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. The company has been cracking down on use of the word "pod" by all sorts of parties, even though its trademark is for the word "iPod."
Podcast Ready CEO Russel Holliman said he'd consider dropping the name myPodder if he had to, but "Podcast Ready"? If that's infringement, Apple is claiming that it owns the word "podcast." Sure, the word originated with the word iPod, but most people now see it as a general term for downloadable audio shows that isn't affiliated with one brand more than another.
Coincidentally, Apple's letter arrived the day before Podcast Ready unveiled a new version of its software – one that works with the iPod.
Podcast Ready works by sucking down subscribed podcasts directly to a portable device whenever that device is connected to a computer. This allows you to update your player's podcasts on any computer, instead of just the one running, say, your iTunes software. The latest version of the program works better with iTunes because it adds freshly-downloaded podcasts to your iPod's navigation database without you having to import the podcasts into iTunes first.
Will Apple succeed in defending the word "podcast" as its own trademark? We'll just have to wait and see.
Podcast Ready myPodder for Mac/Windows/U3
(Users with certain Windows configurations might get an error when installing the .EXE – if that happens to you, create an account and then download the zipped version of the program, unzipping it directly to your MP3 player.)
