An update on the AP story appeared today at Mashable:

Associated Press: We Are Not Targeting Bloggers

Today, the Associated Press reached out to us to clarify their position on iCopyright (the product they're using to charge for content) and on licensing its content. They explained that the form has never been aimed at bloggers quoting content and that it's unrelated to the controversy surrounding the content registry system, which aims to find what it considers illegitimate use of its content on the web.

[snip]
We asked for clarification and were referred to AP SVP Jane Seagrave's comments in the Columbia Journalism Review:
   

"We want to stop wholesale misappropriation of our content which does occur right now—people who are copying and pasting or taking by RSS feeds dozens or hundreds of our stories." Seagrave tells me. "Are we going to worry about individuals using our stories here and there? That isn't our intent. That's being fueled by people who want to make us look silly. But we're not silly."

You'll find the rest at the top link.

SRS