the Web Without Links?

Should you be sued for linking?

In an age where the web appears to be getting more and more open, with the rise of data portability and everybody sharing stuff with everybody else, it is fascinating to see that a newspaper publisher is suing another one that is linking to its content.

GateHouse Media Inc., which owns 125 Massachusetts newspapers as well as web properties like WickedLocal.com, sued the New York Times Co.. because its Boston.com-run website "Your Town Newton" was posting headlines and small article snippets from WickedLocal.com.

Now the snippets linked to the original site, but that was not good enough for GateHouse. The company claimed that this created confusion over where the content originated, and leads to readers missing out on advertisements from WickedLocal.com's front page.

It seemed that GateHouse was not considering the very real possibility that readers would never have made it to their site in the first place had Boston.com's site not driven them there. Then readers would be missing out on the ads on the article pages too, and frankly, I can't see how that would help GateHouse's cause. Boston.com offers its parent company's stance on the matter:

In a statement, New York Times spokeswoman Catherine Mathis said the company is simply doing what hundreds of other news sites already do -- aggregate headlines and snippets of relevant stories published elsewhere on the Web -- and believed GateHouse's lawsuit was without merit.

"Far from being illegal or improper, this practice of linking to sites is common and is familiar to anyone who has searched the Web," Mathis said. "It is fair and benefits both Web users and the originating site."

It was like GateHouse was not interested in expanding its web traffic. Traffic comes from links. And many, many sites drive traffic to other sites by doing exactly what Boston.com did. They show article titles and snippets and link to the original.

Ever looked at a Google SERP? Ever shared a link on Facebook? Ever browsed tech news on Techmeme? Digg? Most publications would love to be linked to via these venues.

The two sides have since settled this little argument, the terms of the settlement can be read here (adobe Acrobat reader required, you can get that here) . Under the terms of the settlement, the New New York Times Co. has agreed to remove all GateHouse feeds that contain headlines and ledes from Boston.com.

GateHouse will implement solutions that prevent the copying of its content from its sites and RSS feeds. "Nothing shall prevent either party from linking or deep-linking to the other party's websites," provided that the other conditions are met. The agreement of course applies to all of GateHouse's and the New York Times Co.'s properties.

So there you have it. It's settled, but the topic is still up for debate is it not? Who would've won this case? Fair use still exists right? As Paid Content points out though, the New York Times Co. is in no position to deal with a lengthy and costly legal battle.

To me, it still seems like GateHouse's loss. It should be interesting to see how much difference in traffic there is after losing the Boston.com links. Yes, they can still "link" to them, but I would imagine the rate of links will be drastically reduced. After this, I'd be surprised if they still wanted to link to them anyway.

RIAA axes P2P file-sharing lawsuits

Those of you who regularly share music over the Internet, Whether legally or illegally, might have by now heard the news that the Recording Industry Association of America is shelving the practice of filing lawsuits against most individuals it suspects are pirating copyrighted music online.

I say most because the RIAA still reserves the right to sue heavy file sharers or those who ignore warnings to stop. Now, the RIAA has a new tactic. It’s made agreements with several Internet service providers in which the ISPs will help them police alleged law-breakers.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the RIAA will send a letter to an ISP (internet service provider) when it thinks one of its customers is illegally sharing copyrighted music. The ISP will then either forward the letter to the alleged offender or ask him or her to stop.

If the file-sharer ignores the warning, he/she risks having his/her Internet service terminated or his/her bandwidth squeezed to the point where it takes watching the entire “Lord of the Rings” trilogy before all 11 tracks of Beyonce’s “Sasha..I am Fierce” are illegally in his/her possession. Ouch...that's slow!

So why the change of heart? The RIAA has sued some 30,000 people over the past five years, a tactic that’s proved expensive and , critics argue, has been largely ineffective. I mean, has anyone really stopped sharing their music library since the lawsuits began? I didn’t think so, And they’re not alone.
While CD sales continue to decline, the number of people sharing files online continues to increase.

This new deal makes me a little nervous because now, your ISP is poised to become an uptight hall monitor who'll narcs on every kid who smokes in the bathroom, instead of looking the other way even though it knows what you’re doing is against the rules.

I think ISPs should remain neutral.

Nervous? Maybe you should be. Maybe you shouldn’t.

You could continue to share copyrighted songs online, hoping you’ll never be caught.
At the very least, perhaps you should look to the Electronic Frontiers Foundation’s advice on how to avoid trouble (at least take a peek?).

There’s a decent chance you’ll never feel the RIAA’s tap on your shoulder. Plus, the way things are, I have no doubt word will spread quickly on how to cloak file-sharing so the ISPs and the RIAA can’t see what you’re up to.

The bottom line is: Sharing copyrighted material online is against the law.

To quote Dirty Harry, “You’ve got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?”

Unusual -- but legal -- ways to make money

Everyone needs money, its a fact of life right? not everyone can work the regular 9-5 sitting behind a desk, and not all of us can work strenuous labour jobs either..but we ALL do need to pay the bills right? There are some really unusual (and very legal, there are always going to be the others, but that's not what we're talking about here) ways to make more money, here's a story I ran across and wanted to share of some really unusual and unique ways to bring in some extra income.

