Is hyperlinking free? Can you link to whomsoever you wish? According to KPMG, apparently not! Chris Raettig received this e-mail a couple of days ago, asking him to remove the link to their site as they didn’t have a ‘formal agreement’ that he could do so. The very basis of the World Wide Web is challenged by such legal claims – being asked not to link to someone else’s site compromises your ability to comment upon and reference online material. And if you can be legally challenged simply for linking to someone, then every link must be legally suspect – a ‘fact’ which could cripple the free flow of information as it would affect all sites – from news portals to search engines! So I’m asking you today, in the defence of online freedoms, to link to KPMG today. Say nothing libellous, but feel free to be snarky about them…
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