British Library newspaper archive plan riles James Murdoch - Press, Media - The Independent

"The heir to Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation empire attacked the British Library yesterday for "harming the market" in print journalism by allowing online access to its vast newspaper archive. James Murdoch, head of News Corp in Europe and Asia, spoke out days ahead of his company's big gamble in introducing charges for access to the websites of The Times and The Sunday Times. Mr Murdoch was responding to the library's announcement this week that it would digitise its archive, which aims to be a complete record of British regional and national newspapers. "This is not simply being done for posterity, nor to make free access for library users easier, but also for commercial gain via a paid-for website," he said. "The move is strongly opposed by major publishers." ..."