What happens when you don’t post quite as regularly as you should? You get a little backed up. So, without further ado, a collection of happenings in the COO world.

• In response to increasing pressure on ISPs to commence crackdown on file-sharing, stat, Charles Dunstone, head of Carphone Warehouse, tells the BBC it is not his job to be an “internet policeman”. Per the story, he said: “Our position is very clear. We are the conduit that gives users access to the internet. We do not control the internet, nor do we control what our users do on the internet. I cannot foresee any circumstances in which we would voluntarily disconnect a customer’s account on the basis of a third party alleging a wrongdoing.” Carphone Warehouse operates the Talk Talk broadband network, which is Britain’s third largest.

Outstanding. And need I say again how dangerously foolish it would be to attempt to legislate that ISPs take responsibility for cracking down on file-sharing, and what a nightmare of related liability it would open up for said ISPs with regard to other (and, dare I say, more serious) Internet-related crimes, not to mention the sheer impossibility of any such filtering, no matter how well-intentioned? Lather, rinse, and repeat. Next!

• Apple is threatening to sue the city of New York over what it views as infringement on its Apple logo. New York City (which, seriously, can’t the Big Apple claim some biggole prior art, here?) attempted to trademark the logo for its new GreeNYC environmental awareness program. Apple issued a formal letter of opposition to The City’s trademark filing, saying: “[GreeNYC’s logo] so closely resembles Apple’s [logo] that its use is likely to cause confusion, mistake or deception in the minds of consumers.” Let’s have a look, shall we? (Image borrowed from www.crainsnewyork.com.)

Oh, yes, I totally see it now. No, in all seriousness, it may be the stickiest part of trademark law: you must defend your trademark or risk losing it. If someone goes around slapping an Apple on things, it is incumbent upon Apple to raise the flag and defend its spoils, no matter how bad the PR (and wow, is this bad PR). Maybe the real problem here is that New York City attempted to trademark its new apple in the first place. Perhaps they’d never have drawn Steve’s ire if they’d just gone Creative Commons with their new good-deed logo. Maybe try that next time, Mr. Bloomberg. Nächst!

• Craigslist is missiles-away on the unofficial Craigslist blog this week. After launching its own blog, Craigslist apparently decided it was time for the site at Craigslistblog.org to go, along with their infringing “Best of Craigslist” posts and their unacceptable reprinting of Craigslist ads.

The biggest news about this story was not that Craigslist wanted to shut down the Craigslistblog site (see above re. protecting trademarks, and this one would uquestionably lead to confusion about the not-real-thing vs. the real thing). It’s how truly rude and nasty CEO Jim Buckmaster’s communications were with blogger Tim White, and how that relationship is continuing to deteriorate before our very eyes, which Buckmaster now claiming, via the real Craigslist blog, that White was running “deceptive textads.” I can’t speak to the latter, although the screenshots are damning. I can say two things, one of which I said earlier.

First, sometimes, defending your trademark opens you up to some bad PR, and whatever your actual feelings about this guy, it probably would have made good business and public relations sense to approach White as a collaborator in building the brand, rather than a mere squatter. After all, Craigslist was built on the goodwill of a passionate following, and that passionate following is probably of the “hate the man” variety.

Second, and for the record, Buckmaster’s been recording a little “Best of Craigslist” show since at least the beginning of March, while White announced his feature on March 21. Even if “infringement” is an ugly word, and Buckmaster doesn’t write the friendliest C&D I’ve ever seen, the Craigslist blog certainly doesn’t get all the benefit of the doubt. They probably should have seen this coming. Et enfin …

• A good read over at the Register, where Andrew Orlowski paints the new MySpace music service as a coup for the record labels that shuts out indie artists, hijacks sponsorship opportunities, and may lead to lower royalty rates for composers and songwriters. A good addendum to the question of what these big social nets owe the artist in the long run. If you believe Orlowski, MySpace certainly isn’t pioneering a kinder, gentler handout.

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