[taylorexpander]

It’s Sarajevo and this blog post is about the only thing I can find on this with quick google searches, and you said it yourself that you’re not a lawyer, so I really think you’re just misunderstanding something and are making a big deal out of nothing.

[rocqua]

I'd agree with you if this was only interpretation of the law. However, the city council actually took steps to contact the administrators of various Facebook pages with the request to pay for the name.

[baldfat]

I think you didn't read the article. It basically the city using the same dumb line of thought as Paris copyrighting the Eiffel Tower at night.

The author shows that the city even threatened a Facebook group. So yes this is a dumb ownership claim by the city.

[sowbug]

Regulating speech is a very big deal, including when people or companies fabricate property rights they don't have. Most people, when confronted with strong language asserting such rights, will comply with it -- as you say, they're not lawyers, so how should they know which legalese is and isn't valid? This stifles full usage of the common good of ideas.