Re: Interesting Twist to BANNER ADVERTISING

From: David McKnight <David_at_McKnight.net>
Date: Fri 07 Jan 2000 09:01:27 -0800

FRED WROTE:
> Not true. You would be hard pressed to identify one
> single web surfer who REQUESTED that ad. I have a real
> problem calling banner exchange ads "content". Maybe
> it's just me.

You request the ad the moment you request a page. The
ad is part of that page, delivered to you by the
copyright owner of that page. He owns the page -- not
just the words or other editorial content that appear
on that page. Actually in many cases he doesn't own
anything BUT the page, licensing rights to use
editorial content on the page.

> In the banner exchange schemes, ad banners are 99.9% of
> the time NOT part of the content. In fact, the site
> owners seldom knows what banner will display for any
> given surfer at any given moment.

This is an unfortunate and misinformed response as it
applies to the copyright law. If the page is served
with ANY banner, and that is done by design -- whether
it is on a rotational basis from a data base or
hard-coded into the content -- modification to that
page, and republishing of that page would clearly be a
violation of the owner's copyright. The owner's intent
was to have that banner appear on the page, not one
with which you may have replaced it.

How one can say that a banner is not part of the
content, when it clearly appears on the page, is beyond
me. That's like saying advertising is not part of the
content of a magazine (which the poster pretty much
says as it applies to newspapers). Republication of a
magazine with different ads is going to land you in
court. In addition to the form of the magazine being
altered, you are now also in violation of the copyright
of the advertiser by modifying *his* content in the
publication. Just because you consider advertising an
annoyance, you as a commercial entity have no rights in
modifying the advertising on a web page.

Unless the page is in the public domain, you fool with
it, and you're breaking the law. If you even *consider*
doing this, I urge to speak with an attorney that
practices copyrights. As noted before, it has even been
held that publishing someone else web page inside your
site's frame is a violation of copyright -- unless of
course you have permission to do so.


> What about schools, government ISPs, and others who
> automatically filter out ads, spam and porno? Will the
> schools go to jail?


This is a *confused* argument, comparing e-mail SENT to
one's server without request, to a web page served to
you on request. Two (actually three when you toss in
site blocking) completely different things are
happening here.

In the case of spam, someone else is sending you
something that you didn't request, and tying up your
equipment without your permission. You have every right
to filter unsolicited e-mail. The spammer has no right
to use your mail server.

In the case of a web page, you go and grab it and all
that it contains. If it happens to contain advertising,
by you taking the page you are accepting the
advertising, again whether or not you consider it
annoying. There ARE ways to get content without
advertising. You pay for it instead of the advertiser.
That's why if you want to watch a movie free of
advertising, instead of turning on a broadcast TV
station, you have a pay cable movie channel like HBO --
or you buy a pay-per-view off the satellite, or pick up
the video at the video store. You PAY for that service.
If you find advertising on web pages annoying, ignore
it. Don't replace it with something else.

And site blocking? Again if you own the network or the
equipment, you have every right to prevent someone
using your network and equipment from accessing certain
files, pages, domains, what have you. This is virtually
identical to your right to prevent unsolicited e-mail
from entering your system. Just in this case, you're
controlling the flow in the opposite direction.

Bottom line, if you are not the copyright owner, don't
fool with the page. If you don't like what is being
served from a particular web site (whether it is
advertising or editorial content), block the site and
make your people access from another location.

DAVID

David K. McKnight
TeamMetrx, Groupware That's Simply Addictive
<mailto:David_at_McKnight.net>
Web Site: <http://David.McKnight.net>
(for "Diary of an Internet Startup...")



Received on Fri Jan 07 2000 - 11:01:27 CST