NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] Confidential AP Memo Surfaces: Google, Wikipedia, Twitter Targeted
Confidential AP Memo Surfaces: Google, Wikipedia, Twitter Targeted
http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000603.html
Greetings. As I've noted in the past, I have a great deal of respect
for the Associated Press. My interactions with their reporters over
the years have always been top-notch. But you can add me to the
column of observers who have viewed AP's new "protectionist"
activities as beyond baffling, trending into the bizarre, and
something of a declaration of war against Internet users globally.
Little by little though, the fog is beginning to clear regarding what
AP has in mind. Their apparent goals? Bypass Google. Rival
Wikipedia. Drive Web traffic directly to AP, even apparently at the
expense of their newspaper and other media subscribers. Is AP
concerned about protecting their members? Or is the ultimate goal to
obtain an SEO-based "stranglehold" on a significant portion of Web
news content?
Such a "go for the jugular" approach might not be surprising from,
say, Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. But what many people may not
realize is that the Associated Press is supposed to be something very
different. In fact, AP is organized as a *nonprofit* cooperative!
AP recently clammed up and stopped releasing new details about their
upcoming Web control initiatives. But thanks to the continuing
efforts ( http://www.niemanlab.org/category/themes/ap-plan/ ) of the
Nieman Journalism Lab at Harvard, many new details have now been
revealed, including a confidential AP internal memo (reportedly from
July) titled, "Protect, Point, Pay" ( http://bit.ly/YTqRF ) -- that
provides invaluable insight into AP's thinking.
I'll have more to say about all this, but for now, you might wish to
take a few minutes to read over the memo, and think a bit about what
the concepts therein might mean not only for the Web, but for the
broader aspects of news and other information dissemination as well.
--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
lauren@vortex.com
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
http://www.pfir.org/lauren
Co-Founder, PFIR
- People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
Co-Founder, NNSquad
- Network Neutrality Squad - http://www.nnsquad.org
Founder, GCTIP - Global Coalition
for Transparent Internet Performance - http://www.gctip.org
Founder, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein