MediaWatch 18 June 08

Associated Press has Pajamas Media and A-List bloggers up in arms! Michelle Malkin writes that AP's "... heavy-handed attempt to bully bloggers over fair use article excerpts has been absolutely schadenfreude-licious. Now, it’s time to turn the tables. If your blog or blog commenters have ever been quoted by the AP, listen up: It’s time to prepare a bill and demand payment..." Here's HOW...

PCWorld points out "This doesn't even consider social-news Web sites like Digg that commonly use excerpts from stories. Depending on how rigorous the AP guidelines are, this decision by the AP may stifle the current Web 2.0 trends of cross-linking and content-distribution, which is what makes blogs so great."

Patrick blogs The Associated Press: worse than merely foolish; Barbara O'Brien keeps tabs via AP v. Bloggers and Nick O'Neill calls it a "Blogger Toll Booth" - he comments the new policy set forth by the Associated Press is that bloggers should pay to quote their articles. If I had a $15 for every time I was quoted I’d be doing pretty well ... See Also: You’re all done, AP BitsBlog; The AP « I Think ^(Link) Therefore I Err; Dymersion » Blog Archive » The AP vs. The Blogosphere

Internet service providers are threatening to place limits on the online activity of their most active subscribers.

Moldavia: sequestration of personal computers of 12 young people for posting critical comments online.

Hyejin Kim : Korea’s Youtube equivalent, Afreeca, has recently become more famous due to live coverage of candlelight vigils. On the 17th, the CEO of Afreeca was taken by the prosecutor’s office under the charge of having illegal activities on the Internet. ..::more::..

A Malaysian study on the role and influence of the Internet and especially blogs found no concrete evidence that those who read blogs regularly were inclined to sympathise with opposition parties.

Blog-focused advertising networks are all the rage right now: Social networking site MySpace might have friends, but its owner, Rupert Murdoch, wants ad money... MySpace has company: Technorati Launches Blog Ad Network, Technorati Media

Zan Ai-zong writes in inmediahk.net about the government monopoly in the issuing of press card in China [zh]. The practice results in the direct control over journalists or some news agencies would sell the card to individual at very high price.