Myspace has an odd relationship with widgets. On one hand, they made it possible for users to pimp their pages with widgets. On the other, they don't want widget makers to get too popular. There was a bit of an imbroglio a few months back regarding myspace "accidentally" blocking the embedded YouTube video player. According to Valleywag, they are at it again. This time with Buzznet. (Via Craig Newmark). Valleywag:

But Buzznet is a direct competitor, with similar photo-sharing, friend-linking, and other social features. Now MySpace blocks any mention of Buzznet in user profiles. While users can use Buzznet URLs in their MySpace blogs, any mention of "Buzznet.com" in a profile will turn into ".." So MySpace users can't share their Buzznet pages -- or, well, anything else they want to share from the other site.

But it's not that simple. Buzznet can also work with MySpace -- for example, to embed flash-based photo galleries like the one on Buzznet's MySpace page. But flash embeds are blocked as well. For instance, if the Coachella festival resaved this profile, its Buzznet flash embeds would break.

Greg Narain has more thoughts.

My opinion: If this is true that they are blocking widgets from selective competitors, it is extremely short sighted. Myspace doesn't need to resort to blocking competitors' widgets in order to continue to grow. They don't need to do it to ensure that their functionality is used. Further, if the blocking appears arbitrary or driven by competitive or financial reasons, users will revolt.

Here's official word from Buzznet's Tony Pierce. Tom?