Apple Computer has slapped Podcast Ready with a “cease and desist” letter, claiming that the terms “Podcast Ready” and “myPodder” infringe Apple’s trademarks, and that they cause confusion among consumers. #
Fuck. You. Apple. Fuck you up your ass.
Update: Some more info.
Update: A good rundown. Trademarking ‘podcast ready’?… ASSholes (Thanks Ze-in-my-head).
AudiCasts! ;)
I envision a throwing competition with
dwarveslittle people inside Audi’s…I don’t get it. I would think they’d like the term because it implies that, if you listen to podcasts, you should buy an iPod
Stupid stupid stupid. v_v
I think the problem is the same as what Google recently started suing for, namely the preservation of a trademark. Thing is, if ‘to google’ becomes synonymous with ‘searching’, Google looses their trademark in the same way that Hoover and Xerox have lost the right to their names.
There’s a difference here though, Apple adopted ‘podcasting’, a term created by the community on its own, without even trying to change the name (obviously in their favor), which means they have actually encouraged people to adopt it as a generalized term.
podcast
ipod
Wow, I think I just lost all respect for Apple. And Michael, you’re right — this isn’t trademark preservation. “Podcasting” started in the community a while back and then Apple made it a part of the iTunes + iPod empire.
There’s a good chance I might be wrong, though.
I am not so quick to say this is wrong. I would agree that “Podcast Ready” is close to violating trademark/whatever. As you should note they are not saying that “podcast” is a violation but rather “Podcast Ready.” I would say it should be up to a judge or whatever to decide, unfortunately that costs money.
So will PODS (http://www.pods.com/) then sue apple? It makes just as much sense, and they had “pod” first.
[quote comment=“48276”]I am not so quick to say this is wrong. I would agree that “Podcast Ready” is close to violating trademark/whatever. As you should note they are not saying that “podcast” is a violation but rather “Podcast Ready.” I would say it should be up to a judge or whatever to decide, unfortunately that costs money.[/quote]
How can ‘podcast’ not be in violation, by ‘podcast ready’ is? Is ‘ready’ in violation then? That makes no sense, sorry.
Yeah Ed, and podracing (watch out George) and Dream Pod 9 and Pod People and… and… and…
but was it not Adam Curry who first came up with the name? So did he join with Apple and allow them to trademark it?
Nope, Ben Hammersley coined it.
Fuck you up your ass.
Is that the new “All your base?”
If all bloggers keep using the term what are Apple gonna do about it? Sue every private blogger? I think not.
This might not be such a big issue for the private blogger, but only for the company’s that are podcasting. Which of cause is bad enough.
You know what? Steve Jobs can take the term “podcast” and shove it up his ass. If Apple wants to start having a hissy-fit over the term, then I think the community should change the name and eliminate all associations with the iPod. After all, Apple has been getting free advertising for the iPod everytime someone says “podcast” and if they’re so ungrateful, then I think it’s time to stop using the term altogether.
Me, since I listen to ***casts on my computer and not on an MP3 player and use Odeo, I really have been calling them “odeos” for a while now. Let’s see if Odeo wants to license the term under a Creative Commons license and let everyone call ***casts “odeos” from now on? :p
Sur i tiden, Michael? :)
Lighten up!
The fact of the matter is that podcast is a word, just like pod or insect (can’t think of anything interesting), how can they have copyright over a word, if I went to copyright the word ‘house’ could I earn loads of money from people by suing them? NO. Fuck you apple, your soo good normally but this…
Oh, shit, sorry, duplicated it by accident, please delete this one :P
It feels really odd and stupid. Actually I am begining to wonder if Apple see a tough period coming up ahead as they seem to try to find a new way to get a steady income…
So the earliest mention of the word “podcast” we know of is from Feb. 2004
In Sept. 2005 apple applies to trademark “ipodcast”.
Lawyer fees ensue.
(thanks for pointing. I find this desperate attempt to rewrite history hilarious.)
Podcasting is free advertising for Apple but it does directly relate to one of their most important products, the iPod so you can understand their need to keep the trademarks and copyrights sacred on it and not dilute it in any way.
If the podcasting community had coined an alternative term ages ago we would not be having this issue now but just because the community has come up with the word does not give them any rights. If I had come up with the word Audicast, as an example, I would expect Audi to do just the same as Apple to protect their rights.
Again, Apple can’t protect their rights now, after having helped ‘podcasting’ rise to fame and encouraged people to use it at will.
A quick correction…Xerox has NOT lost the rights to it’s name. They have very liberally protected their name from becoming generic. I don’t believe Hoover even tried to protect it’s name. However, I wouldn’t even consider ‘hoover’ a generic term, as it is rarely used other than referring to the company.
