There have been too many US legal actions to think one can deep link willy
nilly, and the one UK case of relevance (Shetland Times) although settled
out of Court and therefore not a legal precedent, indicates that UK Courts
will be sympathetic to complaints by a linked site that a link by passed
their home page.
Often, the home page will contain an introduction to the site, disclaimers,
advertising, or other material the owner wants readers to notice. It's
equivalent to a large department store or supermarket - yes, the owners
want you to come in, but they want you to come in through the main entrance
so you become aware of any messages they want you to see.
My advice would be - first check the home page of the Web site you propose
to link to. Does it have any adverts, disclaimers, statements of purpose
of the site, etc. If there are none, it is probably safe to go direct to
deep linking. If there any such statements or adverts, link to the home
page only, or else request permission to deep link.
Professor Charles Oppenheim
Dept of Information Science
Loughborough University
Loughborough
Leics LE11 3TU
Tel 01509-223065
Fax 01509-223053
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