I’m not obsolete yet!

The great guys at O’Reilly have applied for a trademark for the term Web 2.0.. And they’ve already started sending out cease and desist letters to people using the term..

Tim claims to have invented the term in an article with MediaLive International.. While this may be the case, I find it interesting on several levels..

1st. Since when does taking a common word (web) and slapping a standard software naming convention on it (2.0.1.a) make the term unique enough to claim a trademark??

2nd. Didn’t Tim make his money by building on the work of others to begin with?? Didn’t his entire publishing empire find it’s birth in providing manuls of other people’s work?? I wonder how many of those people saw donations from O’Reilly..

3rd. It’s simply bad form.. Here is a ‘hero’ of open source doing exactly the opposite in the name of profit..

I suppose it wouldn’t bother quite as much if he was actually holding the trademark.. But he isn’t.. He is simply holding an application for a trademark.. Welcome to the Darkside Tim, you’ll find the caviar and cigars over there on the ivory tables..

Fey ~