Apples' Bonehead Move? Maybe?

This might be a boner move by Apple if it's true.

Apparently, they're trying to forbid the use of the word podcast by non-Apple entities.

That's right. The term they helped create and the industry around it, they're suing them. The question is, is it about "Pod" or "iPod" in the company name, or referring to the work companies such as ours create as a "Podcast?"

If it's the latter, it could be among the stupidest things in my opinion they could do. Cause frankly, podcast isn't a great term for it anyway and most people we run into are confused by it.

Leo Laporte is pushing a change, from Podcast to Netcast, and some are suggesting breaking it down to Audcast and Vidcast to be even more specific. Not bad in my opinion, as so many people I know don't realize that you don't need an iPod for a podcast.

I'm theorizing it's one of a few things; either a) they want to reclaim the word "podcast" and re-license it for a fee; b) they're that stupid or c) they're doing a bad job of defining what they're going after, because everyone is reporting from this article on the Wired Blog that Apple is stopping the word podcast, which I sense it could be an issue that "podcast" is in the company name.

Let's see how it turns out. Here are some other links for some more info.

iConnectdots
ZDNet Article on Trademark Office Documents