Don't Link to Us
Don't Link to Us hasn't been updated since 2002 but still has websites on it with absurd or just plain stupid linking policies.
Boing Boing has the latest company with a ridiculous linking policy.
FastCompany, which is a tech magazine, states this as their
web link policy:
Due to the large volume of requests we receive, we do not have a reciprocal linking program. However, if you like, you may link to us at no cost. This option requires the execution by you and Fastcompany.com of a one-page Web-linking agreement. Please download and sign the agreement and fax it to 617-738-5055, attn: G+J legal, Fastcompany.com. As soon as you receive back the agreement signed on behalf of Fastcompany.com, you may begin linking to our content.
Here is a bit from their web-linking agreement form:
For good and valuable consideration, effective upon the duly authorized signatures of Owner and G+J below (the “Effective Date”), G+J hereby grants to Owner a non-exclusive, non-transferable, royalty-free license to create a hyperlink from the Linking Site to Inc.com from the Effective Date, unless and until such permission is terminated by G+J upon notice to Owner, subject to the following terms and conditions.
I will admit that I have never read FastCompany but that is one tech magazine that really has its finger to the internet's pulse. This actually has made me rethink Cynical-c's web linking policies. I checked with my legal dept and this is what they told me.
ANYONE CAN LINK TO CYNICAL-C OR ANY OTHER WEBSITE FOR THAT MATTER!! Linking is the backbone of the internet. Without hyperlinks there is no http. So link away. Oh, and does doing a search on google constitute a legal dept?
