Let's face it, Atari have been a bit over-zealous with their claims of ownership of various Interweb sites using "Atari" in their domain name. And it's all seemed a bit absurd. However, being one of those affected by this kerfuffle, I'm happy to report some satisfactory progress in resolution of the issue.

Firstly, let's get it out of the way -- Atari didn't realise who I was, or how I had contributed to the community. And, given the state of my website when they happened to look this is perfectly understandable. We have sorted this out and I've been very happy to receive an apology from them. Accepted, so let's move on.

And that's the next step -- moving on. I think this is an opportunity for all of us; the retro community and Atari the company. Surely there's a way that we can work together and support the Atari 2600 and those who still love it, for whatever reason. That's what I'm interested in achieving, and it seems to me that Atari are genuinely interested in exploring some of the suggestions that I've made along these lines.

So, for the short while until I get a chance to rebuild my site, please be aware that I'm at peace with the current situation. Nothing has been taken from me, nor have I had to make any compromises which don't sit well with my conscience. I don't have any threats or demands hanging over my head. All is OK. I do understand and respect that Atari absolutely must protect their trademark and copyright. They may have started out on the wrong foot, and clumsily stumbled in their first approach. But I'd like to give them the benefit of the doubt here, and see if in a year or two we're actually finding there are community benefits in working with them. I believe what they're interested in doing is a) cleaning up the mess of misuse of their copyrighted and trademarked property and, b) establishing a beneficial relationship with Atari fans of yesteryear.

I'll try and get some real content up in a week or two.

Cheers!