Fear and loathing in trademark city

I have been perplexed by the outrage expressed about the recent Second Life Brand Center announcement. To me, it's a sign that Linden Labs is growing up. When it comes to trademark protection, if you snooze you lose. And if they lose we lose.

Trademarks must be aggressively protected by the owner to keep them from falling into the public domain and the owner losing the protection of the mark. reference

If Linden Labs doesn't protect their brand they risk losing ownership of trademark rights that might equate to millions of lost dollars down the road. On the other hand, there doesn't seem to be much real harm to anyone else.

So tell me, please. Why all the fuss?