I'm a little puzzled by Martin Schwimmer's request that his blog be removed from bloglines (the link is via Venkat at BTD), given the fact that he publishes an XML feed. He seems to be concerned that his material is being "reproduced" without contact information at bloglines; and yet anyone who views his blog through an RSS reader will likewise experience his content without contact info. I guess he's bothered by the presence of an intermediary, and yet I get the feeling there are a lot of people who think of the sevice as little more than a friendly alternative to putting an RSS reader on their machine(s).
I do sympathize with his concerns about advertising, but I'm not sure I see this as any different than the ad-ridden browsers you get from AOL or many cheap ISP's. Is he asking to be "removed" from the viewable web for those using these browsers as well?
I think Bloglines should probably be more careful about seeming to co-opt people's content, especially if they're going to use it as part of a money-making venture. But people who publish their content with RSS should be somewhat educated about how that information will be used and where it will appear.
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