AP clamping down on online content

The blogosphere isn’t going to like this one.

In an effort to tighten the screws on how its content is used on the Web, the Associated Press is planning to develop what it’s calling a news registry that will track news articles to “ensure compliance with terms of use.”

AP promises to bundle its news in a digital “wrapper,” essentially a bit of software that would accompany its stories on their travels around the Web, complete with a notification mechanism to tip off the news cooperative when its content is being misappropriated.

Initially geared for its own content, AP is hoping that its members (newspapers) will sign on to the system and adopt the technology.

“What we are building here is a way for good journalism to survive and thrive,” said AP Chairman Dean Singleton said in a statement. “The AP news registry will allow our industry to protect its content online, and will assure that we can continue to provide original, independent and authoritative journalism at a time when the world needs it more than ever.”

This could get very litigious.