Re: back door

At 06:05 AM 11/10/2000 -0800, you wrote:
>At 08:04 AM 11/10/00 -0500, Molly wrote:
> >What does the group think about linking directly to relevant content
> >(often on the 2nd or 3rd level down on someone else's web site), do
> >you think it's only proper to link to the home page and let the end
> >user try to find their way to the info, or do you think it's OK to go
> >through the "back door" and directly to a subpage?
>
>There are cases in this area dealing with commercial linking and in at
>least one instance, such linking was held to violate the rights of the site
>to which the link pointed.  The legal theory is that by bypassing the other
>levels, the linked site loses advertising revenue based on impressions
>and/or click throughs.
>
>Linking should *always* be done with the permission of the linked site.  I
>realize this seems contrary to the original intent of the Internet but
>there is no original intent of the Internet any more.  It is an evolving
>medium and as such, new ideas are now relevant.

Ivan-

         Not to start Ivan bashing, but this is a legal load of 
hooey.  Never get permission to link, unless you have something to gain, 
like mutual linking. I agree 'New ideas are now relevant.", this does not 
mean that the new ideas that are antithesis to the Internet are the ones 
that we should support. Lawyers and policy makers want this type of 
"standard" because it deepens their hooks, while cheapening our work. It 
sounds weird, but the issue of deep linking is possibly on of my more 
impassioned fights. Do not let anyone step on your right to link to 
whatever you please.
         It is not our job to drive advertising revenue to a site. It is 
the sites job to keep the visitors interest when we send them to 
sub-content that we think they may find relevant. The web is by definition 
and design an interlinked system. Lawyers and policy makers need to deal 
with that, not try and make everything fit into their existing narrow 
minded view, otherwise known as precedence.
         I say this, don't fall into this trap that Ivan recommends until 
someone absolutely decides that it must be done. One court case does not 
make reality, especially not a legal one.  The more we all ask for 
permission to do something we should be able to do *without* permission the 
more it starts to look like we agree with it.

-Stephen Johnston

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