Elektronorgtechnica
IndustryImport/export of electronics
Founded1971
Defunct2005
FateSold to The Tetris Company in 2005
Headquarters
Moscow
,
Russia
ParentMinistry of Foreign Trade of the USSR (until 1989)
Integrated circuits with the logo of Elektronorgtechnika

Elektronorgtechnica (also spelled Electronorgtechnica, Russian: Всесою́зное Объедине́ние «Электро́норгтехника», tr. Vsesoyúznoye Obyedinéniye "Elektrónorgtekhnika"), 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 copyright notice on the back cover of the 1987 edition of 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]

References

  1. ^ a b "Интеллектуальная собственность / Тетрис". Kommersant. 12 September 1995. Archived from the original on 18 September 2017. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  2. ^ "Список министерств и ведомств, их структурных подразделений и подведомственных организаций, документы которых переданы" (PDF). Economy.gov.ru. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 September 2017. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  3. ^ Museum of Soviet Calculators on the Web - Export and Foreign Archived 2006-06-15 at the Wayback Machine, accessed June 1, 2006
  4. ^ "New Chips". Byte Magazine. 9 (12). 1984. Archived from the original on 17 February 2017. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  5. ^ "Чаепитие в честь 20 лет IBM на российском рынке". 7 September 1992. Archived from the original on 18 September 2017. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  6. ^ Ichbiah, Daniel (1997). La Saga des Jeux Vidéo (in French) (1st ed.). Pix'N Love Editions. p. 95. ISBN 2266087630.
  7. ^ Books, Worth (2017). Summary and Analysis of The Tetris Effect: The Game that Hypnotized the World: Based on the Book by Dan Ackerman. Open Road Media. p. 30. ISBN 9781504008716. Archived from the original on 2017-09-21.
  8. ^ "CASE NO. 12-2-23972-0 SEA" (PDF). Summitlaw.com. p. 5. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 September 2017. Retrieved 21 September 2017.
  9. ^ Atari HQ: Tetris History Archived 2012-05-07 at the Wayback Machine, accessed June 1, 2006
  10. ^ "Tetris Story" Archived 2006-08-21 at the Wayback Machine by Vadim Gerasimov, accessed April 15, 2007
  11. ^ PR Newswire - "Tetris Inventor Gets His Due in Historic Russia/US Joint Venture" Archived 2012-02-12 at the Wayback Machine, accessed June 1, 2006
  12. ^ The Tetris Taxonomy - "Putting the puzzle pieces back together: Alexey Pajitnov has a new game plan for Tetris." Archived 2006-06-22 at the Wayback Machine, accessed June 1, 2006
  13. ^ Hartley, Matt (2009-06-06). "Rock around the blocks - The Globe and Mail". Toronto. Archived from the original on February 4, 2013. Retrieved 2011-02-17.
  14. ^ Remo, Chris (2009-09-10). "The Man Who Won Tetris". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on 2014-04-18. Retrieved 2014-04-17.
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