http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,243787,00.html linking to a page or other item anywhere other than the front page of a third-party Web site — has been judged to be illegal. But the problem from the outset is that the term deep linking has no real meaning, since at some point or another, all links could be seen as deep links
Quote You have to wonder exactly how dumb the executives at Google, Yahoo! and even Microsoft From the same news clip
No one is actually talking about banning all deep links. That Dvorak guy can't read and he had to hype that story. Read this: http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6145744.html It's talking about linking to webcasts if the copyright owner objects. Some guy included a video directly in his website (like you can do with YouTube videos) and the other guy says that he's missing out on advertisement income because of this.
Iched has nailed it on the head. That is exactly what the case is about. It doesn't make linking to a specific page on a site illegal, it just makes it illegal to link to an item on a page, thus bypassing that page. An example would be if a site is offering a Free eBook. They have the link to the eBook on a page (bogussite.com/freebook.html) with ads and other products they sell. The eBook is the honeypot that draws people tot he page, and they are alos likely to buy something from that page after seeing it advertised. Now linking to that page (bogussite.com/freebook.html) would be perfectly legal, and most likely appreciated. Linking directly to the eBook so it can be downloaded (bogussite.com/eBook.pdf) would be illegal. So there really isn't much of an issue here if you use common sense. It's basically the same as the whole linking to copyrighed items issue. That's only relevant if you link to a copyrighted work that is illegally being distributed.
hahaha yea no hidding...it's like leeching images - i don't know if it should be illegal though, cant webmasters make a script for leeching pdf's or other formats too that block the link?
Why would I HAVE to specifically disallow that? It's ****ing common sense that if you hotlink an image you not only most likely violate copyright laws but also cause someone damages with regards to their traffic bill, both of which can be brought to COURT. Forcing someone to specifically disallow hotlinking would be as dumb as forcing someone to install alarm equipment so that break-ins into a house are illegal.