Hey guys, I thought I would chime in for just a moment. While it is true that Ilium's Newsbreak was one of the earlier and better news aggregators (and still is!), Spb came along and definitely added something to the mix.
We wrote about the differences and similarities between the two on Gear Diary in November 2006 (Insight was new to the market, then):
http://www.geardiary.com/2006/11/05/...house-insight/
Since that article, Ilium and Spb have both added new features and stepped up their games. I suspect that this will go back and forth for some time to come.
Now, as a consumer...how is this a bad thing? How does this make Spb a copycat? Get real. We are the winners here. It simply comes down to which one you like better, which one meets your needs, and who you want to give your money to.