Updated: 5/19/2007; 10:28:28 PM
Redwood Asylum (emeritus)
   
...by the inmates...for the inmates...


daily link  Sunday, June 23, 2002

But Don't Quote Me On That

The following is from Ernie the Attorney

Maybe NPR's linking policy is actually a small part of a bigger problem

Reading George Will's column (which I found via Instapundit), makes me think that, these days, we have a more fundamental problem than just failure to understand the purpose of hyperlinking...  

Will is drawing attention to ordinary speech issues, but I see it applying to the problem of linking and copyright law too.  After all, unless the lawsuit that Will describes is immediately dismissed with scorn and derision, the message will be sent that --even in ordinary speech-- the person who says something can control how others use that statement.

If I say Joe Blow is a good guy, then Joe should be able to quote me on that and shouldn't have to ask for my permission.  If the law allows me to inhibit Joe's ability to quote me then what chance does hyperlinking have when NPR and others claim they have the right to control that form of speech?  None.  And that's not good... 

[Ernie the Attorney
11:19:05 AM 

Who Cares? They're Only Customers...
Yahoo Kisses It All Good-bye
The secret of Yahoo's original success was that it committed itself to standing shoulder to shoulder with its customers. So what made the company turn its back on them?
[John Ellis, Fast Company, issue 60 via InstaPundit
11:07:34 AM 


Copyright 2007 © Bruce Zimmer