Sharpe's Opinion

Polite Notice to All Customers

Friday 7th August, 2009 at 12:05 pm

I would like to start by extending my thanks to all my readers, for your continued custom. Rest assured, your readership and participation on this blog is extremely important to me, and I hope you enjoy the time you spend here.

Sharpe’s Opinion is very nearly amongst the Top 100 political blogs in the UK. Clearly, such a high standard of journalism cannot be sustained without incurring a cost to myself, and this has, of course, worsened considerably due to continuing strike action.

There is light at the end of this tunnel, though, and its source is the lamp held by Rupert Murdoch to show all those who publish their content on the internet the true Right Way Forward. Following Mr Murdoch’s announcement that all News International online properties will begin charging readers to access their content, I am proud to announce the beginning of the Sharpe’s Opinion Subscription Service.

The past year, I can now reveal, has been a limited-time free trial period for Sharpe’s Opinion. This trial will be ending at the beginning of September.

The Sharpe’s Opinion Subscription Service will have three separate facets. The first involves basic access to content on sharpesopinion.co.uk, which will from September require a subscription and an account. One single small monthly payment will allow access to Sharpe’s Opinion content both on the main web page, and syndicated using the variety of RSS feeds which will made available to subscribers.

The second aspect of the new service will be a premium ‘Linkers’ account. This premium account will allow other bloggers or website owners to provide their own readers with ‘backlinks’ to Sharpe’s Opinion, or to ‘blockquote’ passages of text which first appeared on the Sharpe’s Opinion blog. This will be available both through a monthly subscription plan, and on an ‘ad hoc’ basis. The monthly plan will include a nominal licensing fee pertaining to the right to reproduce or link to any content on this site. Each backlink or quote must be separately registered using the ‘link request’ form which will be appear at the end of each post.

The ‘ad hoc’ linking service is for those who wish to use material from Sharpe’s Opinion on an irregular basis. This will involve a simple credit scheme, whereby the purchase of one credit will allow the quotation of one paragraph of text, or a link to a single post. Credits will be made available in blocks of 17, where 17 credits will cost £14.67. I’m sure you will agree represents exceptional value, and exceptional ease of use.

The last facet of our premium service will pertain to the right to respond on this site to content written by myself. Should readers wish to respond to posts, they may leave comments using the form which appears below each post and will be made available to all subscribers. The commenting service will be charged at £1 for the first 150 words, and £0.05 per word for additional words.

The premium subscription account includes unlimited comments.

I believe customers will agree that that both the standard and premium subscriptions represent excellent value for money, and I am confident that from September you will be delighted to start paying for content which was previously free to read.

Thank you once again for reading Sharpe’s Opinion, I look forward to your continued readership and contribution.

UPDATE: Wait! Come back! Why have you gone? Was it something I said?

⇐ Let’s Manufacture Some Outrage!

Don’t Vote For Me! ⇒

Comments

Indeed. I think there must be something that we mortals are missing with Murdoch’s proposal – surely he isn’t that stupid?

Blue Eyes

August 7, 2009 at 12:13 pm

I don’t know, why should we expect Murdoch to understand new media? Would you want Churchill to fight the Iraq War? Murdoch has made a fortune through a ‘command and control’ approach to news dissemination, he’ll never understand what’s happening.

He’s old, his business ideas are outdated, and facing increasing irrelevance he’s going nuts. I mean, the guy bought MySpace. How clueless do you have to be?

But it doesn’t matter to me. I don’t believe I regularly use a single News International service.

Stu

August 7, 2009 at 12:49 pm

Nor do I use News International, and consciously so after the Night Jack debacle. He must be assuming that people will want to pay a premium – however small – to read the opinion pieces and supposedly better-written news coverage. But I think the market for that is pretty much sewn up with the print edition.

Blue Eyes

August 7, 2009 at 1:01 pm

Dear Mr Sharpe,

I write on behalf of my client News International Limited. My client understands that you have decided to copy their recent business method invention on your site http://sharpesopinion.co.uk, viz, the establishment of a charging structure for current-affairs related new media. This is clearly an attempt to copy my client’s novel business method.

You are hereby placed on notice that our client will shortly be filing a US patent application entitled “Method of Extracting Cash from No-longer-existent Web Visitors And Generally Killing Off A Website”. Our client is confident that the patent application will be deemed to relate to non-obvious subject matter by the US Patent & Trademark Office, on the grounds that no sane website would do that in this day and age so how could it possibly be obvious. Once the patent is granted, our client will ask a US Court to completely ignore all territorial issues (as they usually prove distressingly willing to do) and enforce the US patent against your UK-based website. Damages and an injunction will be sought, together with exemplary damages and attorney’s fees as a result of your wilfull and deliberate infringement of our client’s legal rights.

Your response is awaited.

Yours sincerely

big bad patently

(Only joking!)

patently

August 7, 2009 at 1:33 pm

Dear big bad patent company

I believe my proposed pricing structure has several facets which distinguish it from that of News International’s proposed system, including a two-tiered subscription model, a backlink registration system, and a system for charging per word for user-generated content on the site. It is my belief that my system is not only distinct from that of News International in its implementation, but that it will prove to be a considerably more effective system for the alienation of website visitors.

I will, of course, be filing my own patent application entitled “Method for reducing web server loads through the alienation of site visitors”. I am willing to discuss licensing arrangements for my invention, should News International decide that they would be interested in using my current affairs website monetisation system, which, as previously stated, I consider to be hugely superior to their own.

Somehow, I knew you’d say something like that…

Stu

August 7, 2009 at 3:26 pm

Look here, Sharpe. There’s no use arguing the merits here. Either duck down or we go to Court. And who has the deepest pockets? Eh? Eh?

I mean, it’s not as if you’ve appointed that @patently fellow, or anyone else who is used to sticking two fingers up to huge corporates and getting their little clients off scot free just because they happen to be in the right.

patently

August 7, 2009 at 3:56 pm

It’s this sort of attitude that will bring down a government.

Please ensure a daily sudoku.

ladytizzy

August 7, 2009 at 4:56 pm

Just for you, Tiz

patently, see you in court.

…preferably defending me.

Stu

August 7, 2009 at 5:28 pm

No worries

patently

August 7, 2009 at 5:38 pm

Dear Mr Sharpe

Thank you for drawing our attention to the letter you received on 7th August 2009 from Mr Big Bad Patently on the instructions of News International Corporation.

After careful consideration of this supposed infringement of their rights, it is our opinion that this claim is extremely dubious, to say the least. Please rest assured that their failure to lodge a patent, possible as a result of negligent legal advice, would mean that it would be very unlikely that they would be successful in any proceedings. Our advice to you at this stage is to await developments and to only communicate with them in written correspondence.

Your weblog charging structure, which would encompass more than non obvious material, sounds a particularly interesting invention. If you would like to patent it, we would be happy to discuss this with you. We enclose a copy of our firm’s brochure for your perusal. Our rates before VAT are widely regarded as unnecessarily high but let me assure you they are not. We would regard it a privilege to represent you.

We hope this advice is helpful. We look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Ms M Measured
Owlsbang Solicitors