ALL THE NEWS, ON THE NET, ALL THE TIME ™
Launched in 1996, TotalNEWS.com offers a multitude of integrated technologies designed to provide its users with a one-stop, easy to navigate platform to stay connected and informed 24/7/365. Our platform is designed to be customizable based upon user preference and subscription level accessible from any smartphone, tablet or desktop connected to the web.
TotalNEWS.com is an American aggregate news and media platform that provides instant breaking news updates with unfolding stories of popular interest. We report on a broad range of stories from local communities to global affairs from around the world. OurTotalNEWS.com will be continually updated as new and complementary technologies become available to enhance each user experience.
Subscribers can have confidence that the news we publish is from credible and reliable sources of the highest quality.
We do not subscribe to pressures from outside special interest or government groups to influence or alter our steadfast commitment to offer unwavering and truthful reporting.
Our top-level security software and comprehensive design protects all attributes of our platform to provide a safe and pleasant environment for our users to navigate through what matters most to each user.
Celebrating 25 years on the net
Launched in 1996, TotalNEWS offers a multitude of integrated technologies designed to provide its users with a one-stop platform to stay connected and informed. It can be accessed from any smartphone, tablet or desktop 24/7/365.
TotalNEWS provides instant breaking news updates with unfolding stories of popular interest and take politics and business news very seriously. We report on a broad range of stories from local communities to global affairs from around the world and believe our reputation is paramount.
Subscribers can have confidence that the news we publish is from a credible and reliable source of the highest quality.
We do not subscribe to pressures from outside special interest or government groups to influence or alter our steadfast commitment to deliver unwavering, truthful reporting.
Our top-level security software and comprehensive design protects all attributes of our platform to provide a safe and pleasant environment for our users to navigate through what matters most to each subscriber.
TotalNEWS.com is a comprehensive news and entertainment portal celebrating its 25th year anniversary after first appearing on the web February 6, 1996. At that time, it linked to over 1,200 news media outlets around the globe and offered “All the News, On the Net, All the Time”. To put it into perspective, advertising expenditures on the world wide web at that time were approximately $271Million. That number has reached over $780 Billion in 2021 with the addition of social media and other advertising generators. In order to keep up with the requests of our subscribers, and to integrate additional features such as Video & Audio Podcasts, Social Media, Chat Room, TotalNEWS – My Edition and Hot Channels, and other major site revisions, the TotalNEWS platform is being enhanced with a new look and additional features in Q1, 2023. TotalNEWS promotes a conservative America First agenda and is your one-stop source for access to local, national, and global news. Find it all in one place with 24/7 access from any desktop, tablet or mobile device.
SETTING THE STAGE: THE TOTALNEWS WEBSITE – ITS ROOTS Circa 1996:
Within one year of its launch, TotalNEWS set the stage in 1997 when it was sued by six large media companies in a key copyright case raised many difficult copyright questions for hyperlinking to Websites. Dow Jones, CNN, The Washington Post Co., Times Mirror Co., Reuters New Media Inc. and Time Inc. accused TotalNEWS of trademark and copyright violations – stating that in effect of illegally republishing and altering their content. TotalNEWS claimed that it was actually helping the other sites by delivering more visitors. This was a controversial case at the time as there were little to no specific governing parameters.
Like a number of other sites, including NewsHub, TotalNEWS listed stories that appeared on sites around the Web. CNET’s NEWS.COM also offers hyperlinks to news stories. TotalNEWS differed from other sites in that it presented news stories within a frame on its own site, which includes its logo and banner advertisements. A sampling of the original site from 25 years ago is presented below:
During the case, Roman Godzich, president of TotalNEWS, said he continued to believe the site is within its legal right. He said TotalNEWS has a right to display the content in frames and that it is the essence of the Internet that users can choose to view the content however they please, whether on TotalNEWS or on the originating sites.
Godzich further noted that there is a clause within the settlement with the media companies that allows them to revoke their linking license at any time. He continued; even if the companies revoke their license with TotalNEWS, he intends to continue linking to their sites because they must still go to court to prove copyright infringement.
“I would argue that linking is no more a copyright violation than a phone number, “Godzich said. “I believe linking is a fundamental right on the Internet.”
TotalNEWS alleged, unlike the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, many news organizations welcome the links TotalNEWS provides and do not quibble with the frames. Upon its launch, three to four requests a day were received from other news providers wanting to be listed on TotalNEWS.
“What’s really happening is that big money is beating out the innovative notions of the Net,” Godzich said. “It’s a company of five people tucked in a strip mall against six companies that have more money than the Pentagon.”
Under the settlement, TotalNEWS was able to continue to link to the more than 100 Web sites managed by the six companies under condition, which began to set a precedent on the internet. In essence, TotalNEWS was a pioneer in the “link” and “framing” category that set the stage for other sites to follow in the years to come.
Legal scholars and Internet observers have closely watched the TotalNEWS case, hoping it might help shed some light on emerging, and unresolved intellectual property rights issues on the Internet. For instance, there are a host of questions about how content can be republished, copied, and even printed out once it has been posted on the Internet.
The TotalNEWS site was initially launched because it felt there was a need for a comprehensive clearinghouse for news sites on the World Wide Web all over the world, including small newspapers in remote locations, from The Afghan Daily News to The Zambia Post.
SETTING A PRECIDENT ON THE NET
TotalNEWS stated that the settlement shows that it wasn’t just the framing that they were worried about. Their problem was links all along. By imposing “link licenses,” the companies – Time Inc., CNN, Dow Jones, Times Mirror, the Washington Post Co., and Reuters may have set a precedent that could – if it catches on – prompt Web-site operators to think twice before adding links to sites whose owners may retaliate with legal action. A representative for the media giants alleged that if the companies allow just anyone to link to their sites, they could be in danger of losing the rights to their trademarks.
