Hey Gents,
I don't think anyone believes you have any bad intentions towards SW/Eden. We think it is awesome that you have jumped into the EOS space and are thinking about becoming a Block Producer.
I don't think @summerskin or @cjane are arguing with you about the legality of your name choice. They are only pointing out that it will cause confusion.
As Summerskin mentioned, Eric joined the community very early on, launching the first public Testnet. He was the 2nd BP to announce his candidacy. When he did that, he chose to use the name EOS Sweden. Eric has connected with thousands of folks in the EOS community around the world. This has happened through Telegram, Twitter, other social media platforms and the Testnets. The thousands he connected with have known him as Eric from EOS Sweden. In fact, way back at the beginning, when he announced his candidacy with the folks at EOSgo that's what he used AND his URL on that EOSgo BP portal, is https://bp.eosgo.io/listing/eos-sweden/
You probably didn't notice your URL is the same except with a "2" after eos-sweden https://bp.eosgo.io/listing/eos-sweden-2/ That's really confusing.
Eric and Vahid wanted to get away from that name but were slammed with all the work they were doing with other BP candidates and didn't get around to changing the name until the start of April when I joined the team. Since we knew everyone saw them as EOS Sweden we decided to have a longer transition to the name SW/Eden much like Nissan did in the 80s when they dropped the Datsun brand.
In regard to the EOSgo BP Portal, I know it can take time to fill those out and you are running another businness. So it's understandable that you didn't have time to to look at the other BP candidates when you created your profile. Had you looked on the map, you would have seen SW/Eden right up the road from you and would have noticed their URL. If you had clicked on our site you would have read the words "EOS Sweden is SW/Eden".
Life get's busy, so you probably missed the meet-ups that Vahid hosted in Stockholm under the name EOS Sweden. Everyone knows Telegram can be chaotic, so you probably also missed BPs talking about Eric and other people like Thomas Cox from Block.One referring to Eric as "Eric from EOS Sweden".
No one is questioning your integrity. As has been pointed out by others though, keeping a name that another brand has used in the past will create voter confusion. You have stated clearly that is not your intent, Which is fantastic. We can also see that you are wanting to abide by the law. Which is also great. Could Eric have done some things different in the beginning - Possibly.
I think the only thing people are trying to avoid is confusion for the voter. We can post all we want about the name change. You can post all you want about not being SW/Eden. However, just as you demonstrated by missing all the different things about Eric and his previous incarnation as EOS Sweden, people won't always see what they need to see to make the best choice. Therefore, there will be voter confusion.
I know because of everything you have said, that is the last thing you would want.
You have some options to consider.
Hello @seanxa
Thanks for explanation. Voters will be confused if they see 2 identical names as eos-sweden for Block Producers to cast there vote after chain launches. Is that even technically possible to have 2 Block Producers with identical names? I don't think so. We are not ready yet and I assume SW/Eden is already ready and producing blocks in test networks. So there should not be any confusion from day 1 for voters to cast vote. Whenever we will be ready (if we gets ready in future) we will ensure that we do not use identical name in EOS as Block Producer's ID. We are 100% willing to listen, understand and cooperate with everyone in EOS communities. By the way our logo looks very different than SW/Eden and there is no confusion!
Identical names is not what will cause voter confusion. Some people will see EOS Sweden and think oh that must be Eric because they didn't hear about the name change - no matter how much we post - some people will miss it. There is also a good chance someone will tell their friends to vote for Eric at EOS Sweden and then their vote might not go where they intended.
Voter confusion is not about identical names but about an old name being reused by someone else.
You are right, it will be super helpful that you are waiting a bit before launching. I appreciate that you are so willing to listen and be open and consider the best way to avoid Voter confusion in the future.