what I should have said was providing a product in the same market. So the fact that’s its free might not be relevant and a free, instance of a decentralized social network could be considered in the same market as a commercial, centralized social network.
Again, I don’t think the exact product matters too much. Being in different markets can help, for example a Twitter Whistle would have a better argument than a Twitter Social Network. But for huge brands that are well known everywhere (like Twitter) the market difference tends to matter less.
I still don’t see twitter going after this single instance
Yes, it is unlikely. But definitely not impossible with things that Twitter has already done to try and push out Mastodon (like banning links). And if it does happen it will be devastating to the instance as changing domains is painful. So I’m just suggesting that it may be best to play it safe here to avoid possible problems down the road.
Regarding the edit:
Again, I don’t think the exact product matters too much. Being in different markets can help, for example a Twitter Whistle would have a better argument than a Twitter Social Network. But for huge brands that are well known everywhere (like Twitter) the market difference tends to matter less.
Yes, it is unlikely. But definitely not impossible with things that Twitter has already done to try and push out Mastodon (like banning links). And if it does happen it will be devastating to the instance as changing domains is painful. So I’m just suggesting that it may be best to play it safe here to avoid possible problems down the road.