CHANGE: Newspapers fight to keep public-postings revenue. “Even as newspapers attempt to monetize their web publications, they still get much of their revenue from print advertisements, which include these public notices. State-required legal notices are the bread and butter of many business newspapers in particular.” At this point, it’s basically just a taxpayer subsidy.

UPDATE: A reader emails: “The issue about public postings is not just about the newspapers keeping their subsidies at taxpayers expense; it is about them keeping their subsidies at the expense of better protection of individual rights too. Perform a thought experiment comparing publication of any legal notice in a newspaper versus on-line. The benefits of on-line publication include: 24/7 availability, world-wide availability, indexable in search engines, and the availability of on-line translation tools. Compare that to print publication which is available (typically): once a week for three weeks, only in the narrow geographical confines of distribution, in english, and not searchable. Of course, as a taxpayor, I’m concerned about expenses, but as a citizen, I’m more concerned about effective notice.” Yes. A search-engine-indexed webpage is much more effective than a printed classified ad.