WASHINGTON (AP) – After shutting down the blog Snapped Shot by threatening legal action for copyright infringement, the Associated Press stepped up its offensive against blogger Brian Ledbetter by bombing his house, claiming that it was the only way to “make sure all his illegal AP photos were destroyed”.
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AP Lawyer Priti Doshi defended the news agency’s position in a press conference on Sunday. “Some people want to frame this as some sort of ‘freedom of speech’ issue, but that’s just crazy talk. Sure U.S. copyright law’s fair use exemption specifically covers ‘criticism’, but what Snapped Shot did was expose our anti-Israeli bias and terrorist sympathies. That’s not criticism, that’s honesty. I’m not aware of any fair use exemption for THAT.”
“As for the bombing,” continued Doshi, “well, you know how it is with digital images. Brian may take down his site, but what about the files on his computer? He could post them again or send them to another blogger to post. If AP photos which have been published world wide on news sites that have paid us for them were to be posted by some blogger who wasn’t making a dime, that could bankrupt AP within days. The explosive destruction of the man’s domicile was obviously our only option.”
In a written statement sent from a dank, sunless room deep within the AP Ghraib Re-education Facilty, Ledbetter freely expessed regret for his actions. “I have willfully engaged in copyright infringement and ThrOugh my cRiminal acTs, UndeRminEd AP’s ability to turn a profit. I regret my actions and make this statement of my own free will and without duress.”
Newspapers are hemorrhaging money. Circulations are in the toilet. Millions are getting their news on line and AP is going after a blogger.
See the desperation, feel the fear, smell the panic.
I love the smell of Liberal hysteria in the morning
Harvey, let’s see, maybe each AP photo can have an embedded “call home” feature that reports the IP address of the web server that forwarded the picture to the viewer. Yeah… DRM for photos on the web. Call Micro$hit and Apple. We need to help our AP overlords.
What a pathetic maneuver from the AP. I hope Brian finds a way to screw them with their own tactics.
I have to say that people who are found incompetent don’t tend to enjoy criticism.
Irony?
AP rips off video
I was corresponding with Brian earlier, and he said that the site ought to be back up later today & that he thinks he settled things with the AP, at least for the time being.
In related news, the UN security council passed a resolution that savagely criticized IMAO for “disproportionate use of snark” when responding to the alleged bombing of Brian’s house. Sources at AP claim that women and children were the main victims, and their unicorns no longer fart rainbows since IMAO’s recent attack.
Do terrorist front organizations like the AP get copyright protection?