Just for the records: To me, having to get a license just to link to a piece of content (and maybe quote a small abstract as a teaser) is indeed crushing the open web. At least if I as a reader still have to follow the link to get the information, and the newspaper can still place ads to generate revenue out of my visit (or use a paywall to monetize their content).

But to newspapers this sounds like a really profitable business model: Instead of having to pay for advertising their product and get customers, like every other business in the world, they get others to pay them for the customers they deliver. This is like affiliate marketing where you don’t get a commission, but you have to pay one for every customer you refer to a business.

Am I the only one to whom this sounds at least strange?