Attack of the Forbes

Blogs are a threat to business, the cover story, Attack of the Blogs, in the Nov. 14, 2005 issue of Forbes reveals.

After telling a horror story about a man who's business was hounded by a blogger, the article goes on to uncritically list other blogs that are an annoyance to businesses. The problem, of course, is that many businesses deserve the scrutiny that blogs are giving, including some of those that Forbes cites.

One prominent example is Groklaw, which has taken up the task of keeping the opensource community informed of SCO's attempt to co-opt and privatize Linux, and coordinate volunteers' efforts to protect Linux. Groklaw provides an invaluable service.

But this is what Forbes has to say about Groklaw:

One blog, Groklaw, exists primarily to bash software maker SCOGroup in its Linux patent lawsuit against IBM, producing laughably biased, pro-IBMcoverage

The only real point of this laughably biased, anti-blog article seems to be, "damn that First amendment, can't we go back to the days when you had to pay in order to have your say? And who are those little people nipping at my ankles." The problem, of course, is the people Forbes writes for only want democracy if they can own it, lock, stock & barrel.

There is a peril that they'll try to muzzle us, but for now at least, it looks like the future belongs to us, and in that future, the dinosaur media is nothing but an oil slick in the road.