Big Media v Social Media

ourtesy TechDirt – In a new twist on domain names, NewsCorp and Fox apparently decided that taking a band’s MySpace page and URL was theirs for the taking. The band, “Bones” had their Myspace page for almost two years and had built up a fan base of 2,100 friends. NewsCorp and Fox, without announcement, simply took over the URL, promoting the Fox Show Bones.

Apparently, URL’s in the social media world are simply looked on as property that the user doesnlt have a right to own. In a place where Big Media needs to tread lightly, they simply stomped on a user in order to promote their advertising. Exactly not the type of actions that will endear users to the ownership.

Fortunately, a massive uproar ensued. Eventually, MySpace founder Tom Anderson apologized for the “misunderstanding,’ and gave the URL back to the band. One hopes that this will be another in a long series of lessons advertisers and corporate giants have made both online and in the social media spaces that they have invaded. If not, those high priced properties will soon be empty of those that made it valuable – the users.