[WEB4LIB] Re: Restricting launches to IP-restricted licensed web

[Dan Robinson Indexing Services]

I don't think you can compare IP range access to databases with 
deep linking on webpages. If the vendor doesn't have your range in 
**their** access file, nothing you do will get you access to the 
database, except entering an id/password if that secondary mode 
of access appears. 

There is no point, as some others have pointed out, in making a 
further restriction on your website. If a vendor allows IP range 
access to a database, it will be in the contract and you will have 
supplied the allowed ranges to the vendor. This method of access 
keeps ids/passwords secure and allows you to have restricted 
access proxies for legitimate off-campus users. 

Let's not duplicate efforts where it just adds layers of complexity for 
no good reason. If access fails, whose problem will it be, your's or 
the vendor's.... and how will you prove that it's not you?

Dan Robinson
Indexing Services
H.W. Wilson Company
Bronx, NY
drobinson at hwwilson.com


On 4 Jan 00, at 10:51, Eric Hellman wrote:

> This is related to the question of "deep" linking, or "Is it legal to 
> provide links into someone's web site without their permission?"
> 
> In your case, the answer may be contained in licensing agreements 
> that you have signed with your information providers. However, it is 
> most likely that these agreements have not anticipated the situation 
> you describe. The usual consequence is either
> 1. the license gives no guidance for your use.
> or
> 2. The license is so unintentionally draconian that it forbids your NORMAL use.
> 
> If linking is NOT covered by your license, there is NO established 
> law to say one way or another whether you are within your rights. All 
> the relevant lawsuits to date have been settled out of court and thus 
> have left no precedents.
>