At 11:51 22/11/96 +1100, you wrote:
>>>...You can read about it on the Shetland News <www.shetland-news.co.uk>,
>>>under the title
>>>
>>> Help fight the legal battle for free WWW links...
>
>This issue came up concerning links to academic publications in the IT
>field. at the meeting of computer society presidents I attended. We agreed
>someone should write some guidelines about it (but I can't remember which
>country volunteered to write them).
>
My two bobs worth is this.
If I write a page and some-one wants to link
to it thats fine if they ask.
I always do.
The published material we put up costs money to produce. If a competing
commercial company wishes to utilise the links to produce the illusion of
critical mass on their web site. Then they can ask, and if need be, pay for
the privilege.
There is a huge cost difference between producing and publishing information
and building "signpost" pages. If the industry is to survive it must be self
sustaining.
After all there is nothing but advertising to pay for the pages and a
competitor may well take a paying customer who doesnt know any better, and
there is then no funds to support the true production of information.
In a perfect world where the production of pages is for academic purposes
and funding is no problem then the links would of course be free to all.
But if I dont want to link to another site, and I dont want them linking
to me then I wish to be able to have my say on that.
I do not see the Shetland issue as a fight for free educational/academic
links, rather I see it as a small publishing company fighting for the right
to parasite of the information gathered by a directly competing comercial
company publishing in the same area.
If I publish a newspaper it is my perogative to charge you for it or give
it away as I see fit. The same holds true as I see it in this case.
Ron.
Ron Ipsen,
Managing Director,
Gippsland Internet Pty Ltd
Ph: 051 276543 Fax: 051 262020
http://www.comu.net.au - Gippslands Community Network
http://www.gips.com.au - bringing Gippsland business online.