One of the first summer internships I applied to for this summer was at Associated Press (middle of getting my MBA). They paid well and they offered a Web 2.0 MBA internship that would provide a student the ability to help bring the huge traditional media organization into the forefront of web news. I was emailed by the head of recruiting over at AP requesting that I apply. I sent over my resume and was greeted with a reply that they only accept resumes via post. Actual physical mail… stamps and all. They would also require a recommendation from a professor, typed and signed, sent via the mail. This company wants to be the leader of web 2.0 news? They can’t even use email efficiently!

With this experience, I am not surprised by the latest controversies surrounding the AP. Apparently, the AP doesn’t want anyone, anywhere, to quote them without explicit permission. Even if a blogger can legally quote an excerpt from an article according to the fair use clause of copyright law, the AP feels it can make its own rules. Unfortunately for the AP, us bloggers, and the internet as a whole, don’t care much about following rules that aren’t legal (and even those we bend as much as we can). If anyone out there feels the need to complain, make sure you write them a letter and send it in the mail. They still haven’t figured out the whole email thing yet.