Ikeahackers to shut down

IKEAHackers.net launched in 2006 and presented fun and silly ways to assemble IKEA furniture that were not intended by their manufacturer. Needed a bicycle and had a spare table? Not a problem. Want a cool, unique table? Buy some magazine files.

Now, though, after years of entertaining IKEA fans and bringing together flatpack enthusiasts, IKEA has issued a Cease and Desist order against the owners of the site, Jules, saying that it has infringed upon its intellectual property rights.

After many negotiations, Jules has been allowed to keep the domain name, but only on the condition that it is non-commercial, with no advertising income on the site.

"I was a just crazy fan. In retrospect, a naive one too," writes Jules in a blog post this week. "[It costs] quite a bit to run a site this large. Since IKEA® does not pay me a cent, I turned to advertising to support myself and this site."

The legal confrontation follows situations where other companies have worked with unofficial bloggers to forge effective partnerships. Rightmove Addict (aka Andrew Morgan), for example, is now a regular guest contributer to the UK property portal.

Jules says that the IKEAHackers.net will transfer to a new domain, without IKEA in its name: a sad development for company-blogger relationships and lovers of bikes made out of tables everywhere.