[WEB4LIB] RE: Deep Linking....ok, but be careful...

[GRAY, PAUL]

>. . . . 
> Maybe they found it easier to reach for a lawyer and sue. This stuff
> bothers me on two levels
> 
> a. people setting up shop on the web without respect to its 
> existing 'culture'
> (e.g. in general, it should be ok to make a link from 
> anywhere to anywhere
> without asking permission)

I take respectful issue here - 
A web site is the property of it's owner and they have every right to
restrict access to any part of it they like -  Just as much as brick&mortar
business owner has a right to say - 
'If you want to shop here - come in through the front door.'  

> b. people seeking *legal* solutions (and setting precedents) 
> when there are
> perfectly fine technical solutions to keeping unwanted links away.

Here I definitely agree --
If a site owner does NOT take appropriate basic steps to restrict certain
types of access they are (in my non-lawyer mind) giving implied permission
for that access.
To continue the (yes oversimplified) analogy - 
If I as a business owner leave my back door standing open - I should not be
surprised when someone walks through it. 

>Charles P. Hobbs
>King Drew Health Science Library

Paul H. Gray
TCC Northeast Library