Free Republic

The Associated Press, one of the nation’s largest news organizations, said that it will, for the first time, attempt to define clear standards as to how much of its articles and broadcasts bloggers and Web sites can excerpt without infringing on The A.P.’s copyright. The A.P.’s effort to impose some guidelines on the free-wheeling blogosphere, where extensive quoting and even copying of entire news articles is common, may offer a prominent definition of the important but vague doctrine of “fair use,” which holds that copyright owners cannot ban others from using small bits of their works under some circumstances. For...

This column will probably get Barack Obama in trouble, but that’s not my problem. I cannot tell a lie: Many Egyptians and other Arab Muslims really like him and hope that he wins the presidency. I have had a chance to observe several U.S. elections from abroad, but it has been unusually revealing to be in Egypt as Barack Hussein Obama became the Democrats’ nominee for president of the United States. While Obama, who was raised a Christian, is constantly assuring Americans that he is not a Muslim, Egyptians are amazed, excited and agog that America might elect a black...

There are bloggers who present their calumny under the guise of “allegations,” applying evasive constructs like “some people are saying” or “it has been alleged.” Such writers are often well educated (sometimes with a law background), skilled at parsing words in order to avoid culpability for legal defamation. In this they rely for protection on the high standard of proof required to bring a libel action. Others recognize the evil in calumny, but see it as a compromise that must be made for the sake of a noble cause. They hope that by destroying an opponent’s reputation they will de-legitimize...

As anybody with high-speed Internet knows, MyDD and Daily Kos sit at the top of the liberal Netroots movement, which over the last five years has made astonishing strides in its campaign to transform the Democratic Party into a hard-fighting, proudly liberal, and, most importantly, victorious entity. Though their websites offer distinct communities and commentaries, and though they have very different personalities, MyDD founder Jerome Armstrong (a former astrologer) and Kos's Markos Moulitsas (a former Army man) have always gotten along--the two co-authored a 2006 book, Crashing the Gate, about the rise of their movement. Their bond has been rooted...

John McCain's campaign is using their campaign website to encourage supporters to post supportive comments on political blogs, including the most well-known liberal site in the blogosphere. And to make things easier, they're including talking points with which sympathizers can use to get out the McCain message. "Select from the numerous web, blog and news sites listed here, go there, and make your opinions supporting John McCain known," instructs the page. McCain supporters are asked to send the details of their comment to the campaign, which in turn will verify it and then reward the supporter with "points" (assumedly to...

Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign is trying to tap a new audience of potential voters by taking his campaign message straight to liberal and nonpolitical issues-based blogs, which reach millions of readers but don't often delve into conservative politics. The strategy was in full swing yesterday when Mr. McCain invited non-conservative bloggers to join his regular blogger conference call, just hours after he delivered a major speech previewing his war strategy and other priorities for a first presidential term. It already has started a war among liberal bloggers over how to react to Mr. McCain's overture. In answering the first...

The 25 Most Influential People On The Right According To Conservative Bloggers Right Wing News emailed more than 235 right-of-center bloggers and asked them to send us a list of whom they considered to be the most influential people on the right. Representatives from the following 54 blogs responded... Aaron's CC, David All Group, All American Blogger, Atlas Shrugs, Baldilocks, The Baseball Crank, Betsy's Page, BitsBlog, BizzyBlog, Blonde Sagacity, Bookworm Room, Cassy Fiano, Dr. Melissa Clouthier, Conservative Grapevine, Argghhhh!, Ed Driscoll, Election Projection, Cara Ellison, Eternity Road, Exurban League, Elocutio, Euphoric Reality, Fetching Jen, Five Feet Of Fury, Fraters Libertas,...

The New York Times has a blog called "A Papal Discussion" covering Pope Benedict's trip: http://thepope.blogs.nytimes.com/ What is notable about this development is the panel of contributors they have invited: Alejandro Bermudez is the director of Catholic News Agency, which provides fine coverage of things Catholic. I've been using their material extensively for years.Colleen Carroll Campbell works for the Ethics and Public Policy Center, which is a good outfit, and wrote "The New Faithful: Why Young Adults Are Embracing Christian Orthodoxy."Rev. James Martin, S.J. is an associated editor of America. I can't say that I particularly agree with most...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A majority of Americans do not read political blogs, the online commentaries that have proliferated in the race for the U.S. presidency, according to a poll released on Monday. Only 22 percent of people responding to the poll said they read blogs regularly, meaning several times a month or more, according to the survey conducted by Harris Interactive. Political blogs, in which writers, pundits and other participants voice opinions in online forums, burst into the spotlight in the 2004 and 2008 presidential campaigns. Some of the most high-profile blogs are influential on campaign strategies, media coverage...

