Web 2.0 architecture of participation belied by Web 2.0 tussle

Tom Raftery has posted a cease and desist letter he says the not-for-profit IT@Cork networking organisation for IT professionals received from lawyers for O’Reilly publishers demanding the organisation cease using the term Web 2.0 in the title of their upcoming conference.

According to O'Reilly's "Web 2.0 compact definition":

Web 2.0 applications...delivering software as a continually-updated service that gets better the more people use it, consuming and remixing data from multiple sources, including individual users, while providing their own data and services in a form that allows remixing by others, creating network effects through an architecture of participation.

It is ironic that O'Reilly Media is using non Web 2.0 strategies and tactics to strengthen O'Reilly's Web 2.0 position.

Does the architecture of participation preclude trademark protections? Join the conversation: "Talk Back" below to share your thoughts.