UPDATE January 2, 2009: Wordscraper on Facebook is now called Lexulous (renamed). The www.lexulous.com site seems to be down at the moment. I have no information about that. I checked out the board at Facebook and it is much improved over Wordscraper. It appears the customization feature is gone and the board is back to a close but not exact simulation of Scrabble. I wouldn't mind this one. No more of those ridiculous 4W and 4L squares, no more circles instead of squares, and back to the nice colors we liked with our old Scrabulous. This might be all right.
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The Agarwalla brothers have posted a message on the Lexulous web site explaining that, as a settlement in their lawsuit with Hasbro, we will no longer be able to have customized boards that resemble the Scrabble board. In addition, we will play with 8 letters instead of 7. Many players on Facebook have finally given up. My long-time partner and I are giving it up too, and reluctantly going to Hasbro's Scrabble on Facebook. It still is too colorful and lacks some features we had grown to like with our old Scrabulous. How stupid on both sides that they didn't just work something out and keep the half million users who loved the game. Disappointing, yes, but we'll move on.
Here's the message in full:
KOLKATA, India - December 12th - RJ Softwares today announced that it has settled the litigation brought by Hasbro Inc., a Pawtucket, RI, USA, based company that owns the U.S. and Canadian rights to the SCRABBLE crossword game. The settlement resolves disputes concerning Scrabulous, previously offered by RJ Softwares, as well as Lexulous, and Wordscraper that are currently offered by RJ Softwares.
Pursuant to the settlement, RJ Softwares has agreed not to use the term Scrabulous and has made changes to the Lexulous and Wordscraper games (in the U.S. and Canada) to distinguish them from the SCRABBLE crossword game. Based on these modifications Hasbro has agreed to withdraw the litigation filed against RJ Softwares in federal court in New York in July of this year. As modified, the Wordscraper application will continue to be available on Facebook and Lexulous will be available on the Lexulous.com website.
The agreement provides people in the U.S. and Canada with a choice of different games and also avoids potentially lengthy and costly litigation's.
RJ Softwares acknowledges the guidance and support provided by Rajiv Khaitan of Khaitan & Co., India as well as his Meritas colleague, Rose Auslander, of Carter Ledyard & Milburn LLP, New York and their entire team of lawyers, in negotiating the litigation and settlement process for the firm.
About RJ Softwares
RJ Softwares develops high quality interactive online games that are fun to play! Founded in 2000 by St. Xavier's College commerce students Rajat and Jayant Agarwalla, RJ Softwares' products engage a global audience. RJ Softwares is headquartered in Kolkata, India. For more information, visit www.rjs.in or, www.lexulous.com
