NONE: Re: Boston Globe refusal to run ad
Re: Boston Globe refusal to run ad
Mark J. Welch, Esq. (markwelch_at_ca-probate.com)
Thu, 22 Aug 1996 10:12:34 -0700
At 08:30 AM 8/22/96 -0500, Cliff Kurtzman wrote a message about a dispute
between the Boston Globe and PrimeNetiX, regarding the Globe's refusal to
permit PrimeNetiX to advertise its car-sales web site in the Globe's
automotive classified section.
Three cheers for PrimeNetiX on finding a "hook" to get widespread free
publicity for its web site. (I assume that the other Boston and neighboring
papers will publish articles, but the Globe itself will not mention the item.)
While the message clearly suggests a PR problem for the Globe, which
apparently misrepresented its policies, I see no reason why one publisher's
refusal to run ads promoting a competing publisher's product is "restraint
of trade." I think most newspapers have policies (stated or not) against
publishing ads that will drain away their customer base. In fact, I'm
always amazed when I see ads in one magazine that promote a vendor's receipt
of an award from another magazine (for example, an ad in PC World magazine
that promotes the fact that the advertiser's product won an "Editor's
Choice" award from PC Magazine).
I am an estate planning attorney, and I have a web site which includes some
pages that carry advertising (for example, my "Wills on the Web" page,
http://www.ca-probate.com/wills.htm). If another attorney in my city or
county wanted to buy the ad space on my pages, I would probably refuse.
That's not restraint of trade -- that's just business judgment.
Rule of thumb: Freedom of the press belongs to those who own the presses.
-- Mark J. Welch, Attorney at Law, Pleasanton CA
-- http://www.ca-probate.com 510-462-8483
-- Email is not legal advice, and is not confidential.
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