Developers hope that the project, begun in October of 2006 and scheduled for completion by the end of 2007, will allow quality content providers to post their content online without worrying about encountering legal disputes with search engine providers over the use of their information. 

Tuesday’s halfway point conference announced that the pilot program currently has no insoluble technical challenges and that developers are preparing for ACAP in its post-pilot stage.  In addition, support for the project has been extremely positive, with 28 organizations currently on a still-growing list of interested partners.

There is currently no system that systematically facilitates the communication between content providers and search engine operators as to the proper and designated use of information.  Building off existing technology such as the Robots Exclusion Protocol, ACAP could fill this void by allowing publishers to state standardized permissions information for search engine operators and content aggregators.  “Openness is one of the greatest of ACAP’s many strengths, and I hope it will become one of its most enduring legacies,” said WAN president, Gavin O’Reilly of the ACAP project.

Source: The World Association of Newspapers