The Coming War on Blogs
By James D. Miller, Tech Central Station
In my comments inre the lawsuit filed by the Navy Seals over photos absconded by the AP from a private online album website, I likened the AP's legal, casual theft to a "good for the goose, good for the gander" scenerio.
What I attempted to point out was the fact that the AP, a member of the MSM, was indulging in the very tactics most other MSM were using as a foundation for lawsuits against bloggers. That being, of course, using even a single line or pixel of intellectual or artistic properties, including commentary or photos.
On the heels of my analogy comes Mr. Miller's warning to expect onslaughts of lawsuits in order to rein in the rapidly influencial world of blogs and citizen commentary, most using news stories as the source.
It's a universal law of capitalism: when an industry faces a new and significant threat to its profits and powers it turns to the government for protection. Well, bloggers who write on current events are challenging the mainstream media (MSM), the most politically well-connected industry in America. Watch for the MSM to start using their political influence to burden bloggers.
But won't the First Amendment protect blogs? Unfortunately, courts already hold that many governmental restrictions on speech don't violate the First Amendment, and I can think of three areas in which the MSM might successfully change laws and regulations to hinder their blogger competitors:
The big three lines of attack?
1: Campaign Finance Reform, trying to label commentary "favorable" to a candidate as "contributions".
2: Libel. Whether it's true or not, a large MSM body can shoulder heavy litigation costs easier than a blogger. So expect the expanse of libel laws as a new agenda.
3: Copyright infringement. Something we've already seen surface against bloggers, and now the Navy Seals lawsuit, turning the tables on the MSM.
Note that all of these assaults will entail American courts. And if we have all learned our lessons well from Terri's court battles, that judicials errors, bias or procedural deficiencies can lead us to a dead end. The courts accept no oversight, and use their power at will.
Heads up on the future, folks... some of this could get ugly. And we will have no where to turn.
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