• Newsweek, Thursday, September 3, 2009 9:31 PM

The rules that media companies can't charge for their work or block others from linking to it are starting to look stupid, writes tech editor Daniel Lyons. The media companies that follow these rules are going broke and are casting about for a new business model.

An intriguing idea is being advanced by Mark Cuban, billionaire Internet entrepreneur: declare war on the "aggregator" Web sites. He says media companies should kill off these parasites by using a little piece of software that blocks incoming links from aggregators. Cuban says that very few readers actually click through from the aggregate sites to the original story; and even when they do, the news companies don't make any money from them.

The problem with Cuban's "blockade" strategy is that it works only if everybody does it. "If your Web site blocks links but your competitors don't, you're basically committing suicide," concludes Lyons. "You'll be cut off from a big source of traffic, while aggregators will survive by feeding off your rivals." Oddly enough, Cuban doesn't think news organizations will take his advice because it's too risky.

Read the whole story at Newsweek »