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Europe’s top court mulls legality of hyperlinks

arstechnica.co.uk

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Re: Europe’s top court mulls legality of hyperlinks

#11

Post by freehunter »

deathy wrote: post #6
coldcode wrote: post #5

No one can be dumb enough to destroy the very basis of the entire web. Perhaps it will just be annoying like clicking on a link requires an alert telling the user that the destination may not be acceptable, like the cookie alert but more intrusive. I wonder how this applies to JSON or XML links?

What about if I send a link via some sort of messaging app possibly to a friend in another country? (the Dutch/Australian issue mentioned) That can be a standalone application and not a web page, so the initial assumption of "every hyperlink in a Web page" fails.

Or what if I link to a site that links to infringing content? I'm not allowed to share a link to www.illegalstuff.com, but can I link to www.totally-legal.co.uk, which has a link to illegalstuff.com? What if totally-legal.co.uk has a 302 redirect to illegalstuff.com? It totally-legal.co.uk an illegal link, even if that actual site doesn't contain illegal stuff?

Re: Europe’s top court mulls legality of hyperlinks

#12

Post by walterbell »

FenugreekAcerb wrote: post #9
walterbell wrote: post #4

What do search engines like Google think of this proposal, e.g. would web search be less useful because of lost PageRank signals, or would web search be more in demand because there would be no other way to find web pages? For that matter, how would search engines discover new web pages if people are reluctant to link to new pages?

Search engines must provide links themselves.

Search engines could license and distribute selected content, under a revenue-sharing arrangement with the publisher. Those fighting against links could lose all the advantages of decentralized distribution and could be forced into centralized distribution channels under non-negotiable terms.

Re: Europe’s top court mulls legality of hyperlinks

#13

Post by mr_luc »

duncanawoods wrote: post #7
6502nerdface wrote: post #3

> Europe's highest court is considering whether every hyperlink in a Web page should be checked for potentially linking to material that infringes copyright, before it can be used. A hyperlink is just an address of some kind that client software interprets in a certain way allowing users to easily send network packets to it. Whatever response comes back to a request directed at that address is entirely determined by…

For a different spin on that example, say you sold a directory of crack dealer's phone-numbers called 1800-dragon-chasers. It seems clear its aiding in a criminal enterprise and not a totally innocent knowledge product. I wonder if you could be charged for that.

Right. But the point is that laws exist that do apply to your scenario; the law would have to demonstrate that it's aiding in criminal enterprise and use legal methods (maybe even an injunction).

However, newspapers let people place personal ads: "Pottery enthusiast seeks friends. 555-1212, or write to 1010 Binary Lane."

Should the newspaper have to call that number, and write to that address, and determine (how?) that nothing shady's going on there?

The answer seems pretty clear.

In the absence of outright governmental/dinosaur malice, no reasonable person who understands technology would ever propose shifting the burden to content creators/publishers in the default case. If there's a criminal investigation, they're already required by law to be helpful.

Re: Europe’s top court mulls legality of hyperlinks

#15

Post by hammock »

6502nerdface wrote: post #3

> Europe's highest court is considering whether every hyperlink in a Web page should be checked for potentially linking to material that infringes copyright, before it can be used. A hyperlink is just an address of some kind that client software interprets in a certain way allowing users to easily send network packets to it. Whatever response comes back to a request directed at that address is entirely determined by…

The interesting thing is there is no such thing as "infringing material." Harry Potter is Harry Potter, no matter what color paper it is printed on.

The infringement comes on the actions of a violator. On the use of Harry Potter. In other words, unauthorized reproduction, distribution or display.

Re: Europe’s top court mulls legality of hyperlinks

#16

Post by protomyth »

coldcode wrote: post #5

No one can be dumb enough to destroy the very basis of the entire web. Perhaps it will just be annoying like clicking on a link requires an alert telling the user that the destination may not be acceptable, like the cookie alert but more intrusive. I wonder how this applies to JSON or XML links?

> No one can be dumb enough to destroy the very basis of the entire web.

That's a pretty optimistic thought. I am often amazed at the ability of people to do just that. Witness the battle against search engine linking to newspapers and the amazing leaps in logic that generated.

Re: Europe’s top court mulls legality of hyperlinks

#17

Post by chjohasbrouck »

This proposal makes the EU cookie law (https://www.cookielaw.org) seem totally reasonable by comparison.

My first question is, what impact would this have on the European economy over time? Total devastation? Or would it ultimately amount to just a bunch of fines and legal fees that only the major tech companies can afford to pay, effectively locking out competitors?

In other words, would this merely be horrible for consumers, or would it also set the entire European economy back half a century?

Re: Europe’s top court mulls legality of hyperlinks

#18

Post by digi_owl »

duncanawoods wrote: post #7
6502nerdface wrote: post #3

> Europe's highest court is considering whether every hyperlink in a Web page should be checked for potentially linking to material that infringes copyright, before it can be used. A hyperlink is just an address of some kind that client software interprets in a certain way allowing users to easily send network packets to it. Whatever response comes back to a request directed at that address is entirely determined by…

For a different spin on that example, say you sold a directory of crack dealer's phone-numbers called 1800-dragon-chasers. It seems clear its aiding in a criminal enterprise and not a totally innocent knowledge product. I wonder if you could be charged for that.

Or even better, you give the directory away freely. But inside there are ads printed at certain intervals.

Re: Europe’s top court mulls legality of hyperlinks

#19

Post by ryanlol »

6502nerdface wrote: post #3

> Europe's highest court is considering whether every hyperlink in a Web page should be checked for potentially linking to material that infringes copyright, before it can be used. A hyperlink is just an address of some kind that client software interprets in a certain way allowing users to easily send network packets to it. Whatever response comes back to a request directed at that address is entirely determined by…

Intent is the key here.

Re: Europe’s top court mulls legality of hyperlinks

#20

Post by Analemma_ »

trose wrote: post #14

I can't wait for the day when our legislative bodies actually understand how the technology around them works. Maybe then we can avoid idiotic discussions like the ones surely going on in this courtroom right now.

It won't happen until "those people who actually understand how the technology around them works" decide to become legislators. Are you quitting your engineering job to run for office?
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