July 10 I first commented on the deep linking controversy. More July 16. Thanks to Dave Winer for finding Don't Link to Us!, a directory of web sites that claim to not want other sites to link to them or impose significant restrictions for doing so. Be sure to visit the archives in addition to the home page.
Several people have asked me if it was a spoof, because it sounds too silly to be true. No, there are people out there with conflicting ideas about intellectual property rights, and what the Internet is all about. When they witness other people with other e-belief systems trampling what they think are their e-rights, some of them take it to court. The ability of the courts to rule e-wisely depends on the testimony brought from both sides.
Sometimes court rules are misconstrued when reported by the media, particularly when journalists can have an e-world view that is contrary to the players in the court battle. When a lot of people hold e-world views contrary to what they think is being portrayed, it triggers a storm of protest.
In the USA there is a storm over the 9th court (out west) allegedly ruling that the under God portion of the US Pledge of Allegiance is Unconstitutional, in violation of the separation of church and state.
Likewise in Denmark there is a storm over the ruling about deep linking. As the news media reports on what the protestors are saying, it becomes more difficult to extract what exactly the court had to say in the first place, especially when the original ruling is not in the language many of us communicate in, and anyone, interpreting the facts for us, may be a player in the disagreement.
12:45:17 PM 
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