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E-Business Secrets
Brian Livingston
The BBB tries to keep Web sites from linking to IT

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) does many good things. But it seems to be on thin legal ice with a new policy that tries to prevent business-oriented Web sites from linking to BBB Web pages.

The policy, promoted by the Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB) in Arlington, Va., doesn't just limit use of the well-known BBB logo. It also asserts that the CBBB might not "permit" a for-profit Web site to even link to a BBB page.

Bizmove.com, a Web site that sells books and CD-ROMs to small businesses, is protesting the very idea. Bizmove officials say that merely pointing to a useful page at another Web site is a cherished right on the Internet.

The Bizmove home page starts out with text links to several information resources for small businesses. One of the links, entitled "Better Business Bureau," leads to a Bizmove page that allows the user to find the closest BBB in any of the 50 U.S. states.

Meir Liraz, president of Bizmove, says he's never displayed a BBB logo and has never been the subject of any adverse action by a BBB in the past. The site doesn't seem to contain any adult-oriented or questionable materials.

Three different forms of linking have evolved on the Internet, each with its own legal traditions:

Displaying an unauthorized BBB logo would run afoul of trademark laws. But Bizmove doesn't seem to use any BBB graphics, only text links.

Inserting one site's content into another site's "frame" -- so the content seems to be generated by the second site -- has been found by some courts to be a copyright violation. Liraz says Bizmove has never done that, although CBBB vice president Holly Cherico showed me an example at the site that does use frames.

Finally, the act of linking to another site's home page -- or to other pages deeper within a site - has generally been found by U.S. courts to be legal on the Net (although the law is still fluid). In August 2000, for instance, a lawsuit by Ticketmaster against Tickets.com for linking to individual Ticketmaster pages was denied by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

The BBB appears to have a difficult road ahead if it expects to legally prevent other sites from linking to it.

RESOURCES:

Gigalaw's legal guidance on linking and framing: http://www.gigalaw.com/articles/kubiszyn-2000-05b-p1.html

Council of Better Business Bureaus: http://www.bbbonline.org

Bizmove: http://www.bizmove.com

LIVINGSTON'S TOP 10 NEWS PICKS O' THE WEEK

1. How will Microsoft's "HailStorm" do against AOL?

http://www.thestreet.com@a6r.ms/?3ea

2. M-commerce devices won't have big revenue until 2004

http://www.strategisgroup.com@th.gs/?7d2

3. "Fast money," greed caused Web meltdown: Pew study

http://www.pewinternet.org@5a0.tc/?bba

4. 16 million users get access to an alternative Web

http://www.newscientist.com@836.as/?fa2

5. Last hired, first fired? Not in new dot-com layoffs

http://www.newsbytes.com@54.vg/?138a

6. Consumer Reports criticizes 7 of 8 portals as weak

http://www.internetnews.com@a6r.ms/?1772

7. Web sites can now more easily adapt to voice input

http://www.tmcnet.com@a2.tc/?1b5a

8. "Pay for Display" is now the rule at search engines

http://www.webreference.com@th.gs/?1f42

9. Pocket PC slowly stealing Palm share in U.S., Europe

http://www.it-analysis.com@5a0.tc/?232a

10. Libraries and Web sites sue to oppose filter mandate

http://www.iwon.com@836.as/?2712

LIVINGSTON'S E-BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW

Although Napster is being forced to dilute its business model, I believe that other distributed peer-to-peer networks, such as Gnutella, will shape the Internet in the next decade. Showing the way is "Peer-to-Peer," a new book with contributions from more than 20 pioneers, including Avi Rubin, a developer of Publius; Adam Langley, Freenet; Alan Brown, Red Rover; and many others.

Whether p-to-p will disrupt or reinforce existing technologies remains to be seen. But although the effects are unpredictable, they're certain to be significant.

PEER-TO-PEER: HARNESSING THE POWER OF DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGIES (O'Reilly & Associates). More information at http://www.amazon.com@54.vg/?059600110X.

ENTER TO WIN A FREE 'GEEK FOR A DAY'

I'll choose at random two subscribers to E-Business Secrets and fly, at my own expense, to any city in the United States to spend the day optimizing their Windows PC.

You must enter by March 31, 2001. Get more people in your office to subscribe (it's free), and you increase the chances that I'll be paying a visit to your site.

Because InfoWorld won't give out the e-mail addresses of my subscribers, not even to me, you have to send ONE BLANK E-MAIL to enter.

If you subscribed before March 1, 2001, send it to mailto:beforeMarch1@secretspro.com.

If you subscribed on or after March 1, send it to mailto:afterMarch1@secretspro.com.

If you can't remember when you subscribed, choose one address at random. But don't enter both lists, or your entry will automatically be disqualified.

Your e-mail address will be used only to (1) immediately acknowledge your entry, and (2) let you know about April 6 whether or not you won. All e-mail addresses will then be deleted permanently and never used again for anything, ever. Fair enough?

By entering, you agree to the Contest Rules at http://BrianLivingston.com/contest.

E-BUSINESS SECRETS -- Our mission is to bring you such useful and thought-provoking information about the Web that you actually look forward to reading your e-mail.

Win a book free if you're first to send a tip we print. Send in your tips today. mailto:tips@SecretsPro.com


Brian Livingston , an InfoWorld contributing editor, has published 10 books, including Windows Me Secrets and Windows 2000 Secrets. Win a book free if you're the first to send a tip Brian prints. Send in your tips today, at tips@secretspro.com.



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