The Associated Press seems bent on waging an unwinnable war.

The Associated Press has made a number of moves in recent times that demonstrate a indefensibly broad reading of the rights of copyright holders to protect their content.  Techdirt explains that the AP now threatens to require payment for access to its online content. Not only does it seem the AP has a remarkably narrow reading of the law; it also has a tin ear when it comes to navigating the new world of information.  Putting its content behind a pay wall open up the field of wire service reporting to competitors who would not do so if AP’s online content remained free (including CNN, which is apparently eager to do so).  Doing so would also be a stupid business move — not only would internet users likely not pay to get AP’s online content (just ask the New York Times).

As Techdirt points out, all of these moves seem to be the result of the AP’s fundamental misunderstanding of what the internet is used for –  communal sharing and commenting on the news:

The paywall itself is what takes away much of the value by making it harder for people to do what they want with the news: to spread it, to comment on it, to participate in the story. Until newspaper execs figure this out, they’re only going to keep making things worse.