Tuesday 24 November 2009

The Beginning of the End for Murdoch and Microsoft

It seems that Google and Open Source Media have caused Rupert Murdoch and Microsoft to hit the panic button that will actually lead to their own destruction.

Murdoch made a mess with MySpace which has been overtaken by Facebook since he took it over and so now he is loosing money across almost all of his operations he wants to try and charge for his content. This looks like sound business (If you read Andrew Keen you would think Murdoch was being ripped off PS DON'T). He has been attacking the BBC hard as one of the main suppliers of free-content while forgetting that it was only because he had the BBC on board that he managed to leverage any success with Sky Digital and destroy the hapless ON Digital. Now the BBC are not handy allies but a threat to his new pay model of the internet. Now he wants to get the news out of Google and to do this he has allied with Microsoft and Bing.

Microsoft will pay him to not let Google index his media output. It is a deal made in open source heaven as the two can bleed each other dry while everyone moves to alternative media sources. The UK gets to ditch the Sun which is losing its touch anyway and there will be no more Fox. It gives me the same happy feeling as AOL/Time-Warner, as I know Rupert has finally lost his touch. The people will decide with their clicks, do they want a Google dominated world or a Murdoch/Microsoft world? I know which one my money is on.
FT article
Slashdot article
BBC article
Boing-Boing article

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