Apple having helped ‘podcasting’ gain acceptance isn’t an issue, regarding whether their trademarks are approved or not. If they can submit a request that isn’t so broad, I don’t see any reason why those trademarks wouldn’t be approved.
[quote post=“2322”]Fuck. You. Apple. Fuck you up your ass.[/quote]
Well, Michael, that certainly removed you from any Apple fan-boy club I might have suspected you were part of :)
[quote comment=“48443”]Well, Michael, that certainly removed you from any Apple fan-boy club I might have suspected you were part of :)[/quote]
Heh, Michael an Apple home-boy? There’s a first for everything. :)
.. first Apple decides to ‘fiddle’ with iTunes and somehow make it just that little less user-friendly, now they’re gunning for folks who use ‘podcast’ and ‘ready’ in the same sentence.. yer – that’s fracken smart, init?!
Personally, the term podcast has always annoyed me … a lot.
I understand broadcast, the origin of the word makes sense to me. And as a result, videocast and audiocast make sense. Podcast however doesn’t.
It does not successfully describe anything about the group of technologies involved or the physical behaviors involved. I can use ***cast without any sort of pod, so why call it that in the first place?
Let Apple take the word podcast, reshape it as iPodcast or whatever they want. That little “i” in front actually makes more sense of the word because it links it to a related concept. Without the little “i” the word is void.
[quote comment=“48376”]It feels really odd and stupid. Actually I am begining to wonder if Apple see a tough period coming up ahead as they seem to try to find a new way to get a steady income…[/quote]
…Or can it just be so that they are getting really greedy over there?
I agree with Meanie. Weird word that doesnt describe what it really contains.
Your wrong. read it, no- not the Wired / Other Articles (most of which i’ve found quote Wired!!) read This letter from Apple to “Podcast Ready”; I read this as Apple’s main point being with the word “Pod” used in any Application which is to be pre-loaded with a device. I imagine the word Pod and/or “Podcast Ready” would be heavily used as a marketing point for said Device… this upsets Apple (who it appears still don’t own the trademark for the word Pod! – thank God) The phrase “Podcast Ready” falls into that. They seem to believe that Pod has become synonymous with iPod, not in this house… but lawyers, eh?! Still:
The Letter does Not use the term “Cease & Desist” either.
& Apple are NOT trying to trademark “Podcast” the widely used term for the whole audio delievery thing we’ve got going on (and had going on well before Apple’s iTunes shipped with the Podcast pane). They are trying to grab “iPodcast”. Which is going to sprout some silly rebranding for their own proprietary system… who knows? The clever-dicky screenshot on Wired contains the word iPodcast highlighted. Yet the title of the page is:” Apple Trademark Office docs point to REAL reasons for “ Podcast” Controversy . should be: “ iPodcast” Controversy “, right?
Please, go to Podcast Ready and try their software… y’know for kicks: i don’t see the point, it actually took some time to work around it (won’t work with a Firewire iPod btw) couldn’t get anywhere without grabbing an account, their site’s help-page is pretty useless too, i won’t persevere. Oh yes- they have an application – if some of you are lost, we’re not talking about Apple suing individul ‘Podcasters’ here – ‘Podcast Ready’ is an application, a brand, company and podcast (apparently).
I really hope i’ve missed the point here.
Before we all jump and bash on Apple, how about listening to this first?
Ehm, what is it?
Joe’s comment above contains a link to a podcast from a guy that’s talking about how Apple is NOT going to force people into stop using the term Podcast and they never did. He’s complaining about famous bloggers that get this wrong and even news sites.
He is also reading from the original letter from Apples lawyers which states that Apple have no objection to proper use of the term Podcast.
It’s quite informative actually, thanks Joe.
Very informative indeed. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m still pissed. But now I’m pissed that anyone in their right mind would trademark “podcast ready”…
uhm, maybe it’s because I’m a non-native speaker, but “podcast ready” seems to be non-obvious enough to me to trademark. (my brief stint into trademark law told me that it’s a deep, soulless abyss I really wouldn’t want to dig into. I mean there is not only a (tm) but also a /patent/ on “Green Tea” (as in prebrewed and/or frozen) so that term seems ok to me (from a legal standpoint anyways))
I’m still wondering how on earth apple constructs the claim it is the only entity who is allowed to define proper use of the term “Podcast” (which incidentially is not only a verb as the apple legal text cited by rob from podcast411 (the link above) but also a noun (as in “This is my Podcast”).
Incidentially Apples reading of trademark law could also spell doom for Podiobooks.com – which would suck.