Associated Press responds to DMCA-related backlash

By Tim Conneally | Published June 16, 2008, 2:34 PM

Last week's well-publicized Digital Millennium Copyright Act takedown notices from the Associated Press to social news site The Drudge Retort caused an uproar. Now the AP is calling its own actions "heavy handed."

Associated Press licensee The New York Times reported that Jim Kennedy, Vice President and strategy director of the AP, emerged from a Saturday meeting of its executives with a decidedly more placatory tone.

"We have to figure out a better and more positive way to do this," Kennedy said in an interview, "We are not trying to sue bloggers; that would be the rough equivalent of suing grandma and the kids for stealing music. That is not what we are trying to do."

Meetings with representatives from the Media Bloggers Association as well as others will reportedly be taking place this week so a set of guidelines can be laid down to detail what constitutes "fair use" in the blogosphere.

Currently, however, the content which the AP demanded the Drudge Retort remove remains missing. Despite the portent of a "friendlier" attitude toward bloggers by the Associated Press, some of the most prominent bloggers have turned against the media group.

In a blog entry titled "Here's our New Policy on A.P. stories: They're Banned," TechCrunch's Michael Arrington says the AP is in "damage control mode," and that a new set of rules will not prevent legal drama, but actually encourage it. "...even though they say they are making these new guidelines in the spirit of cooperation, it's clear that, like the RIAA and MPAA, they are trying to claw their way to a set of property rights that don't exist today and that they are not legally entitled to," Arrington wrote this morning. "And like the RIAA and MPAA, this is done to protect a dying business model - paid content."

Comments

View comments by with a score of at least

Exactly... Last time anyone uses them for anythign IMHO. Good riddance. Now if we could just be done with any content from the RIAA or MPAA forever. that would be progress...

Then MAYBE some quality content would be allowed to emerge again that is WORTH buying. And the public not lied too all teh time about imaginary Sales losses to P2P systems. These unrealized losses, would had never happen anyway, so why they count such as losses I haven't a clue. Indeed the rare download I do get, OFTEN results in a full download and keep, and My going out to find it on CD, hopefully on a MIX CD of some kind, with other top singles.. Thank you for Now thats what i call music series... Cause short of that, I doubt I would buy a full album for 1 song I want...

As too this story... The AP has essentially said to all bloggers we do not want you quoting our stories in any way, Even if you give us credit for the story. Which in turn has told the bloggers to go elsewhere for things to talk about. In effect delegitimizing the associated press as a source for ANY medium.

Score: 0

|

This was a worse PR 'take down notice' since the Doctor Who knitting pattern incident. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/...tertainment/7400268.stm

Score: 0

|

Hahaha. Yes.

Score: 0

|

I enjoy the identical use of "heavy-handed!"

Score: 0

|

DOCTOR WHO! BRILLIANT!

Also that's a load of crap. That's like them trying to get rid of the instructions on how to build your own Dalek.

Score: 0

|

Who gets paid to sue kids and grandma.. all to protect a dying business model???

Score: 0

|

LOL where you been? the RIAA, the MPAA.

They have these unscrupulous companies doing the dirty work of the infiltration and in some cases entrapment. Mediasentry being one such organization, whose activities have recently come under government scrutiny for violations of civil rights in the process of identifying their victims to feed to the RIAA as violators. Indeed if the legal standard was in the Federal court where it belongs, None of these cases could stand up to burden of proof... but allas they keep it in the Civil courts to keep it out of reach of a Precedence that may once more lead to a betamax style ruling nullifying the DMCA.

Score: 0

|

very very bad PR move by AP. Who gets paid to make these bad decisions?

Score: 0

|

'A pivot from war to peace:' The AMD + Intel armistice, in their own words

An extraordinary day in technology history is recognized by two long-time rivals that mutually decided it's futile to fight anyplace else except the marketplace.

PS3, Xbox to soon get Twitter, Facebook integration

Both Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3 will integrate with Facebook in the near future.

Windows Marketplace for Mobile now available in browser, iTunes' App Store still not

You can now check out what Windows Marketplace for Mobile has to offer without a Windows Phone.

Microsoft damage control after marketer claims Win7 inspired by Mac

Have you ever said anything you wish you could take back? Ever? No? Not even once? Well then, you won't sympathize with a mid-level Microsoft manager today.

Blockbuster's way down, but poised for a comeback

Though it took a serious beating in 2009, Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes says the company can turn it around.

iTunes Preview deson't go far enough to create Web-based option for store

Apple has rolled out iTunes Preview, a Web interface for browsing iTunes.

PDC 2009 Preview: The move to Office 2010 and Visual Studio 2010

The major focus of Microsoft's conference next week will likely be explaining why two pillars of its software sales strategy deserve to remain where they are.

Dell's first smartphone aids the Android onslaught

Longtime PC leader Dell has finally announced its Android-based smarphone.

After the Intel + AMD armistice: Do we really want a level playing field?

Scott Fulton On Point: One by one, the reasons for us to continue suspending the course toward open and fair competition in IT, are dropping like flies.

FLO TV launches pocketable, smartphone-like TVs

Qualcomm's FLO TV Personal Television made by HTC launches in retail today.

Google acquires Gizmo5, builds IP telephony portfolio

Google Voice today confirmed rumors that it would acquire IP telephony company Gizmo5