Desiré Henriksen feared that there would be no Christmas for her two boys. She had lost her job at Denny's, where she worked the graveyard shift. Her fiancé, who works as a glazier, was having a hard time finding regular work. The couple fell behind on the mortgage last month.

Desiré Henriksen decided to sell her hair after losing her job and falling behind on her mortgage.

So Henriksen, of Phoenix, Arizona, cut her hair and sold it on the Internet to a hair trader in the Netherlands.

"Everyone was telling me how beautiful my hair was," the 27-year-old said. Her friends suggested that she sell it.

"I thought, 'Why not? I'll check it out,' " she said.

"We're trying to keep our place here," she said. "We don't want to become like people right now who are losing their homes."

With the economy squeezing the budgets of more and more people everywhere, some people are looking for creative ways to pay their monthly bills. Selling hair on the Internet is just one of those unusual methods.

"We've seen about a 20 percent increase in the last four months," said Jacalyn Elise, co-founder of TheHairTrader.com, referring to the number of ads offering hair for sale posted on her site. "These days, some people are just in need of money."

Henriksen was paid $1,200 for 27 inches of her tresses. But most hair is sold for about $300 to $900, says Marlys Fladeland of Hairwork.com. The hair is used to make wigs or hair extensions or is used in artwork.

The longer the hair, the more it is worth. Untreated hair is also likely to fetch a higher price, Elise says.

For Henriksen, cutting her hair was always in the cards. But she had planned to give it to a nonprofit organization that provides hairpieces for children who lost their hair after cancer treatments.

"Initially, I had grown my hair out to donate to Locks of Love in memory of my mother, who passed away from cancer last year. I was going to try to give back to people who didn't have any hair. But it didn't work out that way. Instead, I got my kids Christmas [gifts]," she said.

In addition to buying presents for her 10-year-old son and 3-year-old stepson, Henriksen paid off the overdue mortgage bill.

She was so pleased with how easy her hairy business deal was, she says she's planning on growing her hair out again and selling it on TheHairTrader.com to help pay for her wedding.

A professional lab rat

Others are taking more drastic measures, becoming medical guinea pigs.

Paul Clough, 30, fell on hard times five years ago. A homeless man suggested that Clough take part in medical clinical trials, and now it's his full-time gig.

Clough estimates that he brought in $28,000 this year by participating in seven medical trials, having his blood taken 500 times and ingesting about a dozen medications.

The Austin, Texas, resident has tested everything from cholesterol-lowering drugs to hepatitis C and HIV treatments. He even set up a Web site, Just Another Lab Rat, which explains how and where to volunteer.

Clinical research requires testing drugs on volunteers to determine whether the drug is appropriate for the market. The test subjects may be required to stay at a clinic or may have to visit the clinic a few times. Depending on the clinic and the trials they participate in, they may be paid $50 to $5,000 each time. Trials can last 10 days to a month.

Safety concerns include side effects or drug reactions, but for many volunteers, the payout outweighs the risks.

"Some people live study-to-study," Clough said. "They have immediate bills to take care of. And a lot of times, when people don't get into the study, they are concerned about how to pay those bills. They don't know what they're going to do."

"Five years ago, it was mostly students," he said. But today, he sees "Realtors, taxi drivers. ... It's any walk of life you can think of."

Your personal gold mine

Jeweler Les Harrell of Littleton, Colorado, struck gold when he had the idea to give people cash for their gold -- at parties.

It started out as a fundraising event. But seven months later, he has a Web site, Gold Exchange. He's hired three employees, and he's throwing gold parties seven days a week.

Friends and neighbors assemble to swap gossip, have drinks and get their jewelry appraised. Harrell pays cash on the spot for folks willing to hand over their gold. Later, he sells it on the market. He has operations in Colorado, New York and California.

Deanna Molinaro was skeptical when she was invited to one of Harrell's gold parties this summer. But the Denver, Colorado, resident changed her mind after walking away with $700 for a wad of tangled gold bracelets, a herringbone necklace and some mismatched earrings.

"I was floored," she said, when she first heard about the cash. "I made a lot of money on things that were lying around in my jewelry box for 20 years."

Harrell says he typically pays $5,000 per party, not including the cut the hostess makes and the referral fee. And it's not always jewelry he's appraising.

"I've seen it all," he said. "Grandma's old dinosaur ring, gold teeth. I buy a lot of gold teeth, class rings."

One item he remembers fondly: Uncle Louie's bridge. "It weighed almost 2 ounces," he said with a hint of amusement.

People have, on average, about $300 worth of gold just lying around, Harrell says, and liquidating that hidden treasure can help them balance the family budget.

Harrell's parties were initially geared toward the upper class, but his clientele is changing. "What was fun money becomes, 'Oh, my gosh, this is a big help,' " he said.

In reality, a drawer full of costume jewelry, broken chains, errant earring backs and muddled memories may turn out to be next month's heating bill.

One woman, living alone on Social Security, recently turned over a shoebox full of jewelry to Harrell to see what, if anything, she could get for it.

"She really didn't know what was real or not," related Molinaro, who helped with the transaction. But she cleaned out everything she had. In the end, her shoebox was worth $350.

"She was so excited to get it," Molinaro said. "I got a big hug out of her for it, too."

These are just some fun, unusual (and legal) ways that some people have found to earn extra income...Have you heard of any others? Add your story to these!!

Until next time...