Until recently, I would have been the one telling people not to mess with Rupert Murdoch.

For goodness sakes, this man had beaten governments all over the industrialized world, and had a stable of fishwraps that, by their rumor-mongering, and nod-nod, wink-wink innuendos, not only made The National Enquirer look tame, but virtually drove that rag off the checkout stands.

Moreover, he also had Rutger Ailes as his consigliore.

However, two things are making me think this guy is getting past his sell date, one not of his doing: the gradual meltdown in print media, and the other his new crusade for paywalls on those same media properties.

One of the fishwraps I read to my detriment – and accompanying financial loss – during Internet 1.0, was the Wall Street Journal.

During the personal belt-tightening after the dot-com meltdown, my WSJ subscription, as well as that of all the supposedly financial glossies were the first to go. My application for a personal Bloomie (Bloomberg Terminal) wasn’t finalized, and I stopped listening to that buffoon Cramer and the other log-rollers on CNBC as well. (Am I still bitter? You might want to give me a few weeks in a walk-in freezer to cool down….)

Back to today’s episode….

I have never restarted that subscription. And I do not regret that.

As time passed by, and as the Internet grew more important, I found out that I could actually read the contents of the WSJ for free by connecting to it through my smartphones, something I have done for the past few.

Sometime this year, Ol’ Rupe decided that mobile access to the WSJ would be his new source of ducats, and proceeded to decree that such access would cost $2.00 USD or so per week.

$2.00?

I don’t think so.

Now, a lot of you would say, “Dude, that is the cost of a venti drip with room (at Stardrunk)”.

That is true.

It’s the principle of it.

I voted with my eyeballs, and vamoosed.

Now, I hear that Rupey is really jonesing for the Latinum being minted by the arrivistes at the Googleplex, and it is, well, killing him.

Well, two words, RM: MySpace, YouTube.

See where I’m going with this, Rupert, Old Boy?

You bought MySpace, and at the time, you were regarded as an anomaly: a geriatric who “gets it”. Moreover, you kept on harping on the fact that MySpace was profitable.

Those ‘kids’ bought YouTube.

Scoreboard!

Now ‘Howlin’ Mad’ Murdoch wants to restrict Google from its properties?

Good luck, Rupie.

Those Googligans?

They’re here to stay. Plus they’ve got a big fat wad.

Think you have traffic problems with the print versions of your ‘news’ properties?

Just wait and see what could happen when you do NOT have those philistines driving traffic to your online rags!

Have a nice day, Bro’.

Whatever happened to that saying, ‘Information wants to be free’?

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