Free Republic (Score 1)

Could someone explain to me the difference between what takes place at Free Republic and my taking a newspaper article, cutting it out, posting it on a bulletin board and then standing around with my friends discussing it? What is the difference between what takes place at Free Republic and a teacher taking an article out of a paper and bringing it to her class and the class discussing it?

Where does this end? If Free Republic were for profit, it would be a different thing, but it is not. It is nothing more than the digital age equivalent of people gathering around a water cooler reading, sharing and discussing the morning paper.

Lastly, if Free Republic is forced to only post a portion of the article, then the article is lost when the source (inevitibly) moves the article or goes off the Internet. Then, the discussion archive becomes nearly useless.

I can't stick around, I'll check back later for replies.....