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Last week's New Scientist had a fascinating article about issues that could spell the end of the Web as we know it!
Most of them I'd heard about before, such as the Shetland News story, where a news site linked to a newspaper's web site but the newspaper took this as a breach of copyright (!). It was good to see all the issues collated into one article.
Basically people are undermining the legality of hyperlinks from all sorts of angles. Not being of a legal mind I'm not prepared or able to explain these legal arguments. What I can say is that all these complaints are attempts to try and get more revenue by making people pay for their content.
How? Well frames are causing problems with advertising as people are calling other sites in a frame but keeping their adverts and toolbars visible. So who is actually looking at whose sight by whom and who pays?
Complex and pointless really. Without links the web would never have been what it is. Hyperlinks ARE the web. We should have a right to link to anything as a part of free speech. We need that community feel of linking to someone as a favor, or to give the other side of the argument.
We must stand against the commercial wave of domineering greedy money grabbers. The net is different, stop trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. I'm tired of this, Star Trek sites closed down, music sites threatened and now links!
Stand by your rights and link!
Jeep - respond to us or write your own article!
