{"rewrite":{"id":"r_d924f4ab1b15f2873c568d0a","clusterId":"c_7a28875b2005dc3931b1beee","slug":"twitter-now-launches-as-former-twitter-lawyer-challenges-x","model":"deepseek-v4-flash","headline":"Twitter.now Launches as Former Twitter Lawyer Challenges X","summary":"Stephen Coates, a former Twitter lawyer, launched Twitter.now on August 27, 2026. The new social network charges $20 for founding membership and $40 for a Fighter status, with fees funding his trademark fight against X. A judge's preliminary ruling suggested X may have abandoned claims to the Twitter brand.","whyItMatters":"The launch follows a preliminary court ruling that X appears to have abandoned its intellectual property claims to the Twitter name, giving Coates a legal opening to revive the brand.","webCardHtml":"\u003cp\u003eTwitter.now is live, built by Stephen Coates, the former Twitter lawyer who has spent months trying to cancel X\u0026#39;s trademarks on the Twitter and Tweet names. The site resembles the old Twitter, with reply and retweet functions, and adds an automatic fact-checking tool called Vera, which uses Gemini to check the reliability of posted information.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCoates frames the project as a public square organized around trust, transparency, and user choice. Founding members pay $20 for early access, a numbered badge, and a desired handle. A $40 Fighter tier adds a badge of a bird holding a slingshot, and the site lists the fight against X as one of its goals, explaining that the fee funds that fight.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe launch follows an April 2026 hearing where District Court Judge Colm Connolly issued a preliminary ruling that X appears to have abandoned its claims to the word Tweet, the bird logo, and possibly the word Twitter. No formal written order has been issued. Twitter.now had only a few hundred users at the time of writing.\u003c/p\u003e","blueskyPost":"Twitter.now's $20 and $40 tiers turn a trademark dispute into a revenue model. The judge's preliminary ruling that X may have abandoned the Twitter brand gives Coates leverage beyond the courtroom.","twitterPost":"Twitter.now monetizes its trademark fight with $20 and $40 tiers. The judge's preliminary ruling that X may have abandoned the Twitter brand is the real leverage.","threadsPost":"Twitter.now's pricing turns a trademark fight into a business model. Founding membership costs $20, Fighter status $40, and the fees fund Coates's legal battle. The judge's preliminary ruling that X may have abandoned the Twitter brand gives him a stronger hand than most challengers have.","newsletterBlurb":"Stephen Coates, the former Twitter lawyer fighting X over the Twitter name, launched Twitter.now on August 27. The site charges $20 for founding membership and $40 for Fighter status, with fees going toward his trademark fight. A judge's preliminary ruling suggested X may have abandoned its claims to the brand.","attributionJson":"[{\"source\":\"GIGAZINE\",\"url\":\"https://gigazine.net/news/20260827-twitter-now-launches/\",\"title\":\"'Twitter' Launches\"}]","lintFlagsJson":null,"lintHits":0,"costUsd":0,"inputTokens":4472,"outputTokens":610,"status":"published","repairAttempts":0,"nextRepairAt":null,"factsAttemptedAt":1788014279,"createdAt":"2026-08-29T14:29:31.000Z","publishedAt":"2026-08-29T14:31:45.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-08-29T14:29:31.000Z"},"cluster":{"id":"c_7a28875b2005dc3931b1beee","canonicalTitle":"「Twitter」がリリースされる","representativeArticleId":"a_2b1d70610ed8724e841ca90c","sourceCount":1,"writtenSourceCount":1,"writeAttempts":0,"isSolo":true,"entitiesJson":"{\"anime_titles\":[],\"manga_titles\":[],\"work_titles\":[\"Twitter.now\"],\"studios\":[],\"people\":[\"Steven Coates\"],\"type\":\"news\",\"domain\":\"other\",\"is_roundup\":false}","contentType":"news","status":"published","firstSeenAt":"2026-08-27T02:26:00.000Z","lastSeenAt":"2026-08-27T02:26:00.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-08-29T14:31:45.000Z"},"attribution":[{"source":"GIGAZINE","url":"https://gigazine.net/news/20260827-twitter-now-launches/","title":"「Twitter」がリリースされる"}],"entities":{"anime_titles":[],"manga_titles":[],"work_titles":["Twitter.now"],"studios":[],"people":["Steven Coates"],"type":"news","domain":"other","is_roundup":false},"keyFacts":null}