On Feb 3, 2008 12:08 AM, Ognjen Strpic <ostrpic@...> wrote:
> > will you ppl continue to use del.icio.us if microsoft will buy yahoo?
>
> ... a less depressing thought: I wonder how much would it cost for the
> community of users and developers to buy the bloody thing from whoever
> currently owns it.

Y! owns it - as far as the public knows anyway - or does someone know
otherwise?

Re $ - I think the number that went around when Joshua sold was $25mm. No
idea about the accuracy of that.

Presumably it's worth more now(?...)

> To my surprise, I realized I've become somewhat emotionally involved
> in del.icio.us, and that the attachment apparently grows with extended
> use. I'm far more frustrated now than I was when Yahoo bought it,

But if you're in copious company in this frustration, maybe it's worth *less
*(?...)

This seems unlikely. Cf. Clay Shirky's claim that what distinguishes Y! from
its rivals (read: GOOG) is Y!'s appreciation of social software:
http://www.forbes.com/2008/02/01/solutions-msft-shirky-oped-cx_csh_0201shirky.ht\
ml

One might well ask, "Well, where has *that* gotten them?!..." but he may be
right. Still, the cases in point are Flickr & del.icio.us - two *
acquisitions*. (To be fair, he also mentions Y! Groups, an in-house
development.) In any case, I think it's still fair to ask what Y! is really
good at on its own - other than being able to recognize (unprofitable)
social software co's.

> and
> although outlandish, the idea of co-ownership of del.icio.us/ognjen
> sounds quite comforting.

Have you seen https://secure.del.icio.us/settings/ognjen/bookmarks/license?

"del.icio.us does not own your bookmarks -- you do!"

Question: Might that give us all, collectively, some rights over the
platform that is "del.icio.us?..." Over its maintenance? Its alteration? Its
continued operation?... Its sale perhaps???...

Is anyone aware of any legal precedent that is relevant to answering this
question? *Someone's* got to be working on this.

At its core, one basis for the argument might be: *Not* having any rights
over "del.icio.us" (again, whatever *that *means) would render our
respective ownership rights over our bookmarks meaningless. (There must be a
proper legal phrasing of this concept[?...]) We generally don't do that to
property rights - even intellectual property rights....

I guess the counter-argument would be: Well, all we really mean by that is
that Y! can't sell your bookmarks, say. I.e., you may have a "negative
right" to prevent others from positive action with respect to your
bookmarks; but you may not have a "positive right" to do anything in
particular with your bookmarks yourself....

But presumably Y! can sell advertising on pages that display your
bookmarks(?... Another issue.)

Interesting stuff....

Thanks for the post, Ognjen.

Matthew

> Young master Joshua, Lady Britta, lead the way!
>
> Ognjen
>
> PS
> Yes, I am aware I'm daydreaming. I wanted to share this one, though.


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