Link-off

[rd@cottonwood.com (Rick Dahlgren)]

  On page B-6 of today's (July 2, 1997) Wall Street Journal, Rebbeca Quick
  reports on efforts underway to prohibit linking to sites on the internet.
  In the article, titled "Can't Get There From Here May Be Web's New Motto",
  Quick reported on the squabble between Ticketmaster and Microsoft's
  Sidewalk link to Ticketmaster's site without a linking agreement, implying
  that Ticketmaster holds that Microsoft should share ad revenues from
  advertisements placed on the Sidewalk page linking to Ticketmaster with
  Ticketmaster.
  
  Quick also reported on a lawsuit filed by Bruce P. Keller on behalf of,
  among others, Dow Jones & Co., publisher of the Wall Street Journal against
  TotalNEWS for improper linking. (TotalNEWS apparently was providing links
  within a frame on screen along with other TotalNEWS branded material in
  adjacent frames).
  
  Ironically, on the same page of the Wall Street Journal where the Quick
  article appears, the Journal also published an insert article titled
  "Watching the Web" that provides links to various internet sites.  Adjacent
  to "Watching the Web" are several advertisements for web related entities.
  
  
  Is Dow Jones sharing the revenue from those ads with the companies whose
  links they published?
  
  Let's all hope that absurdity isn't the newest online virus.
  
  Rick Dahlgren