Fare thee well...for now, at least

Imagine my surprise when I logged onto Facebook yesterday, clicked on my favorite application, and saw, "Scrabulous is disabled for U.S. and Canadian users until further notice." I had no knowledge of the fights between the owners of Scrabulous and Hasbro (which owns the rights to Scrabble within the U.S. and Canada), let alone that Hasbro had filed a lawsuit. I also didn't know how many people really cared about the Scrabble imitator. I've read several articles from many different news outlets and blogs worldwide. It is a comfort to know that I'm not alone in my misery, because, after all, misery does love company. But times like these make me want to shout, "Can't we all just get along?"

Yes, the Scrabulous Web site is functioning just fine. (But it's not the same as playing it on Facebook!) And Facebook's Scrabulous application still works everywhere else in the world. Mattel owns the rights to Scrabble outside the two countries, and it is not involved in the legal action. I say, "Good for you, Mattel! Maybe I'll buy some Barbies!" That doesn't make me feel much better, though. As of two days ago, I was engaging in a game of Scrabulous with an acquaintance in England, and now he can't even finish his game!

In only a couple of days, groups dedicated to saving our beloved Facebook application have grown intensely in popularity, including Save Scrabulous (though there are many groups with this name), Give us Scrabulous or Give us Death! [sic], Please, God, I Have So Little: Don't Take Scrabulous, Too and even If Hasbro Kills Scrabulous, I will die! There are also petitions, many of which launched when the troubles began early this year. In an effort to "fill the void," Scrabble has launched a beta Facebook application that is pretty and flashy, but extremely slow and technically riddled with problems. I've tried to start a game, but I get a "Sorry, we aren't working right now" message almost every time I try to use the application. Its "official launch" is scheduled for mid-August, but let's hope Hasbro has come to an agreement with the Agarwallas before then.


*EDIT* I'd like to correct the statement about Mattel not taking part in the Scrabulous lawsuits. Apparently, the company has made a lawsuit in India. No Barbies for me!