It could be if an Illinois judge has his way, according to an article in the Guardian (and thanks to our buddy Meilee Anderson from Seattle Southside for the catch).
Influential Chicago Appeals Judge Richard Posner is concerned that newspapers are a dying breed. So are we. We think they are because they haven't embraced the internet correctly and report nothing but terrifying economic news, in the attempt to snare readers. Except, when they scare the shit out of their readers, their readers stop buying products. When readers stop buying, businesses don't have revenue with which to buy newspaper advertising.
Is it any wonder that newspapers have been complicit in their own demise?
But Posner thinks that it is the bloggers and twitterers linking to newspapers' online content are the culprits. But don't they deliver even more eyes to the online editions of these newspapers through their links? Eyes that wouldn't have, any other way, been there? Shouldn't bloggers and twitterers be thanked (even compensated) for their referrals?
Instead Posner suggests that copywrite laws be expanded to prohibit linking without permission (permission that would ostensibly carry a modest cost). In her e to me, Meilee brought up a very salient point. What happens to DMOs that rely on the ability to link to our partners to promote our destinations? While I doubt that permission wouldn't be granted by most...the time and paperwork that would be required would be astounding.
As is the case in so many areas these days, the attempt to save something seems to screw up the world for everyone else. Here's hoping the web stays free.
UPDATE: Great post from Simon Owens that tends to refute the notion that links are a bad thing: http://bloggasm.com/how-much-traffic-will-a-prominent-link-on-huffington-post-bring
Posted by: Bill Geist | July 06, 2009 at 10:24