I've taken the time to read through what Humblegunner is doing and how others are responding. I did that after I ran afoul of Humblegunner and his friends about a month ago, after several years with no problems or objections being raised to my own excerpting, and I ended up as one of their targets.
Over the last month or so I've read thousands of posts in several hundred threads on this “blogpimp police” issue, and I think Humblegunner is correctly describing Jim Robinson's position. However, that was not at all clear to me when I started digging into this.
Part of the problem is that Jim Robinson's comments are buried deeply in obscure threads started long ago, and while Humblegunner does copy them with links, anyone who spends much time on the internet knows that context counts. When post 500-something in a very long thread gets quoted, it's important to read the whole thread and other related threads to be sure there aren't other items somewhere which need to be read in context to understand what the author meant.
The result is that I think there's honest misunderstanding on the part of some people who didn't know there was a problem, combined with others who really **ARE** trying to use Free Republic links as a way to build web traffic and/or improve their Google rankings.
Neoavatara wrote: “At any time, Mr. Robinson or his direct associates can tell us what we can and cannot do. It is ultimately his site, and we only have as much freedom as he is willing to give us. If he states I am wrong, and over the bounds, I will happily accept his ruling. He, not you, is the ultimate determiner of what is acceptable.”
TheOldLady wrote: “Mr. Robinson is one man, and his time is better spent taking care of his own business. He does not have time to babysit the bloggers’ forum, and he has delegated that authority, in writing, to humblegunner.”
Neoavatara and TheOldLady: this gets to the crux of the issue. I've heard this and similar things said repeatedly about Humblegunner’s role. I'm assuming it is true since if it weren't, Jim Robinson would have long ago responded. Can someone show the link indicating that the site owner has delegated this authority in writing to Humblegunner?
If that written delegated authority exists — and I am **NOT** saying it doesn't, in fact I think it probably does exist based on how many times I've heard it said — having a link available may help reduce a lot of problems.
FourPeas wrote: “How is it you’ve been around Free Republic all this time and haven’t yet read about Mr. Robinson’s opinion of blog pimps? It’s quoted and linked to in so many blog pimp threads that it’s certainly no secret.”
I can't agree with this.
Jim Robinson's comments are buried deep in threads that are on topics that not everybody would be interested in reading. And when I mean deep, it's hundreds of posts down in threads that, if I remember correctly, were originally posted sometime in 2010.
It's not at all clear to the casual observer — or even some people who are paying pretty close attention — that Humblegunner speaks with Jim Robinson's authority. For those people who don't happen to click on one of these blog fights and sticks mostly to the news section, it's quite possible not even to be aware of the issue.
To all five of you: I have no authority here at all. Zip, zero, nada. However, I am becoming more and more convinced that this fight is simply unnecessary.
There are people — Neoavatara, Tribune7, and Madd Dawg may or may not be among them — who fully agree that Jim Robinson can do what he wants with his own private property, but don't necessarily believe that Humblegunner speaks for Jim Robinson on this issue.
The result is a lot of yelling back and forth. I think that wastes everybody’s time. There has got to be a better solution.
My own thoughts would be to put the items in dispute in a FAQ with a link on the homepage that clearly answers legitimate questions in advance, and then to clearly designate somebody — Humblegunner or someone else — as the person responsible for enforcing the FAQ.
But again, I have no authority whatsoever and only the owner of the site can decide what he wants to do with his own private property.
It does not.
No more than you need written authority to speak out against what you think is wrong.
When some goblin cuts in front of you in line, do you call the cops?
Do you hesitate because you have no documented authority?
Or do you call him on it and make an issue of his bad behavior?
Me, I don't call the cops or need a badge.
The anti-blog faction does have legitimate concerns that should be respected so if you are going to excerpt make sure you provide enough info so a reader will know whether it's worthwhile for him to click the link, and to show that you are not a spam site. If you are a conservative you should proudly support FR on your site.
Other than that don't let the bastards grind you down.