OSM.org? LOL: A Website Launch 'Revolution' Goes FUBAR

The goal of our enterprise is to bring gravitas and legitimacy to the blogosphere - from a Nov. 21 OSM.org news release

It’s been a long time since I laughed so hard at a sour band of fools. Last weekend I got drawn into the slapstick embarrassment that is OSM.org. Thankfully, I was merely an innocent bystander, late to the scene of the accident.

But I couldn’t stop looking.

When I first started writing this piece on Nov. 20 OSM.org was still Open Source Media and OSM.org, the site, was deciding what to do about the little dirty matter of trademark infringement it had stepped into.

With Jack Benny-like comedic timing, the Open Source Media crew scheduled a launch party at the Rainbow Room (Swish AND swank) at the same time Mr. Christopher Lydon was informing them of a little bad news. OSM had neglected to figure out that the preexisting condition known as Open Source Media was in the middle of a trademark process. It was a media company, as well, associated with a public radio company and program.

That “ignorance of the law is no defense against imminent domain absolute truth” idea reared its ugly head.

Here is what OSM people said about life, liberty and the pursuit of sloppiness:

There are other Open Sources. A gentleman named Christopher Lydon has an excellent web site called Open Source. His URL is www.radioopensource.com, and he graciously agreed to give us opensourcemedia.net.

Someone told Lydon over at Open Source Media about this. Revelation is the word as he had not heard about this at all.

From Lydon’s site: This is just not true. And weird. We didn’t graciously agree to give them anything. We’ve never talked to them. They didn’t answer our e-mail..

Which received this in reply soon after: Christopher Lydon did not "relinquish" the domain opensourcemedia.net, as we wrote above. He does still own the name, and although he doesn't use it as his primary domain, it redirects to the radioopensource.org address. We apologize for the confusion. (This, too, is a rewording of the first correction, which now can't be found on the site. See also a letter sent to OSM.org (PDF) by Radio Open Source)

PJM - Goodnight everybody. You’ve been a great audience.

This "misstatement" correction, of course, never acknowledges the clear lie they had dumped on the world. Almost as if they expected no one to call them on it. Either that or they really don’t communicate about such trifling matters as brand identity and research. Ah yes, so much better than the real thing, baby. New Coke, meet the newer coke, same as the old folk.

Article Author: Temple Stark

A graphic designing wordsmith, with a decade-plus career in community journalism behind me. Take a mean photo, have a new camera, and have been riding the wave of Twitter for more than a year.

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