Boycott AP over paid links says US business blogger

"In case you aren’t aware the Associated Press (AP) is painting itself into the corner of obscurity by charging non-AP sites and blogs to pull small snippets from their news items. I think after their traffic starts dying off they will soon realize that links are the lifeblood of the Internet. No incoming links, no income, it’s just that simple,” wrote Statesboro Business Magazine publisher Allen Harkleroad (pictured).

"Personally I have been boycotting linking to AP stories and whenever possible avoiding AP stories in their entirety. Long Live Reuters and the other news services that embrace the link economy and fair use. I encourage you to boycott the Associated Press’ news as well."

Thomson Reuters’ president, media, Chris Ahearn, on Tuesday welcomed links to Reuters’ online news reports.

“Blaming the new leaders or aggregators for disrupting the business of the old leaders, or saber-rattling and threatening to sue are not business strategies - they are personal therapy sessions. Go ask a music executive how well it works,” he wrote.

“A better approach is to have a general agreement among community members to treat others’ content, business and ideas with the same respect you would want them to treat yours…” ■