The bad thing is : that’s not all there is about it. Far from it. The guidelines go much further than the part you quote. For instance, take this :

Always follow a Linden Lab brand name with an appropriate generic noun for at least your first reference to the brand name. A “generic noun” is a common noun and not a proper noun, trademark, or brand name. […] After the first reference, use an appropriate generic noun after the Linden Lab brand name as often as possible. Never use the brand name as a generic noun or verb, and never use it in the plural or possessive form. […] When providing your Second Life contact information, use an appropriate generic noun after the Second Life or SL brand names […] Always capitalize and spell Linden Lab’s brand names exactly as they are shown here, and do not abbreviate them or alter their spelling, spacing, hyphenation, or punctuation.

and this :

Do not use any Linden Lab brand name in your […] second-level domain name

And though Kit Meredith rightly pointed out that US law provides for something called « nominative use » of a product name (basically exempting general « talking of » from branding guidelines), and although non-US citizens normally could ignore all of this, all residents are under the Damocles sword of Clause 4.4 of the Terms of Service, binding them to observance of the branding guidelines, lest they get kicked out (and please, nobody object LL have always reserved the right to kick out residents « for no reason ». Clause 2.6 was bad enough before, even if nobody cared, relying on the laissez-faire mentality of you know who).

Effectively, Linden Research, Inc. have abrogated themselves the right to dictate the way residents speak of their product down to the exact phrasing, potentially even if we do not infringe their rights according to US laws (nominative use), or would not even have to worry about it due to local legislation (non-US citizens), and they have set an ultimatum to shut down numerous fansites, blogs, forums and other sites within 90 days (provided they contain « sl » or « secondlife » in their URL), making all efforts of their most dedicated evangelists null and void and snubbing the very people who have brought them where they are by providing them with an inordinate, unpaid amount of publicity and exposure. Never mind they are reversing standing policy from one day to the next, or the fact that the strength of their dearly branded product is to be perceived as a place, not a commodity

The only terms I have for this behaviour are censorship, contempt and stupidity. Sorry.

… But, did I read the rules wrong or doesn’t it just say we have to use the little registered TM symbol the first or most prominent time in our materials and then when that term is used again it is not necessary? I don’t think that every single time in every blog post or article is required by the new rules.

Here’s the very first part of the section called:
——
Guidelines for Proper Reference to Linden Lab’s Brand Names in Text

Follow these guidelines when referring to a Linden Lab word mark or brand name:

1. Notice Symbol. In the United States, always use a trademark notice symbol for your first or most prominent reference to a Linden Lab brand name….——

from: http://secondlife.com/corporate/brand/trademark/reference.php

@Kit : of course I did. What point would there be if I didn’t ? Miss Linden would have every reason not to consider my request serious had I shied back from acting

@Otenth : both are entirely valid if you ask me — I see you know your classics.