Saturday, 10 December 2005 - 9:58 AM EST

Herbie, since my last post was deleted I don't think I'll put as much time or effort into this one. But, I do think your comments are interesting about internet "news" forums "microchunking" and "remixing". I think the problems is that internet users are merely stealing information news agencies have report. Perhaps the problem is that places like Google News cash in on other peoples' work. I think maybe Congress needs to start thinking about plagurism on the internet. It's not freedom of speech when you're stealing from other people. Perhaps something like royalties are in order.

Sorry if this has nothing to do with what you were talking about, but I didn't read your comments real carefully.

Sunday, 11 December 2005 - 6:30 PM EST

First, I apologize for your comment being deleted; thanks for re-posting. It's not the first time (see my Jon Stewart post where I was called a jerk for deleting a post). So yes, I hate Tripod as a blog platform and will hopefully be migrating to Typepad where I'll have more control over the design and backend (including comments) of the blog. You're exactly on the wavelength that I was talking about so thanks for commenting since I rarely receive any feedback

I think you may have your lawyer hat on a little too tight. While I agree that there can be "stealing" of internet content (RSS = Really Simple Stealing), I don't think stealing is the right way to describe internet users or software aggregators. The essence and history of the internet has been an open and free (and I don't mean free as in "free beer" but as in "free speech"-- see Lessig's Free Culture book for more background) platform; in fact, many have argued that the internet would probably now have developed into the phenomena that we now take for granted had the internet evolved five or seven years later in the IP-happy/fair use-bad environment now so dominant.

Yes, content owners could lock-down their articles (such as the NYT's Times Select program) but it's only reduced the page views for all of the NYT's editorials that used to be open. Not to cite Fed Wilson every time, but I agree that links are the currency of the internet. So a n aggregator like Google News is only taking information already out there for free and providing a valuable service of gathering and consolidating that free content for you. That's a value-add to me, they do the grunt work for me and serve up the content that I would otherwise have to spend time (opportunity costs) tracking down independently.

I still visit the content owners' sites to read the actual article so I don't think that aggregators necessairly steal the content or displace ad revenue from the content owners' websites. If anything, aggregators can increase traffic to your site by making it easier for people to discover your content. Google News has leveled the playing field by allowing even the smaller news players to get their stories posted on the front page, democratizing the news process to some extent (I'm not delving into the will blogging displace traditional news reporting or the debate on whether bloggers are reporters, that's another can of worms for others to discuss).

I don't think Congress needs to get involved in this effort, I think they have many other more important issues that are or should be on the docket. This is starting to sound like the RIAA and the MPAA pushing to have Congress legislate against all the evil internet users who "pirate" and "steal" music and movies rather than fundamentally examining how to embrace the monumental shifts in business models that the internet has wrought upon the music and movie industries. There is certainly a place for copyrights and patents but let's not stifle technological innovation b/c we're so worried about protecting IP.

Fair use was around before the internet. Fair use should not vanish in the internet age simply because PCs and the internet use "copies" of files for every fundamental operation or task. View the recent NYPL debate over the Google Book Search or Lessig's 2002 OSCON speech for a his true knowledge and eloquence on the fair use topic. Using, citing, or referencing other peoples' work isn't stealing, it's the basis of free expression and free culture.

Wednesday, 14 December 2005 - 6:58 AM EST

Sounds like we need to fast-forward to Tom Cruise in "Minority Report" - remember those electronic newspapers that the people on the metro car (or was it a bus?) were reading?

Nice commentary...appreciated by one who gets all his news via a feedreader!