Elektronorgtechnica Explained

Elektronorgtechnica
Industry:Import/export of electronics
Fate:Sold to The Tetris Company in 2005
Predecessors:-->
Founded:1971
Founders:-->
Defunct:2005
Hq Location City:Moscow
Hq Location Country:Russia
Areas Served:-->
Owners:-->
Parent:Ministry of Foreign Trade of the USSR (until 1989)

Elektronorgtechnica (also spelled Electronorgtechnica,), better known abbreviated as ELORG (Элорг), was a state-owned organization with a monopoly on the import and export of computer support and hardware and software in the Soviet Union.[1] It was controlled by the Ministry of Foreign Trade of the USSR from 1971 to 1989.[2]

The company was associated with the export of Soviet design calculators, Electronika being one brand that was exported, rebranding them as ELORG products.[3] Elorg also marketed the Agat computer,[4] and imported IBM computers into the Soviet Union, starting with the IBM System/360 Model 50 in 1971.[5]

Robert Maxwell pressured Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev to cancel the contract between Elorg and Nintendo concerning the rights to the game Tetris.[6]

In 1991, as the Soviet Union was being dissolved, Elorg was turned into a private business by its director, Nikolai Belikov.[7] Elorg was sold to The Tetris Company in January 2005 for $15 million.[8]

Tetris

ELORG was responsible for the licensing of the popular video game Tetris.[9] Tetris was written by salaried programmers at the Soviet Academy of Sciences, which was not allowed to carry out commercial activities directly.[1] As the game was owned by the state, all rights to the game worldwide were handled by ELORG.[10] In 1996 ELORG was reportedly a privatised Russian company which retained the rights to the Tetris trademark.[11] [12]

ELORG was a partner in The Tetris Company which licenses the Tetris name to game companies, along with Tetris creator Alexey Pajitnov and businessman Henk Rogers. Elorg was a 50 percent owner in the company until Rogers and Pajitnov bought ELORG's remaining rights around 2005.[13] [14]

Notes and References

  1. News: Интеллектуальная собственность / Тетрис. 17 September 2017. Kommersant. 12 September 1995. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20170918064619/https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/11471. 18 September 2017.
  2. Web site: Список министерств и ведомств, их структурных подразделений и подведомственных организаций, документы которых переданы. Economy.gov.ru. 17 September 2017. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20170917214129/http://economy.gov.ru/wps/wcm/connect/cf224939-c861-4a3d-8d37-1a11d3bb36ca/archlist2016.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=cf224939-c861-4a3d-8d37-1a11d3bb36ca. 17 September 2017.
  3. http://www.taswegian.com/MOSCOW/contentsassorted.html Museum of Soviet Calculators on the Web - Export and Foreign
  4. New Chips. Byte Magazine. 1984. 9. 12. 17 September 2017. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20170217095727/https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1984-11/1984_11_BYTE_09-12_New_Chips#page/n135/mode/1up. 17 February 2017.
  5. News: Чаепитие в честь 20 лет IBM на российском рынке. 17 September 2017. 7 September 1992. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20170918020958/https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/6669. 18 September 2017.
  6. Book: Ichbiah, Daniel . La Saga des Jeux Vidéo . fr . 1997 . Pix'N Love Editions . 1st . 95 . 2266087630.
  7. Book: Books. Worth. Summary and Analysis of The Tetris Effect: The Game that Hypnotized the World: Based on the Book by Dan Ackerman. 2017. Open Road Media. 9781504008716. 30. en. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20170921214120/https://books.google.com/books?id=FpmxDgAAQBAJ&pg=PT30. 2017-09-21.
  8. Web site: CASE NO. 12-2-23972-0 SEA. Summitlaw.com. 21 September 2017. 5. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20170921214120/http://www.summitlaw.com/uploads/pdf/2014-07-17-belikov-memorandum-opinion.pdf. 21 September 2017.
  9. http://www.atarihq.com/tsr/special/tetrishist.html Atari HQ: Tetris History
  10. http://vadim.oversigma.com/Tetris.htm "Tetris Story"
  11. http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/cgi/news/release?id=34683 PR Newswire - "Tetris Inventor Gets His Due in Historic Russia/US Joint Venture"
  12. http://www.arkmay.com/tetris/articles/alexey.html The Tetris Taxonomy - "Putting the puzzle pieces back together: Alexey Pajitnov has a new game plan for Tetris."
  13. News: Rock around the blocks - The Globe and Mail . https://archive.today/20130204022009/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/rock-around-the-blocks/article1171379/page2/ . dead . February 4, 2013 . 2011-02-17 . Toronto . Matt . Hartley . 2009-06-06 .
  14. Web site: The Man Who Won Tetris . . 2009-09-10 . Remo, Chris . 2014-04-17 . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20140418234540/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/132518/the_man_who_won_tetris.php . 2014-04-18 .

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