Elektronorgtechnica
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 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]
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Industry | Import/Export of electronics |
---|---|
Fate | Sold to The Tetris Company in 2005 |
Founded | 1971 |
Defunct | 2005 |
Headquarters | , |
Parent | Ministry of Foreign Trade of the USSR (until 1989) |
![](../I/USSR_K155TM2_(%253D7474).jpg.webp)
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]
In 1991, as the Soviet Union was being dissolved, Elorg was turned into a private business by its director, Nikolai Belikov.[6] Elorg was sold to The Tetris Company in January 2005 for $15 million.[7]
Tetris
![](../I/Tetris_Elorg_Copyright.png.webp)
ELORG was responsible for the licensing of the popular video game Tetris.[8] 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.[9] In 1996 ELORG was reportedly a privatised Russian company which has retained the rights to the Tetris trademark.[10][11]
ELORG was a partner in The Tetris Company which licences 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.[12][13]
References
- "Интеллектуальная собственность / Тетрис". Kommersant. 12 September 1995. Archived from the original on 18 September 2017. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
- "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.
- Museum of Soviet Calculators on the Web - Export and Foreign Archived 2006-06-15 at the Wayback Machine, accessed June 1, 2006
- "New Chips". Byte Magazine. 9 (12). 1984. Archived from the original on 17 February 2017. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
- "Чаепитие в честь 20 лет IBM на российском рынке". 7 September 1992. Archived from the original on 18 September 2017. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
- 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.
- "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.
- Atari HQ: Tetris History Archived 2012-05-07 at the Wayback Machine, accessed June 1, 2006
- "Tetris Story" Archived 2006-08-21 at the Wayback Machine by Vadim Gerasimov, accessed April 15, 2007
- 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
- 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
- Hartley, Matt (2009-06-06). "Rock around the blocks - The Globe and Mail". Toronto. Retrieved 2011-02-17.
- Remo, Chris (2009-09-10). "The Man Who Won Tetris". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on 2014-04-18. Retrieved 2014-04-17.