As the modern day equivalent of the pamphleteers of yore, restricting bloggers from citing (linking to) sources seems heavy handed, especially since the sources have the ability to charge a modest fee to obtain their content, or at minimum registration which allows for sale of customer lists and other forms of solicitation.

Ahh those crooked, fascist judges. Sound just like supremo Roberts and Scalia ready to sell out citizens for big business, September Supreme court docket will give a whole new meaning to Free Speech, and these two clowns will be cheering.

When links are outlawed, only outlaws will make links.

Funny, the whole argument for caring about what happens to the obese media rags was supposed to be that they served the public interest and that democracy and our liberties will be imperiled without them. So we're going to have to adopt draconian limits on speech in order to save obese media profits because we want to save things like free speech?!

Meanwhile, The State newspaper in SC sits on LoverBoy Sanford's emails to his Argentinian Firecracker for SIX months (!), and the Oregonian tries to bury Sam the Sham's lies and dalliances until their hands are forced by Willy Week, but they simply go back to relentless cheerleading for Little Lord Paulson's Pompous Plan for Plundering Portland for Private Profit. Now why are we supposed to care that they disappear in a cloud of red ink?

I say give it to 'em until it hurts. If these bums threaten criminal punishment for linking to their articles, then don't link to them. Don't read the articles, either, and patronize the news sources that have no problem with linking because they understand that at least people are reading their articles. I want to see the look on Belo CEO Robert Dechard's face when he discovers that his attempts to keep his pathetic little Dallas monopoly caused him to destroy his family's entire corporation.

Posner contributes very little to the discussion since he merely restates the familiar (and obvious) facts until his final paragraph on possible future options. These scenarios are far too simplistic to be taken seriously.

And consider this:

"Mobile phone service and the social networking site Twitter have been blocked, and Internet links also were cut or slowed down."

Fresh protest erupts in China's Xinjiang region
By WILLIAM FOREMAN, Associated Press Writer William Foreman, Associated Press Writer – 51 mins ago
URUMQI, China
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090707/ap_on_re_as/as_china_protest

And a free lunch! Yes, we're Americans, we're exceptional and entitled to a free lunch, free newspapers, free Craig's list and free blogs.

Somebody is paying for these free things and I think we should know who. And why. I'm willing to pay but I want one payment for a cafeteria selection of news, blogs, Craig's list, networking sites, etc.

On the narrow topic of links I differ with Richard Posner. The links bring eyeballs to the original web source--and it's advertisers.