While using external editors to get the section symbol (§) in a command block in order to format some text, I ran into an odd thing. To bold text with the symbol, normally one would do §l. This has bolded the text in all versions up to 1.8.8.

Now in 1.8.8, instead of bold text, the letters just get spaced further apart. The italics code and underline still work, just bold is broken

Pics
#1 - no formatting other than color
#2 - color + bold

Since the symbol CAN still be inserted into command blocks, the functionality should still be in the game. If you truly wish to resolve this issue, I highly suggest making it work again, or removing the ability and functionality of the symbol