<nettime> this is not a link

["sebastian.luetgert" <sebastian@rolux.org>]

[vocabulary alert: if any link to some other document than a front page
must be referred to as "deep-linking", then there's not so much actual
"linking" on the web at all. the whole idea of regulating links ("good
business practice", "consensual partnerships for extensive data sharing"
etc.) seems totally bizarre, but if you are running a billion dollar
auction site, even search engines must be considered as a potential threat
to your e-bussines. -- probably you are not, and probably you don't spend
your time hopping from portal to portal, so i think one of the questions
here would be: is there any significant practice of linking at all that is
neither bussiness nor art? fight for your right to link, and, not to
forget: fight for your right to frame - but what is it that you link,
actually? do you see (or have you ever created) any meaningful context for
something like "href=www.ebay.com/..."? have you ever framed any other
site at all? and have you seen any websites lately that are NOT PORTALS
and NOT HOMEPAGES and NOT ART? are you running one yourself? what does it
do?]


<www.citysearch.com>

Statement: Deep Linking

October 15, 1999

    There is a natural controversy over the practice of "deep-linking"
(e.g.  linking by one site into other than the front page of another).  On
the one hand, companies spend a huge amount of time and money building out
original content for their sites, developing relationships with suppliers
and partners, attracting advertisers and customers, selecting merchandise,
etc. to develop a relationship with users, which can then sometimes be
improperly "appropriated"  by competitor sites and others that have not
made this effort.  On the other hand, the very nature of the web is its
openness, and linking is an essential element in making the web the
powerful medium for communication, commerce and discovery that it has
become.  This often makes the debate emotional and not deliberative. 

    Ticketmaster Online is in favor of linking.  When linking is extensive
and beyond navigation pages, we think it works best when it is consensual
and contractual terms and conditions are honored.  We believe that most
credible sites follow this practice as a matter of courtesy and good
business practice.  We enjoy consensual partnerships for extensive data
sharing and deep-linking with many sites including leading portal sites
and others.  Venue sites, newspaper sites, entertainment sites, sports
sites, music artist sites and many others link or deep-link to our site. 

    The issue we and many other sites have is when deep-linking is
systematic and wholesale by a direct competitor for distinctly commercial
reasons and in contravention of published terms and conditions.  Until
now, the linking debate has not made distinctions regarding the extent of
linking, commercial motivation, or the status of the linking site as
competitor or ally, but these distinctions are clearly important to
deciding the merits of this issue.  The time is ripe for a richer
discussion of when it is acceptable to deep-link and when it is not. 

    We allege in a recently filed lawsuit that one of our direct
competitors in the ticketing business has unauthorized deep-links to many
or even most of our event ticketing pages.  Many people have asked us why
we took this action.  We acted because these ticketing pages represent the
relationships Ticketmaster and Ticketmaster Online have built with venues,
acts, teams, promoters, and our ticket buyers over more than 20 years.  We
allege that this practice is coupled with "spidering" of our content
(using automated search robots to capture content and information we
collected or developed) and the provision of misleading and inconsistent
information regarding ticket availability (e.g. indicating tickets are
available only from a ticket broker when they are actually available from
our service and the box office).  In our opinion this kind of practice is
inappropriate self-interested commercial behavior.  We think this is
attempting to unfairly build one business on the back of another, plain
and simple. 

    And this is not just about business.  We think this practice can hurt
users.  In our business, for example, third party content spidering and
deep- links may diminish our users' ticket buying experience.  No
unauthorized third party trying to capture data from our site can provide
our users with the up- to-the-minute information they deserve about events
we are ticketing.  And inaccurate third party information about ticket
availability could cause ticket buyers to pay more than necessary for
their seats. 

    To hide behind the "sanctity of the open Web" to protect commercial
practices that no one would condone in any other medium is hypocrisy.  We
believe that far from being in the spirit of the Web, these kinds of
unfair commercial practices undermine and subvert the Web medium.  It
makes it difficult for entrepreneurs to capture the value of their
original work, it creates an environment of mis-trust, and it diminishes
user experiences.  This is inimical to the spirit of the Internet, not
supportive of it.  It is time to move the deep-linking discussion from
emotional generalities to common sense distinctions that will foster both
good consumer experiences and the fair conduct of business. 


SOURCE  Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch, Inc.


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