In 1993 when Delaware North acquired the concessionaire contract for Yosemite, it had to buy all of the associated intellectual property. So there is no question that it owns all of those names and is due just compensation from the federal government if those names are to continue to be used. The only question is how much those names are currently worth. Instead of going to court to determine what the amount would be, the Feds decided to just rename everything, which is their prerogative. So I am not sure why a boycott is called for as this is just a question of how much money would be owed if the names are to be purchased. The Feds were the ones that decided not to find out what that number would be.

As for services, it is not much different than what captive audiences have to deal with at ballparks or airports. At least with the National Parks, we generally don't have to use the concessionaire's services if we don't want to.

As for those that think the Feds can do a better job, I am reminded of another intellectual property issue. When AMTRAK took over all of the passenger trains, Santa Fe said that it could still use the name Super Chief for its Chicago-LA train. But just three years later, Santa Fe revoked that license because of a decline in the quality of service by AMTRAK.


Edited by ndsol (01/17/16 09:37 PM)