LUGNET News : ~330/FAQ/Publish/links


Cary Clark / FAQ / Publish / links

Do I need permission to link to a site from my web page?

From Todd Lehman: !

It depends on what you’re linking to.

If you’re linking to a site or sub-site’s top-level homepage, for example:

http://www.lego.com/
http://www.lugnet.com/
http://news.lugnet.com/FAQ/

then you rarely need permission. However, if you’re linking to a top-level from inside a frame, then ask for permission first; the frame makes the site look like it’s part of your site.

If you’re linking to a deeper page, then, in general, the deeper the link (the longer the URL), the higher the probability that the link will break at some point. Web authors tend to rearrange pages and HTML does not handle this gracefully. If you need to link to a page deep in the hierarchy, then ask the site’s owner if the page’s location is stable.

Always ask for permission before linking to a JPEG or GIF image, or any other type of non-HTML resource, especially if you’re including the image on your own page directly via the <IMG> tag. Don’t ever embed other people’s images without their permission.

Of course, never link to something if the owner has specifically requested otherwise.

Primary content in this document is © Cary Clark. All other text, images, or trademarks in this document are the intellectual property of their respective owners.