Associated Press is trying to set guidelines on how bloggers can leverage their content (that they post freely to the world). Translation: AP is trying to use it’s decaying muscle to kill the bloggers.
The Associated Press, one of the nation’s largest news organizations, said that it will, for the first time, attempt to define clear standards as to how much of its articles and broadcasts bloggers and Web sites can excerpt without infringing on The A.P.’s copyright.
Mike Arrington has declared a boycott on his blog. AP doesn’t get it. Bloggers are now part of the news ecosystem and they (AP) need to deal with it. I would rather see the AP integrate the blogging paradigm into their business. They won’t. Why they don’t have any vision.
NyTimes for example has embraced the blogosphere. Hell even John Markoff blogs now. I’ve seen considerable traffic from the NYTimes site on my opinion stories. That’s a good thing. Two years ago I never would have had the exposure to the valuable NY Times audience. Benefit to NYTimes: I will share my audience with them and other bloggers are doing that as well.
The Associated Press? As my Dad would say “What a bunch of knuckleheads”. Wake up and smell the coffee. The bloggers are distribution for them not enemies. Also since when is the AP in the business of setting standards and adjudicating content.
Read the quote from the Kennedy who is in charge of strategy for the AP…“Cutting and pasting a lot of content into a blog is not what we want to see,” he said. “It is more consistent with the spirit of the Internet to link to content so people can read the whole thing in context.”
Note to Mr Kennedy: The blogosphere doesn’t just share they steal content; sharing=stealing; Why? Users expect it. Get used to it and embrace it.
Update: Dan Farber calls it the Web Refactory or course the Buzzmachine’s buzzsaw Jeff has an opinion with a capital O. Jeff has been a watchdog on this from the beginning. Thanks Jeff.
Update 2: Simon Owens of Bloggasm has more information on the head butting Roger Cadenhead has had with the AP. Simon writes: The DMCA takedown requests Rogers Cadenhead found waiting for him in his inbox on June 10 were not the first he had received. They weren’t even the first sent to him by the Associated Press. This didn’t make Cadenhead, publisher of the Drudge Retort, any less shocked when he found out their targets.
Silicon Valley Technology Blog - John Furrier 