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01 Mar 2010 10:37

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Biz, Tech: The Associated Press plans to make you pay on the iPad

  • Good news, everyone! Fans of reading Associated Press stories now have a lot to look forward to with the iPad. They plan to charge readers for some stories with an app on the device. If we could make a suggestion: Don’t charge for the blades – charge for the razors. And make the razors unlike anything else already on the market. We know it inverts the Gillette model, but it’s also the only way anyone’s not just going to open up a Web browser and grab your news that way. Unless you have a better idea. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Feb 2010 01:43

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Biz: The AP’s using Twitter to link to stories on Facebook. WTF?

  • What they’re doing The AP has been linking to all of their stories on Twitter through their Facebook page, which is something Sarah Palin would do. But the world’s largest news organization?
  • Why it’s smart Because it allows people to easily comment socially on the stories Facebook posts. It centralizes an often-decentralized presence in online media.
  • Why it’s stupid Dudes, you realize that you can easily do something similar on your own site using Facebook Connect and Disqus, right? Then you get to keep all the ad money! source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 Feb 2010 22:09

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Biz: Rejoice! The AP’s long absence on Google News has ended

  • 7 weeks without the Associated Press on Google; nobody noticed source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Feb 2010 18:52

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Biz, Tech: The Associated Press continues its shakedown of Web giants

  • We’re breaking our longstanding AP boycott for this story. The Associated Press today reached a new deal with our boys at Yahoo News, giving the wire service more money to host the content from the news service we know and love. Details aren’t being disclosed, but let’s just say that no major changes are taking place as of yet. Oh yeah, Google News hasn’t hosted AP stories since their contract expired in December. Didya know that? You probably didn’t notice, because Google News is that good. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Nov 2009 21:08

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Tech: The guys behind @FakeAPStylebook explain their inspiration

  • He had said, ‘I don’t know if I’m sad or relieved that this is not a fake account’ because there are so many joke accounts for celebrities. That’s when the inspiration struck.
  • @FakeAPStylebook cofounder Ken Lowery • On the spark he and cohort Mark Hale had in creating the hilarious Twitter account. Essentially, the duo had seen @APStylebook, the Associated Press’ official Twitter feed for all things random style, and saw an idea ripe for parody. The realization paid big dividends – Lowery and Hale have 20,000 more followers than their source of inspiration and already have a book deal lined up. Does the real AP like it? Well, some reporters do, but they haven’t heard from the AP proper yet.  • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Oct 2009 12:30

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Biz: Dear Associated Press: Our boycott of you is still freaking on

  • We content creators have been too slow to react to the free exploitation of news by third parties without input or permission.
  • Associated Press Chief Executive Tom Curley • Discussing the idea of charging search engines money for finding their content. Rupert Murdoch of News Corp. is also on board. May we just say, as the Associated Press looks to screw over the entire Internet with its greed and lack of foresight, we would like to welcome our new Reuters overlords. (In case you’re wondering: We’re going to continue to post stuff from News Corp., because, come on, Glenn Beck!) • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

07 Sep 2009 12:05

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U.S., World: Daily poll: Should the media publish photos of dead soldiers?

  • The Associated Press (who we’re still boycotting and have been for over a month) recently distributed a photo of a soldier immediately after he was severely injured in combat. He later died due to his injuries. They published it against the family’s consent. Granted, the impact is significant, but is this a role the media should take? Let us know. Vote. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 3 Comments • Permalink
 

04 Aug 2009 10:44

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Biz, Tech: AP: Charging for quotes it doesn’t own, going into PR spin mode

  • If nature has made any one thing less susceptible than all others of exclusive property, it is the action of the thinking power called an idea.
  • Thomas Jefferson • Quoted by blogger James Grimmelmann, who used that handy-dandy quote-charging system to see if Associated Press would charge him to pay for a quote they didn’t even use in a story. Not only did they do it (for $12), they returned his money, then made a statement about it. (He smartly responded back.) Sure, they’re not attacking bloggers. That’s what they say. But we can see the precedent and the crosshairs. It’s just not good for the Internet, guys. Our ban on their content stands. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Aug 2009 21:02

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About: The Associated Press is dead to us. We’re not covering their stories.

  • © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
  • The slogan that runs at the bottom of each Associated Press story • We copied it from the bottom of one of their articles. Why? Because it’s silly in the day and age of the Internet. Of course it’s going to get copied and redistributed, paraphrased and quoted. It’s how information spreads. But not anymore from us. We quit. This was the last straw. You used to be great, AP, but now you’re just a giant beast of another era. Even your efforts to reach younger customers fail. So, we’re no longer linking to your stories on this site. Or, if we absolutely need to (which, considering the wide variety of content online, we don’t need to), we’ll link to you guys using a NoFollow tag. Think we should do this? Let us know. We’re up for any opinion you have on this matter. We simply want the AP to respect the rights of its audience. It’s only fair.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 5 Comments • Permalink

02 Aug 2009 20:21

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Biz, Tech: Dear Associated Press: There’s no way you’re charging this much

  • $12 cost to quote five words from a single article, according to their new iCopyright site
  • $100 cost to quote 250 words or more (a.k.a. an article) from the wire; good luck, greedy bastards source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 6 Comments • Permalink
 
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