Obscure going Prominent

The Automated Content Access Protocol, or ACAP, is being developed by the World Association of Newspapers, the International Publishers Association and the European Publishers Council. First released in 2007, it's designed to give publishers more refined control of access to their online content. News organizations including News Corp., the Associated Press and Cox Media Group Inc. have implemented it.

Microsoft "has been more overtly supportive of the copyright agenda which lies at the heart of the ACAP project," Lambert said, adding, "this tends to make the relationship with Microsoft a more constructive one."

Google argues that news publishers benefit from the online exposure it provides. But in a move widely seen as a conciliatory gesture, Google said Tuesday it would start letting publishers set a daily limit on the number of stories that readers can freely access through its search engine.

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