Wrappers and beacons fight unauthorised news use
Jinfo Blog

31st July 2009

By Tim Buckley Owen

Item

Anyone who uses content from Associated Press (AP) can increasingly expect to find that it is being tracked to detect and prevent illegitimate use. The not-for-profit news co-operative has announced the creation of a news registry system that will ‘wrap’ each news item using an open source microformat developed by AP called hNews. The 'wrapper' contains identifying information about the story and its terms of use. It also incorporates a built-in ‘beacon’ to show AP how that content is used online (http://digbig.com/5bacys). It’s the next stage in AP’s proclaimed aim of leading an industry-wide initiative to protect content from unauthorised use (see http://www.vivavip.com/go/e18103 for background). It also ties in with its more recent joint announcement with the Media Standards Trust about ensuring that critical identifying information is available for every news story online (http://www.vivavip.com/go/e22212). So why not just put up a pay wall? As AP explains, that doesn’t enable publishers to pursue strategies for broader digital distribution; many publishers would like to distribute their content on open platforms, it says, provided they can easily set and monitor how their content is used. And who is it aimed at anyway? Google? Bloggers? No-one specific, AP assures; it’s just a tool to help news organizations address the opportunities and challenges that constantly evolving digital platforms and devices offer. AP’s initiative comes at a time when the news industry continues to suffer pain from the transition from print to digital. According to Outsell’s latest News Publishers & Providers Market Size & Share Report (purchase details at http://digbig.com/5bacyw) the segment lost 7.5% of its revenue in 2008. As readers migrate online they take print circulation with them and – particularly important – create a smaller ad base, Outsell explains. News companies are getting no more than about a 10%-12% slice of the ad pie online, compared to about 20% in pre-internet times. Even the Financial Times is not unscathed. It may have recently boasted a 15% increase in its readership (see http://www.vivavip.com/go/e21244 for background), and interim 2009 results from its parent Pearson show readership and online figures continuing to rise – but FT worldwide circulation is 6% lower and FT Publishing revenues have declined by 13% (http://digbig.com/5bacyx). With news organisations struggling to find a viable new model it’s only to be expected that the agencies that feed them are suffering too. So expect news organisations to get even tougher about possible infringements; indeed, they already have - see http://www.vivavip.com/go/e22684.

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