25-year-old trade-desk analyst from Cambridge, says Scrabulous helped seal the deal with her husband, David. Playing as many as five games per day added “a whole new element to our relationship”… When the couple was married in October, David bought a Scrabble board as a housewarming gift, joining legions of Scrabulous fans who’ve been inspired to put money in Hasbro’s pockets. [Link]

Previously: Scrabble: also Indian