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BLOG@IP::JURPatent Attorney Axel H Horns' Blog on Intellectual Property Law.
Tuesday, January 18, 2005Fresh Disputes around Server-based Blog Aggregators.I am used to utilise bloglines.com as my server-based RSS/ATOM feed aggregator. I think that it provides a great service for free and, what counts most for me, I can use it from any computer which is connected to the Internet. No client-based RSS/ATOM feed aggregator could do that job for me.
However, every server-based news aggregator inevitably makes its business by re-distributing content of third parties. And here the quarrels start. Mr. Martin Schwimmer operates his well-known Trademark Blog. Last Friday he had posted as follows:"This website is published under a Creative Commons license that allows for non-commercial use, provided there is attribution. Commercial use and derivative works are prohibited.On Saturday January 15, 2005 Mr. Schwimmer wrote:"[...] It's not so much the stripping of the frame thing that bothers me - it's the prospect of:Mr. Schwimmer has demanded bloglines.com to stop distributing his RSS feed, and they have complied. In the effect, Mr. Schwimmer's Blog is now inaccessible via bloglines.com. Recently there have been similar disputes in Germany concerning another server-based news aggregator [In German only].
What about a possible solution? It would be extremely disappointing if the blogosphere would not only be divided into various RSS and ATOM formats for XML feeds but also by wars between various camps about acceptable business models for content aggregators, in particular for server-based content aggregators. And I know for sure that I will continue to utilise a server-based aggregator service, be it bloglines or something different. And I can't afford to go manually to Mr. Schwimmer's Blog. Sorry, but with much regret I think I will then have to abandon reading the Trademark Blog rather than to switch to some client-based software deemed to be acceptable for Mr. Schwimmer. [UPDATE] 2005-01-19 See also Mr. Dennis Kennedy's post on that matter.
I am very happy to see that Mr Horns has the same concerns and problems I have. Observing 88 feeds it's impossible to have the "luxury" of using different feed-readers. The whole "problem" reminds me of deep-linking whre web-site owners have argued that the usage of a deep-link is a violation of their rights. What will be next? Will people stop (wonderful) services like http://www.ipnewsflash.com/ ?
Mr. Horn, your statements above surprise me and raise a couple of questions. They are these: 1. What do you think of Mr. Schwimmer's objections to bloglines' treatment of his work? He objects to bloglines obtaining a list of his readers, and it seems like bloglines does get a list of his readers who use bloglines to read him. He objects to bloglines redistributing his content for profit, which they do. He objects (though not as much) to bloglines removing his contact information by framing his pages. They do this as well. In other words, I agree that bloglines does what he says they do to him. He objects to this. What do you think? Do you think his objections are groundless? Do you think they do what he says they do? 2. Do you have consistent criteria wrt the protection of intellectual property in the form of patents and IP in the form of copyrighted work? Thanks. I really enjoy your blog!
Well, I had (very deliberately) avoided to criticise Mr. Schwimmer expressis verbis. To some extent I can understand his worries. To some extent. In a legal sense he surely is right concerning his objections. And bloglines.com was wise to comply with Mr. Schwimmer's request. Another question is whether or not it would be wise to oject to blogline's business model. I think if I want to utilise server-based aggregators I should be prepared to accept some kind of a business model for operating such services. Albeit I would prefer to pay a modest sum per month (EUR 5,00 to EUR 10,00 ?) for such a service (and not being bothered by advertisements and/or selling of data of any kind) I consider such models as somewhat unrealistic. So what might be needed is sime kind of a "code of conduct" for derver-based aggregators. I surely would not be prepared to accept my feed contents to be explicitely attributed to somebody else. For my own Blog I have chosen to publish only an abbreviated RSS feed, i.e. only on my website the reader can access the full postings. Hence, I am not so much bewildered if my feed is not presented on an optimal fashion because of I think that my readers will click through to my website anyway if they find an article interesting. What I would like to see is an overall appearance of a server-based aggregator as a "tool" of the user. Not "We have tons of content for you" (or something like that) advertised on a splash sceen but "This is a tool you can utilise to select and display any content available in the blogosphere you want" (or something like that).
Just saw this: "Dear Bloglines Member: Ask Jeeves has acquired Bloglines, and we're excited about becoming the newest member of their portfolio of web services. We view this as a huge step forward for Bloglines, and a chance to achieve our mission of making RSS news reading and blogging a part of everyone's internet experience. You can learn more about the transaction by reading our press release or reviewing our Frequently Asked Questions. [...]"  Post a Comment
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