Go Link Yourself

Posted on August 18, 2004 by Gene

This is taking “intellectual property” to a new extreme: the Athens Olympics website actually has rules about linking back to their site:

For your protection and ours we have established a procedure for parties wishing to introduce a link to the ATHENS 2004 website on their site. By introducing a link to the ATHENS 2004 official Website on your site you are agreeing to comply with the ATHENS 2004 Website General Terms and Conditions.

I sometimes get requests at work from people wanting to link to our website. I laugh and respond that no permission is necessary.
The mere idea that someone needs permission to create a link to a publicly available web document is ridiculous. It’s like if I printed a piece of paper listing the Dewey Decimal number of a book I like. Would you expect the publisher to send a cease-and-desist?

Some people need to get a grip and get over their self-importance.