Patterico's Pontifications

7/10/2009

The AP’s Plan for the Web

Filed under: Blogging Matters — DRJ @ 3:35 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

The AP has a new idea for use of content from media sources on the web:

“Tags identifying the author, publisher and other information – as well as any usage restrictions publishers hope to place on copyright-protected materials – would be packaged with each news article in a way that search engines can more easily identify.

By doing so, the AP hopes to make it easier for readers to find articles from more established news providers amid the ever-expanding pool of content online. That, in turn, could lead to more traffic and more online advertising revenue for a beleaguered news industry.”

The AP wants this approach to be an industry standard, not only to help MSM websites maximize and keep track of links and traffic but also to (somehow) prevent copyright violations.

I think this is a good idea. It was also a good idea when West Publishing invented a similar system 100 years ago. The Key Number System of Classification originated during the decade from 1897 to 1906. It digests the author, source, some copyright information, key words and a summary of legal concepts and sources.

The internet is new and modern but in some ways it’s not new at all.

— DRJ

11 Responses to “The AP’s Plan for the Web”

  1. How it’s going to increase traffic … oh, they’re measuring total bytes sent, not user used bytes. Twenty bytes of quote, 200 bytes of tag, 20,000 bytes of advertisment (if we’re lucky.) How does an individual (like you or I) get the tags for the original work that we create? How much do they cost? Enforcement mechanisms? I’m very skeptical of this.

    htom (412a17)

  2. Two points:

    1 – AP will be able to use such to more easily track down people who use AP’s content. Given that the AP has tried to restrict its content even beyond the “fair use” standard, this becomes a potential mechanism for going after people who cite AP content, even under “fair use” guidelines.

    2 – It wasn’t very long ago that people were upset that major corporations were going to try mechanisms which would, in effect, give the corporations dominance when it came to search engines, to have a sort of forced favoritism by search engines.

    Trust me: the Associated Press isn’t proposing this for the benefit of anyone other than the AP.

    The blogger Dana (474dfc)

  3. Why bother… all AP content boils down to Obama good, Bush bad.

    Huey (509c33)

  4. once they get their system good and nailed down other people can develop a competing more better one and Barack Obama’s dirty socialist Associated Press propaganda monkeys are gonna learn how the cow ate the cabbage

    happyfeet (cbbf70)

  5. Another variable should be a numerical indicator of the four quadrant political ideology of the author.

    Then you’d have some idea of how what you’re reading is skewed.

    Apogee (e2dc9b)

  6. Another variable should be a numerical indicator of the four quadrant political ideology of the author.

    And bloggers?

    steve (c3c3ee)

  7. I think it will work just as AP hopes (but not to their advantage.)

    “Hmmm, this story is from AP… oh crap, just more propaganda, I’m not going to waste my time.”

    Ken in Camarillo (aa2192)

  8. They should put Jamil Hussein in charge of this, if they can find him.

    daleyrocks (718861)

  9. I heard he was in Iran recently, posing as a “regular Iranian citizen” who just happened to be injured by the protestors who were really just stooges being funded by The Great Satan.

    Dmac (e6d1c2)

  10. Bloggers should consider imposing the exact same use conditions on AP. It might make AP think twice before suing bloggers for what it does to them.

    In related news, I and Bizzyblog blogger Tom Blumer are starting a project to monitor and correct major AP errors. The initial post is up now.

    This is a nonideological project to identify major AP errors, especially those that negate the premise of the story. We’re concentrating on business and science, at least for now.

    The reason we’re choosing AP is that it is the major wire service in the country. Its errors affect how the public views the country and the world. And to our knowledge, no group doing what we are doing. While there are plenty of media watchdog groups, none are specifically focused on the Associated Press.

    We welcome contributions and ideas, and would like to get some high-profile bloggers to spread the word. You can send email to biz (at) bizzyblog.com or to sandiegoscribe (at) gmail.com

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (0ea407)

  11. Apogee – i’m not convinced that all of the questions in that quiz are good (there are a couple of questions structured as “X, therefore Y” and it’s totally not clear which of the two propositions i’m agreeing/disagreeing with).

    These tests always show me coming out as a left-libertarian.

    aphrael (9e8ccd)


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