Dear Professor Reynolds,
I find it passing strange that a law professor with an interest in all things Internet (and presumably, free speech) would ignore Stephen Schwartz’s legal bullying of Antiwar.com about hyperlinking. Yes, yes, it’s fascinating that Justin Raimondo changed his given name as a teenager – that fact doubtless invalidates everything he has ever written – but when you’re done covering that momentous issue, could you please spare a little time to explain to Mr. Schwartz the legality of linking?
Thanks for your help, which I’m sure is forthcoming.
Best,
Matt Barganier
By the way, any bloggers interested in maintaining the right to hyperlink can e-mail Mr. Schwartz with their concerns. Or you can just keep his attorney busy by providing a link to his photograph.
UPDATE 9:30 p.m.: Instapundit:
- I think that AntiWar.com has the better of the law here, but I think that web etiquette is being violated all around. I think it’s OK to link somebody’s image if you’re not causing them bandwidth problems, but I think that it’s churlish not to take the link down if they complain. On the other hand, it’s also churlish to complain too readily.
Uh, thanks, Glenn, but you missed the point. He wasn’t complaining about bandwidth – check the url on the photo in question. And he didn’t merely complain, he threatened legal action. The totalitarian Schwartz thinks he can tell everyone on the Web what they can and cannot link to. That should bother even you.