One year Links&Law! This site went online November 1, 2002 and had
more than 20.000 visitors in its first year. It was mentioned in several
articles all around the world, including articles from Japan, Brazil, Russa,
Poland, and already is the largest resource on linking disputes on the net. But
it is impossible to find all new stories involving hyperlinks. So if you know of
one not already mentioned here, please let me know (stephanott-bayreuth@t-online.de).
The website also
"only" mentiones articles in German or in English so far. If you know
material in other languages, please send me an e-mail. Maybe you even want to
become part of the Links&Law project and be responsible for a sub-section
with information on hyperlink-issues in your own country? And finally, if there
are other things, you want to see here (e.g. a Links&Law Newsletter,
more own content on the legality of hyperlinks) don't hesitate to tell me. Help
Links&Law grow and become a even more valuable resource for webmasters,
legal experts and everyone who is interested to learn about the legal discussion
involving hyperlinks and search engines!
This is the last update of the year. Links & Law will be back in
January 2004 with all the latest news. In the meantime, check out my new
annotation to the decision that held deep linking to be legal in Germany. The
annotation will probably be published in wrp 2004 issue 1 (released mid December
2003).
Developing
Stories:
1. A "Code of Conduct" for
search-engine operators?
Bertelsmann Stiftung, the foundation which owns
the german media giant Bertelsmann, published a study about the usage of search
engines in Germany (see Transparency
on the Internet: Search Engines, Bertelsmann Stiftung) and developed a
“Code of Conduct” for search-engine operators that aims to ensure objective,
transparent access to information on the Net.
October 22, 2003: Kodex
für Suchmaschinen, ZDF heute:
"Gemäß einem neuen Verhaltenskodex wollen
mehrere Betreiber von Internet-Suchmaschinen Werbung künftig eindeutig
kenntlich machen. Grundlage ist ein Papier, das die Bertelsmann-Stiftung (Gütersloh)
entwickelt hat."
October 22, 2003: Verhaltensrichtlinien
für Suchmaschinenbetreiber, Heise:
"Vor allem sollen die Suchmaschinenbetreiber für mehr Transparenz bei
den Kriterien für das Ranking sorgen, gekaufte Links klarer kennzeichnen
und auch Informationen über die Suchmaschinen-kompatible Gestaltung von
Webseiten beziehungsweise Ausschlusskritierien für "Fälscher"
bieten."
2. Search engines liable for allowing
advertisers to use protected terms in text ads?
The civil court in Nanterre fined Google 75,000
euros for allowing advertisers to link text internet
advertisements to trademarked search terms and gave the company 30 days to stop
the practice. In the trademark case, the owner of the name "Bourse des vols"
(Market for Flights) wanted Google to stop allowing competitors to include
"Bourse des vols" as a term that would generate an advertisement and
link to their own site. Google said it would appeal the decision.
Louis Vuitton also is suing Google and its French
subsidiary for trademark infringement. Lawyers for Google and Vuitton are
to attend a preliminary hearing in Paris on November 3.
October 28: Louis Vuitton verklagt
Google, Heise:
"Der französische Luxusgüter-Hersteller Louis
Vuitton hat die Betreiber der Suchmaschine Google
auf Schadenersatz verklagt, weil sie dessen Markenrechte durch die
Platzierung von Werbebotschaften neben Trefferlisten verletzt haben sollen."
October 24, 2003: Frost, Laurence, Louis
Vuitton sues Google for alleged trademark infringement online,
Mercury News:
"Google and its French subsidiary are facing another trademark
challenge in the wake of a landmark ruling that could force the popular
Internet search engine to change how it sells advertising."
October 24, 2003: Handbag
maker Vuitton sues Google, CNN:
"Louis Vuitton SA is suing Google and its French
subsidiary for trademark infringement in the wake of a landmark ruling that
could force the popular Internet search engine to change the way it sells
advertising."
October 20, 2003: Google
muss 75.000 Euro wegen Einblendung von Textwerbung zahlen, Institut für
Urheber- und Medienrecht:
"Die Eingabe von Adwords, die gleichzeitig Markennamen sind, darf nicht
zur Auflistung von Textwerbung führen, die den geschützten Begriff enthält."
October 19, 2003: "Adwords"
bei Google dürfen nicht auf fremde Werbung verweisen", Heise:
"In Frankreich hat ein Gericht entschieden, dass Suchworte bei Google,
die gleichzeitig Markennamen sind, nicht mehr auf Links von Konkurrenten
verweisen dürfen, die diese Markennamen in ihre Werbung einbauen."
October 18, 2003: Noble, Christopher, Google
fined in trademark case, Yahoo News:
"A French court has ruled against Internet search powerhouse Google in
an intellectual property rights case that could have far reaching
technological and financial implications for Web search firms, who process
tens of millions of queries a day."
3. Recommendations on the responsibilities for linking
to illicit content
France's Internet Rights Forum (Le forum des
droits sur l’internet or FDI) has published recommendations on the
responsibilities of sites that create hyperlinks to "illicit content".
