The Associated Press is the Stupidest Organization in the World

I thought it was the Recording Industry Association of America. I was wrong.

They now want to charge bloggers for excerpting AP articles.

The pricing scale for excerpting AP content begins at $12.50 for 5-25 words and goes as high as $100 for 251 words and up. Nonprofit organizations and educational institutions enjoy a discounted rate.

FIVE WORDS.

"Hello. How do you do?"

$12.50

There is, of course, no doubt that this will last fro an even shorter time than when the New York Times blocked access to Maureen Down and Paul Krugman, and for the same reason - the sudden realization that "Shit! Nobody is reading us." Everybody on the planet will just quote Reuters, and nobody will read AP articles anymore.

I guess I'll quote Reuters instead of AP, too. It IS tempting, though, to just quote AP anytime I damned well please, but marqueed top and bottom with "The Associated Press Sucks."

That would be juvenile, though, wouldn't it?