The Right to Link
TAG Draft
This document is also available in these non-normative formats: XML.
Copyright © 2010 W3C® (MIT, ERCIM, Keio), All Rights Reserved. W3C liability, trademark, document use, and software licensing rules apply.
This document is also available in these non-normative formats: XML.
Copyright © 2010 W3C® (MIT, ERCIM, Keio), All Rights Reserved. W3C liability, trademark, document use, and software licensing rules apply.
This document is a work in progress from the W3C Technical Architecture Group (TAG). Additional TAG findings, both accepted and in draft state, may also be available. The TAG may incorporate this and other findings into future versions of the [AWWW]. Please send comments on this finding to the publicly archived TAG mailing list www-tag@w3.org (archive).
In a previous TAG finding, dated 11 September 2003, the TAG defined the term “deep linking” and articulated that Attempts at the public-policy level to limit the usage, transmission and publication of URIs at the policy level are inappropriate and based on a misunderstanding of the Web's architecture.
In light of the continued wide-spread pactice of attempting to limit the practice of deep linking, either through usage policies, legisltation or other means, this finding seeks to amplify that message.
Freedom of expression is a right enshrined under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In the context of architecture of the the World Wide Web, linking from one site to another you are refering to a part of the linked-to Web site or service. These links (URIs), as accessed through and processed by Web browsers (user agents) are designed to be public identifiers. Hence, linking is a “speech act” and therefore should enjoy the same protections enjoyed by any other type of protected speech.
The right to link does not imply the right to access, and organizations are free to use any one of many access control techniques to restrict access.