Let's see if I'm missing something... NYT has a Baghdad bureau that is supposed to be collecting stories, sending in items to the paper for publishing, whether it's for the print or electronic editions.  So, recently they decided to start up a blog.  Now, here is where I get confused- I thought blogs (at least, in todays terms) were needed because 'traditional' news sources were  incomplete.  So why would a news 'source' (and I use that term loosely) need a blog?  Why not just add more stories into the mix?  Especially in the electronic edition.  I can see a limit...

The International Olympic Committee has deigned to allow athletes at the 2008 Beijing Olympics to blog. However, the IOC wants to make sure that athletes know the rules beforehand. They cannot post pictures, audio, or video of the events because the IOC does not recognize blogs as a form of journalism: The IOC has set out guidelines for blogging at the Beijing Games to ensure copyright agreements are not infringed. They include bans on posting any audio or visual material of action from the games themselves. ... "The IOC considers blogging... as a legitimate form of personal expression and not...

CNN has fired producer Chez Pazienza after the network brass realized he had been blogging at his own left-wing site and several others over a period of years: In a phone interview this morning, Mr. Pazienza, 38, said he joined CNN as a senior producer in January 2004 and has consistently received positive performance evaluations of his work. He spent his first year at CNN at the network’s headquarters in Atlanta, then moved to New York to work on “CNN Daybreak,” which has since been canceled, then “American Morning,” which is shown Monday through Friday, from 6 to 9 a.m....

In many ways, South Carolina has the future of the Republican Party in its’ hands. Up until now, the Republican primaries have only flirted with defining what the Republican Party wants. Independents in New Hampshire helped push McCain to victory in a small state with little Republican presence. Michigan rescued Romney and was the most populace stage for a Republican primary yet. However, even that win comes with an asterisk in a largely Democrat state with a fair share of activists who were urged to muddle with the Republican primary by fringe left leaders. But his margin of victory should...

If you're not making money off your blog, 2008 might be the year. As more people see potential in earning money off the Internet, there is a quickly expanding array of advertising services and tools for bloggers that go well beyond the standard pay-per-click text ads or display ads. Many of the most widely used programs are adding features to allow users to customize the appearance and placement of ads on their sites. Some also are introducing newer money-making mediums such as audio and video ads. "There's going to be a lot of new business models in 2008 that are...

Below are some sites that will give you more information about Senator Fred Thompson. He has had a long political career and, though checked as much as the other candidates have been, had no political skeletons found! He is the real deal. A true lifelong conservative! He has been criticized for not having fire in his belly and that is true. Fire in the belly is a longtime desire for something, a desire that make you do anything or say anything to get that. No, that is not Fred Thompson. His fire to win is in a much better place....

The liberal Web site Daily Kos is encouraging Democrats in Michigan to cross over and vote for Mitt Romney in Michigan Tuesday primary. Apparently, the thinking of the liberals encouraging the crossover vote is that a Romney victory there will further muddle the Republican presidential picture and help the Democrats win the White House in November. Fox News reports that “it’s a classic dirty trick, but perfectly legal. And while Machiavellian political ploys of this sort rarely work, the author’s logic is thus: ‘A Romney victory in Michigan will keep him in the presidential race. And the more candidates slugging...

Update: Even Hugh Hewitt, devoted worshipper of Mitt Romney, says Fred won! Wow! Thompson came out of the gate swinging tonight! He went for the jugular on Huckabee exposing him as the tax raising liberal he is to the entire Nation. Huckabee definitely got taken to the woodshed. McCain is the one that is ahead right now in South Carolina and he got the pass. Fred will need to contrast himself from McCain as well. Other than that, Fred took the stage! Michelle Malkin is on the same page: The debate is finished. Fred will be declared the clear winner....

At 9:00 pm ET Fox News will broadcast the Republican Presidential debate from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. As usual, I’ll be liveblogging it on the Fred File. Hope to see you then.

Politico.com an upstart (but seemingly well-funded) political blog has been sticking it to Fred Thompson for weeks. So Friends of Fred are Sticking it to Politico (dot com). Please visit the site.

Marc Ambinder declares Fred the winner: On points, Fred Thompson won the debate. Every answer was thoughtful and well-crafted; his tone matched the tone of the question; he wisely refrained from interjecting in the back and forth squabbling. He very deftly reminded viewers that he served on key Senate national security panels and is bringing his experience to bear. Even his insults were subtly and gently constructed In some ways, Thompson did McCain’s bidding. You skeptical readers can tell me that if Thompson had finished a solid fourth in Iowa, I might not be writing about Thompson at all, that...