A Gartner representative has apparently admitted that the C&D sent to RedMonk a few weeks ago was "a mistake".
Hi James, You were right; quite honestly, I misread the context of the link. Please accept my sincere apologies for asking you to take it down from your blog. There are no copyright restrictions around listing public urls in blogs. Reading through the long string of comments from your readers, I saw that one is authored Gartner. Im not sure who wrote it, but it wasnt an official response from us. If you want to discuss this further, please dont hesitate to call me. Again, apologies for my mistake. Regards Allison Vendor Relatons Manager Gartner, Inc.
Of COURSE there are no copyright restrictions around listing public urls in blogs. Hell, there are no copyright restrictions around listing private urls either - because a link does not constitute a reproduction. Have you noticed how many "mistakes" are admitted only after vicious backlash from the community? Here's a thought - how about we think before we sending out hollow legal threats?