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NYTimes.com wants you to pay your $120 contribution to Janet Robinson's $24Mil severance package

In an effort to coax occasional readers into contributing dollars, the New York Times announced today that it will now only be offering ten free articles a month instead of 20. The cheapest annual digital subscription is $120/year (iPad app not included).

I don't have a problem with the New York Times paying its hard-working journalists but I have a feeling that 200,000 of those digital subscriptions will be going to pay outgoing CEO Janet Robinson, who just left with a $24 million severance package. And that's a lot of subscribers to tack on! No wonder they're pulling in the guard gates. Considering that the New York Times had 406,000 digital subscribers at the end of 2011, I suspect they're going to have a tough time pulling in another 200,000, 10-article limit or no. Good luck to them.

Upset about Rush Limbaugh's comments? Fight back

Here is a list of radio network and advertising sponsors to contact.

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

RIP Twitpic: And let me give you a boot in the ass on your way out the door

The Twitpic copyright controversy blew up a few weeks ago and I was busy and didn't have time address it. I would now like to correct for that omission.

Twitpic's new terms of service fall into the category of what I would describe as copyright-grabs-that-aren't-labeled-copyright-grabs.

The New York Times reported last week:

World Entertainment News Network, a news and photo agency, announced this month that it had become the “exclusive photo agency partner” of Twitpic, a service with over 20 million registered users that allows people to upload images and link to them on Twitter. The deal allows the agency to sell images posted on Twitpic for publication, and to pursue legal action against those who use such images commercially without its permission, according to the agency.

“There has been much unauthorized use of Twitpic images which we shall be addressing without delay,” said Lloyd Beiny, the agency’s chief executive.

World Entertainment News, whose photo business revolves largely around shots of celebrities, says it is interested only in the photographs posted to the accounts of people like Britney Spears, Russell Brand and Demi Moore. But the scope of the deal is not clear, and professional photographers are worried that it could allow the agency to profit from any photo posted to Twitpic. Others say Twitpic’s move shows the tenuous control people have over what they post through Internet services...

The New York Times has the issue down in a nutshell.

Here's my take: Under the latest terms of service, "unauthorized use" is someone else publishing your Twitpic photos without Twitpic's permission. "Authorized use" is Twitpic selling your photos to whomever it wants for any reason whatsoever without your permission (later in this column I'll excerpt the relevant fine print).

Let me quickly backtrack through recent history.

This controversy arose a few weeks ago when users discovered that the terms of service posted on the Twitpic website had been covertly changed.

After finding itself embroiled in a fast PR fiasco (inconveniently followed by new rumors that Twitter might finally launch its own photo service), Twitpic tried to shuck and jive itself out of what had actually been going on (re: copyright grab).

The people that hacked into PBS for its WikiLeaks story are real morons. Talk about introducing a PR disaster for your cause, whatever it is they were seeking to promote. David Fanning, executive producer of "Frontline," said it right: “This is what people who don’t want information out in the world do — they try to shut the presses.” (emphasis added)

 

Bob Dylan on Steve Allen Show: The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll (Footage) #dylan70

George Soros holds 139,700 shares in the world's largest censorship company: Baidu, China

Until recently, I was under the impression that George Soros, investor and philanthtropist, was engaged in a global effort to promote freedom of speech, democracy, and an open society.

Well, maybe- when he's not actively funding censorship against several hundred million Chinese netizens. I noticed last quarter Soros purchased 139,700 shares in Baidu, which censors billions of web searches every month on behalf of the Chinese Communist government. This is not the first time he invested in the company (he made a profit on earlier investments at Baidu).

139,700 ways to spell hypocrisy?

Glenn Beck felled by the McCain blogette

Here is a takedown if I've ever seen one. Meghan McCain, writing for the Daily Beast, has a few things to say about Glenn Beck.

The headless-talking-head said on his radio show that McCain's appearance in a skin cancer PSA made him want to vomit for ten minutes, or something to that effect.

McCain has a response, one too well-targeted to paraphrase here so I suggest taking a look at the full post.

Suffice it to say she's more articulate than Beck, whom TIME described in a September 2009 cover story as the "hottest thing in the political-rant racket."

Included:

While we’re on the subject of you vomiting on air, maybe we should have a little talk. Clearly you have a problem with me, and possibly women in general, but the truth is, it’s 2011 and I heard your show on Fox was canceled. Isn’t that an indication that the era of the shock jock pundit is over? Don’t you think that’s a sign you should be pulling it back a little? I mean, if you’re too conservative and outrageous for Fox, that should tell you something. There really is no need to make something like my participation in a skin cancer PSA into a sexist rant about my weight and physical appearance, because I’m going to let you in on a little secret, Glenn: you are the only one who looks bad in this scenario, and at the end of the day you have helped me generate publicity for my skin cancer PSA, a cause that I feel quite passionate about.

As a person known for his hot body, you must find it easy to judge the weight fluctuations of others, especially young women.

Beck must be happy just to be back in the headlines again. Notoriety is short-lived, Glenn boy. Now go and crawl back in your rathole.