If freerepublic has a known list of links that are prohibited from using, why can’t an automatic warning be given while we’re trying to post?
That's a question for John Robinson.
I have the "Copyright List" page bookmarked. It's not that big a deal to check the list myself before I post an article.
Isn't that the primary benefit of all the processor cycles available?
It does for direct links. It gets a bit more difficult when you post something that is not directly attributed to the list. For example, many Washington Compost columnists are published in newspapers not subject to the "excerpt only" requirement. However, because the original source was Washington Post, it is still subject to excerpt. Sometimes it is not noticed until the thread is up and then the mods will either excerpt it (using the auto excerpt feature) or delete the thread if the content is prohibited on FR.
I got a block when I tried to post an article from LewRockwell.com, but it was over a different issue. Still not quite clear why.