There are two problems with today’s shit-storm over the term “web 2.0.” (As discussed by Cam and I this morning in G’Day World.)
Firstly, that IT@Cork received a letter from lawyers that not so subtly tells them they have no right to use the term Web 2.0 in the name of their conference. That sucks, especially such a letter that pulls no punches.
This has now been addressed by brady at O’Reilly Radar, the blog of O’Reilly Media. He points out that the letter wasn’t smart, and that they should have called to chat with IT@Cork first.
The second problem, and a much grander one, is the actual application for service trademark of the term “web 2.0.” It’s actually an ironic move. You see, “web 2.0″ is meant to embody the current thinking of the Internet, which is partially about sharing and communities. Trademarking the term, for whatever reason, is exactly the opposite: it strips away any sharing and slaps on control that makes it hard for a community to use it.
As part of my degree I studied trademark law, but not being a lawyer you should take this next thought with a pinch of salt. I think they’d find it hard to prove they are eligible for a trademark on the term. As Tim himself pointed out last September, the term had “9.5 million citations in Google,” now it has 812 million. When a term falls into generic use, its impossible to defend a trademark against it. So, should CMP/O’Reilly own the term “web 2.0,” or should the community?
On a related note, I see that O’Reilly Radar is licensed under Creative Commons, but also claims a Copyright at the bottom of the page. It seems they can’t make up their mind if their open, or closed.
3 Comments
I’ve been having a quiet giggle over this, I can’t believe how silly and contradictory this behaviour is! Does this now mean I can’t run a training session called ‘Web 2.0? Library 2.0? Where to?’ Hmmmph!
CW – I to am entertained. Yet another great spectator sport, and I’m looking forward to watching it unfold over the next few days. I can’t say O’Reilly’s reputation will escape unscathed.
I’m soooo tempted to have a conference called the Australian Web 2.0 Conference, just to push a boundary or two.
Oh yes let’s have a conference!!
(Now we will see an explosion of Web 2.0 conferences… hehe)
What were they thinking?! Do they really mean to provoke the blogosphere that much? Why dont they try to trademark the word ‘blogosphere’ next. Oh, and have ‘blog’ too, while you’re at it. *rolls eyes*
(And of course the O’Reilly factor has evoked images of Fawlty Towers and O’Reilly and Basil getting the door put in the wrong place, and Manuel going “Orally, Orally”.. http://www.fawltysite.net/episode02.htm )