comments on TAG deep linking finding

Hi Tim and all,

Thanks very much for putting together the TAG finding on deep 
linking.[1] The issue continues to be troublesome in various legal fora 
so it's good to have a thoughtful, authoritative voice from the 
technical community try to help clarify matters.

I've got a few suggests that would make this document considerably 
stronger with what I take to be its intended audience, the legal/policy 
world. Two points, one editorial, one substantive:

1. By the middle of the document you make a compelling case that web 
publishers can restrict access to certain resources under their control 
using *existing* mechanisms. This is an important point that ought to be 
  stressed up front. I dare say it's the thesis of the finding. It would 
also help if anyone had any idea why sites don't just do this already. 
That would require digging into some of the recent cases.

2. The finding fails to explain what would be so bad about banning deep 
linking. It says that the notion of a homepage is foreign to the web, 
but that comes off as sounding a bit odd, given the particular 
importance of homepages in people everyday browsing experiences. This 
concept requires better explanation.

I'm happy to spend a bit of time with suggesting text if that's useful 
but am not sure what your intended publication schedule is.

Thanks,

Danny


[1] http://www.w3.org/2001/tag/doc/deeplinking-20030911.html
-- 
Daniel J. Weitzner                              +1.617.253.8036 (MIT)
World Wide Web Consortium                       +1.202.364.4750 (DC)
Technology & Society Domain Leader              <djweitzner@w3.org>
http://www.w3.org/People/Weitzner.html

Received on Sunday, 2 November 2003 14:49:32 UTC