Your clue is you can't have it both ways. But you can't give Gates free links to those sales pages, either, then deny TotalNews the right to deep-linking. Not if you've got an ounce of principle. All of which can lead to some hyperbole. All this may have more to do with the economy than the Web.
Information has value when it's rare, when the audience has both money and motivation.
That's your clue. Rarity, and a motivated audience with money, is needed to turn information into dollars. This is crucial data for those looking to host Web sites or put mission-critical functions online. A great example of information worth paying-for. Clueless are Steve and Cokie Roberts , who recently expressed fear in their newspaper column of Web-based reporters and, worse, voters using the Internet to demand direct democracy and bypass the gatekeeping function the Roberts' high salaries represent.