Apple opens a dangerous can of worms by now claiming it owns the word "podcast." The company sent a cease and desist letter to Podcast Ready because it claims that the terms "Podcast Ready" and "myPodder" infringe Apple's trademarks.

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes puts this in perspective in "Apple, Podcast and Jar Jar Binks". He writes:

First, it has to be noted that cease and desist letters are pretty common (you only really hear about them when there's a "David vs. Goliath" ). When you're a big company and you have a huge legal firm on retainer, cease and desist letters gives them something to do when not much else is happening on the legal front. Secondly, it's important to realize that a cease and desist letter is one-sided and is very different to a court ruling. Thirdly, cease and desist letters are a great way for a company with lots of cash to bully smaller companies that don't have the money or stomach for a protracted legal fight. The little guy now has two choices - roll over and give in or try and generate some Internet buzz and hope Goliath's PR people make him see sense. It seems that Podcast Ready are going for Plan B.

Apple's claim that "pod"-anything is derivative of its iPod brand is dubious. Legally, timing is critical in such allegations. If Apple truly believed that it owned the rights to "podcast" and similar terms it would have had to aggressively protect the name two years ago when companies first starting using "pod" variations and podcasting became popular. It didn't. So the legal threat is empty.

The net result here - Apple looks like a bully. Instead of hurting Podcast Ready, Apple did Podcast Ready a huge favor by generating a huge amount of free press.