So called 'Deep Linking' Illegal??
From http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-941592.html :
Quote:
Say you post a scrappy one-man-band Web site on the pros and cons of pet sweaters. Like any good Webmaster, you add links to pages on outfitting pooches in ponchos so people can track down additional information--a move that captures the essence of the Web.
Imagine your surprise, then, when you receive a letter from one of the sites you directed people to, which says posting such links is illegal without first seeking written permission.
Similar scenarios are happening around the globe as a growing number of organizations and publishers crack down on deep linking, or the practice of sending people to pages other than a home page.
Publications such as The Dallas Morning News have claimed that deep linking creates a host of problems, including violating copyrights, depriving them of ad dollars, redirecting traffic, and generally confusing Web surfers.
Attempts to control traffic and site navigations through deep-linking bans are occurring outside the United States as well. A court in Copenhagen, Denmark, is set to rule Friday in a case that pits the Danish Newspaper Publishers' Association against Newsbooster, an online news aggregator fighting to link to stories in the association's publications.
Critics say such clampdowns could threaten the very nature of the Web.
[...]
More at the link above.
My question to you all: Good idea, bad idea, or simply the byproduct of crappy webdesign?
My take on it is this: Many many sites are now ASP or PHP based, and both ASP and PHP have simple methods by which you can check the Referrer (the document linked FROM) to see if it is within your domain(s), and based on that, display the page, or forward you to their main page.
Personally, I see no reason at all why 'Deep Linking' is necessarily a bad thing, or how it can be considered illegal. This is information that you are intentionally putting out on the Internet for public consumption. Any page you can get at without having to enter a password first is within the public domain. I happen to believe that the idiots who believe they understand the Nature of the 'net and happen to be CEOs of large businesses will try and use the courts to pass more insane and retarded laws that violate the very essence of what the Web is.
This is I think unfortunately going to lead to the creation of another stupid law or Act (apart from the DMCA), created by lawyers who understand nothing of technology and will be so vague that you could classify moving your mouse as a violation of it. This is certainly getting ridiculous, and I wish some technical people would speak up on the matter.
The other side of the coin
This isn't my opinion and I'm all for deep linking but I can see where they are comming from. Some sites will link you to another site but copy over the banners of the site that they linked to or put the site in some lame frames. This does hurt the profits of the site that relys on banners and ad clicking for money.
Re: The other side of the coin
Quote:
Originally posted here by bucket
Here is a link to an interesting linking case (The style of the case is something like Ford Motor Company vs. 2600 Magazine.) :
http://www.2600.com/news/display.shtml?id=1225
Ford, which opposed linking, was the loser here. :zap:
Yeah, I thought about that when I read the article actually. :)
Quote:
Originally posted here by zepherin
This isn't my opinion and I'm all for deep linking but I can see where they are comming from. Some sites will link you to another site but copy over the banners of the site that they linked to or put the site in some lame frames. This does hurt the profits of the site that relys on banners and ad clicking for money.
Very true, I can understand that completely. However, there are at least half a dozen ways to ensure your banners are displayed regardless of how the page is loaded. To me, that's a site design problem, and not an issue with bypassing anyone's ads. If you want it to guaranteedly show up on every page, a simple Javascript, some ASP, or some PHP can determine all of that for you.
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Originally posted here by Palemoon
If this is the case then I simply ask one thing. Without linking how would anyone person, system find them, their ads or what ever? Link is a pointer to info nothing more or less just cause your a dot com they want everyone to know their addy, or their words. A dot com assult upon the root of the very web. We can only see the web as a dot com says legeally we can? Ok two quesions shoot me!
Palemoon, this is completely irrelevant to the discussion at hand. They're not saying that linking in and of itself is illegal, they are saying that 'deep linking' (that is, linking to a page other than another site's main page) is illegal.
Quote:
Originally posted here by Terr
Deep linking is perfectly allowable, in my mind. The problem is when they link through frames or attempt to pass the information off as their own, which isn't too common.
Very true, and again, with proper site design, these issues disappear. There's a reason I use PHP or ASP on all of my sites now, even if it's entirely static content.
Quote:
Originally posted here by underlost
Technically isnt chsh, ammo and even bucket doing this exact same thing these people are trying to crack down on? This just shows how impossible it would be to even enforce. Also, most pages usually have a "home" or a simialr name link which takes you to the homepage of the site. If not that, users can always just type in the homepage if they would choose to do so. After all, its up to the user to even decide to go to the link. Shouldn't the owners just be happy that they are even getting traffic on their site?
Yes. Again, I think it is entirely a case of poor site design, and not malicious in any way.
I remember surfing the 'net back in early '94, and things were great then. Sure, we didn't have all this spiffy stuff, but along with this spiffy stuff comes the BS, and damn it is disconcerting to see so many people who don't understand something attempt to legislate it.
Another thing, as Tedob said, what exactly would this do to search engines? A lot of the time I pull up google searching for tips on this, or a tutorial on that, and it will link me to a page other than the main one. Does this mean google will be breaking the law? Come on, these guys need to get a grip. I'd bet good money that the people arguing the case used deep linking during their research phase.