Recommendation
report: Hyperlinks: Legal Status,
foruminternet.org:
"A
principle must be stated:
the establishment of a link is free. This
principle is justified by the nature and the very functioning of the
Internet. However, in our society, a freedom is not absolute and a
proper balance between constraints and freedom must be achieved."
4. Right to link threatened in the USA?
Defending the right to link to controversial information
about flaws in electronic voting systems, EFF announced it will defend an
Internet Service Provider (ISP) and a news website publisher against claims of
indirect copyright infringement from the electronic voting machines'
manufacturer.
October 17, 2003: Hales, Paul, Firm's
attempts to down hyperlinks an attack on free speech, says EFF, The
Inquirer:
"The antics of Diebold,a maker of electronic voting systems, which
has been leaning on ISPs to get them to prevent linking to a election of its
internal memos here,
have drawn the EFF into the ring."
October 16, 2003: EFF
Defends Right to Publish Links to Electronic Voting Memos, Electronic
Frontier Foundation Media Release:
"On October 10, 2003, electronic voting company Diebold, Inc., sent a
cease-and-desist letter to the nonprofit Online Policy Group (OPG) ISP
demanding that OPG remove a page of links published on an Independent Media
Center (IndyMedia) website located on a computer server hosted by OPG."
July 24, 2003: Security
researchers discover huge flaws in e-voting system:
"In response to today's release of research about critical security flaws in
e-voting systems, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) urged immediate
passage of e-voting legislation to prevent election fraud."
5. Also in the news
October 8, 2003: Streck, Ralf: Kampf
um den Online-Nachrichtenmarkt, Telepolis:
"Die großen spanischen Tageszeitungen El Pais und El
Mundo haben dem Nachrichtenportal Periodista Digital untersagt, Inhalte auch
in Form von Titeln zu übernehmen oder "deep links" zu
legen."
October 21, 2003: Stark, Robert:
Verlinken
bleibt frei, onlinejournalismus: "Wer einen Link auf eine antirassistische Website setzt, die ihrerseits
auf eine rassistische Website linkt, macht sich nicht strafbar. Das hat das
Zürcher Obergericht Anfang Oktober entschieden. Die berufliche Karriere des
Freigesprochenen ist trotzdem ruiniert."
September 19, 2003:
Urteil:
Zwei Klicks zum Webimpressum sind statthaft, Heise "Das Oberlandesgericht München hat am vergangenen Donnerstag (AZ 29 U 2681/03)
entschieden, dass dem Besucher einer Website zugemutet werden kann, über
zwei Links zur Anbieterkennzeichnung (Web-Impressum) zu gelangen."
New in Legal
Resources:
Schuster, Fabian / Kemper, Birgit/ Schlegel, Ralf Oliver/ Schütze, Marc/ zur
Wiesche, Jens Schulte/Sodtalbers, Axel, Entwicklung des Internet- und
Multimediarechts im Jahre 2002, MMR Beilage 5/2003
Wiebe, Andreas, (Wettbewerbs)rechtliche Probleme des Framing, S. 133
ff. in: Hohl/ Leible/ Sosnitza, Domains Frames und Links, 2002
Müglich, Andreas, Zivilrechtliche Haftung für Hyperlinks, S. 153 ff. in:
Hohl/ Leible/ Sosnitza, Domains Frames und Links, 2002
Bär, Wolfgang, Die strafrechtliche Verantwortlichkeit für Hyperlinks, S.
191 ff. in: Hohl/ Leible/ Sosnitza, Domains Frames und Links, 2002
New in
Technical Background:
Web
Link Research
Foot
/ Schneider / Dougherty / Xenos / Larsen, Analyzing
Linking Practices: Candidate Sites in the 2002 US Electoral Web Sphere:
"The article examines "the linking practices exhibited on Web sites produced
by U.S. Congressional candidates during the 2002 campaign season, focusing on
the extent and development of links from candidate Web sites to other types of
political Web sites during the three months prior to the November, 2002 election"
and offers "preliminary insights and a possible empirical model for
managing the conceptual, methodological, and technological challenges entailed
in developmental analysis of link-mediated relations."
Thelwall, Mike, What is this link doing here? Beginning
a fine-grained process of identifying reasons for academic hyperlink creation:
"The purpose of this paper is to begin a fine-grained process of
differentiating between creation motivations for links in academic Web sites and
citations in journals on the basis that they are very different phenomena."
Link-Checker:
Over 5% of links on the Web are broken! Want to
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Mylinkcheck:
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Siteowner.com,
Linkchecker:
"With the size of your website, it may
be difficult to keep track of all the links. Take a moment to use our Link
Checker to scan your website for "404"s - those annoying "page
not found" errors."
Newsarchive
The Links & Law
website is updated regularily,
so check back for updated
information and resources about
search engine and linking issues.