Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/

["Joe Komenda" <joe AT komejo.com>]

That's not the best part -

"The iCopyright.com license agreement also restricts what can be said about
the content of the linked-to article. If you sign up to pay $50 to link to,
say, an Albuquerque Journal article, you agree not to say anything
"derogatory" about "the author, the publication from which the content came,
or any person connected with the creation of the content or depicted in the
content." "

oooh - can I *pay you* to remove my annoying 1st amendment rights?

Joe K

----- Original Message -----
From: "B" <beeline AT mindspring.com>
To: "InterNetWorkers" <internetworkers AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Sent: Thursday, December 28, 2000 11:51 AM
Subject: [internetworkers] Does this strike you as un-Web-o-cratic?


> I know that dot-coms are trying to figure out how to make money with
> their Web sites, but charging for _links_ to content!?!? What happens to
> our ability to say "lookit what I found here, Clyde"?
>
> http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,40850,00.html
>
> This is another leg in the all-information-as-commodity ramp. The News
> and Observer soon will begin charging for the privilege of viewing its
> online archive, as a number of other news organizations are doing. (No
> charge if you subscribe.) Used to be that the newspapers made their
> money through advertising -- roughly 60-65% of a regular paper is ads --
> and saw the news-ed parts of their product as the method by which the
> advertising was distributed. I certainly haven't noticed fewer ads
> online....
>
> I am troubled by this movement toward paying for information online
> since it places information in the same cart as exotic fruit.... In a
> "free" and "democratic" society, we *must* be informed before we can
> make informed decisions. At the least, in the current Real World(tm)
> scenario, public libraries provide copies of newspapers that anyone can
> walk in and read, free of charge. What happens when/if libraries fade
> away and there's no place for folks to find information that they want
> or need? Will online libraries be allowed to provide free news archives
> that anyone can access? (Somehow I doubt it....)
>
> It seems that, for news organizations, this is yet another step away
> from serving the public and toward serving the bottom line. (Does some
> rich guy in California _really_ _care_ about what happens in the
> Research Triangle, NC? Don't think so, as long as his profits increase.)
> Here, I could go off on my favorite rant about how the
> mega-corporatization of news organizations is threatening our
> liberty....
>
> --
>             "B"ing mobile
> =====================================
>     I always have more questions
> Thank you in advance for your answers
> =====================================
>  http://beeline.home.mindspring.com
>
>
> ---
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