MySpace got slammed in BusinessWeek for preventing people from using third-party widgets for their pages.

I think they got a bad rap. MySpace is a platform where people can meet just like a shopping mall, a nightclub, or the floor of an exchange. Companies that operate these kind of platform businesses have to do two things. First, they have to make sure that the meeting place is safe and secure. So, not surprisingly, they have rules that limit what people can do that come to their digs.

Second, they have to make sure they can make money so they can continue to offer the service. It is this second one that’s probably the main reason behind what MySpace is doing. MySpace can’t survive if the users–who get on for free–can then use the platform to make money for themselves.

Web 1.0 showed there’s no free lunch–you die if that’s your business model. Web 2.0 businesses offer tremendous value to people who come on for free. But just like free-television and cheap newspapers there has to be a source of revenue.

What right do MySpace users have to join a platform for free and then make money by selling ads themselves? Maybe BusinessWeek would like to start letting its readers sell the advertising space themselves.