Chapter: An Ethical Evaluation of Web Site Linking

Quote:

As the World Wide Web has grown in popularity, the property of linking to other websites has achieved some prominence as an important moral and legal issue. Hyperlinks represent the essence of Web-based activity, since they facilitate navigation in a unique and efficient fashion. But the persuasive activity of linking has generated notable controversies. While most sites welcome and support incoming links, others block them or seek to license them in some way. Particularly problematic are so-called “deep links” which bypass the home page along with the extensive advertising and promotional material that is usually found there. While some contend that a site’s mere presence on the web is implicit permission for virtually any form of linking, others argue that at least in some circumstances deep linking is unfair and constitutes misappropriation of intellectual property.

What I expect to learn:

To know the ethical evaluation of website linking

Review:                    

I found it bizarre that in this book, website linking is harmful because it does not apply now.

Knowing that website linking causes little harm now, I didn’t quite found this chapter useful at all considering that linking to other websites is often recommended to us because it can generate revenue and number of clicks.

I suppose I just didn’t get the idea that clearly because of its way of explaining the concept of such unethical activity. I didn’t even get the idea of respecting the common good.

What I learned:

·         The technical aspects of website linking

·         Two case studies

o    The ticketmaster vs Microsoft Case

o    Maria’s online art gallery

·         Websites as intellectual property

o    Utilitarianism

o    Labor-desert theory

o    Personality theory

·         Revisited deep linking

·         Respecting the common good

Integrative Questions:            

1.    What is website linking?

2.    What is deep linking?

3.    Explain the harm of deep linking.

4.    What are the two case studies covered in this chapter?

5.    Is it necessary to gain permission first from a website? Explain your answer.