01 July 2010

Edinburgh Fringe Website Forbids Linking to Edinburgh Fringe Website

From the Guardian, via BoingBoing. Apparently, despite all its hip, cutting-edge, indie image, the Edinburgh Fringe website tries to saddle readers with draconian terms of service that, among other things, forbid anyone from linking to the site. (Or at least they did so recently, until quietly caving in to pressure from the blogosphere.)

Now, Nana and I had a blast at the Fringe last year, but this is just criminally stupid. Isn't the whole point of the Fringe to promote its shows? But apparently folks who wrote these terms of service are so terrified that people will "steal" intellectual property from the site (by linking to it?!?) that they're willing to cripple the site's ability to generate publicity.

Obscurity, not piracy, is the enemy here. This is a bit like deciding to protect your computer from theft by locking it up and throwing away the key. I mean, if you're going to be like that, why have a computer/website in the first place?

Anyway, /rant.

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