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Comment by res0nat0r | Hacker News Reader

Here's a nugget from the article which I didn't hear anything about in the previous Padmapper postings and chat here on HN:

"The company said it offered a license that would have allowed PadMapper to use its data on mobile applications but that the competitor did not accept the terms."

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This kind of market segmentation through restrictive content licenses is something I'd expect from Hollywood, not Craigslist. It's extremely distasteful and they should feel bad. There's simply no good reason to allow mobile apps but prohibit web apps. Would Craigslist offer a license to a Firefox OS app? How about a Chrome OS app?

It was in PadMapper's original blog post about the C&D letter

That is meaningless. The terms may well have been ridiculous (only covering mobile is a good start at ridiculous).

That caught me as soon as I read it too. I didn't recall that part mentioned earlier.

From the original: > They allow mobile apps to display their listings if you buy a license from them, but not websites.

I wonder what would happen if their mobile app was simply a browser shell pointing to a mobile-optimized website. That mobile-optimized website could be accessible from a desktop, though unadvertised.

How many people use PadMapper on a mobile device, vs. the desktop site?

Their iPad app is one of my guilty pleasures. (ditto HotPads and Redfin)

that is actually the point at which i lost sympathy for craigslist. they can license the data or not, but if they do they should not get to demand where and how it is used

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