News International blocks NewsNow aggregator

NewsNow blocked once again
NewsNow blocked once again

Rupert Murdoch's News International corporation has announced it is to block aggregation site NewsNow from indexing its content.

Just last week it was revealed that The Times had blocked NewsNow from accessing content but now the rest of News International's UK portfolio has been blocked to the site. This includes websites like

The Sun

and

The News Of The World

.

"NewsNow has been using Times Online content as part of its paid-for, commercial as well as free services," explained NI's statement.

"They have continued to do so despite our direct requests for them to stop. As a result, we have taken the decision to disallow their indexing of our content."

Significant investment

The statement continued: "News International makes a significant investment in journalism and we believe that it is entirely appropriate for us to ask that our rights are respected. NewsNow has acknowledged that they require our permission to use our content and, in the absence of our permission, has ceased to do so."

Despite NewsNow's aggregator being nothing more than a link-out to the newspaper's online content, News International seems to have it in for aggregators.

It all has to do with the company's soon-to-be implemented paid-for content approach which will put a pay-wall around the websites, with access to be limited to subscription only.

Via the Guardian

Marc Chacksfield

Marc Chacksfield is the Editor In Chief, Shortlist.com at DC Thomson. He started out life as a movie writer for numerous (now defunct) magazines and soon found himself online - editing a gaggle of gadget sites, including TechRadar, Digital Camera World and Tom's Guide UK. At Shortlist you'll find him mostly writing about movies and tech, so no change there then.