How Deep Linking Can Sink You
Bret Fausett provides detailed commentary regarding deep linking in relation to the Dallas Morning News web site's attempt to restrict linking to its homepage via its terms of service. Their legal theory is that a contract of adhesion is created when you enter their site regardless of whether you read their Terms of Service, a link to which appears on their homepage. In the end, however, Mr. Fausett does not render an opinion on whether any Federal Courts will enforce such "click-read" agreements, as he calls them, and in fact indicates that he has uncovered no "deep-link" case law regarding this issue.
I have twice before discussed such agreements here and here and have indicated that federal courts in California, Louisiana and most recently New York have not enforced "browse-read" agreements (you haven't actually clicked anything in the deep link scenario to enforce the Terms of Service), but have in the past only enforced "click-wrap" agreements, as the author also contends. By only looking at the issue in the context of deep linking and not analogizing it to the recent click-wrap cases, the author has failed to uncover the most important aspect of the material that he has presented us.
Better than any legal theory, The Dallas Morning News has found the perfect way to keep web sites from deep linking to their content 1) they require registration to read their articles and 2) there is nothing "deep" i.e worth linking to, nevertheless here is a deep link to an article about Cowboys WR Antonio Bryant.
I have twice before discussed such agreements here and here and have indicated that federal courts in California, Louisiana and most recently New York have not enforced "browse-read" agreements (you haven't actually clicked anything in the deep link scenario to enforce the Terms of Service), but have in the past only enforced "click-wrap" agreements, as the author also contends. By only looking at the issue in the context of deep linking and not analogizing it to the recent click-wrap cases, the author has failed to uncover the most important aspect of the material that he has presented us.
Better than any legal theory, The Dallas Morning News has found the perfect way to keep web sites from deep linking to their content 1) they require registration to read their articles and 2) there is nothing "deep" i.e worth linking to, nevertheless here is a deep link to an article about Cowboys WR Antonio Bryant.
