Technology Transactionsby Peter Miller
Peter G. Miller
OurBroker®
The letter from the Internet entreprenuer invited me to link my site with his, an offer not to be
ignored since I believe that mutual linking is a useful way to build online
traffic.
But when I looked at the other site, my interest disappeared. What I saw was
that my site had been "framed" and not "linked," a distinction likely to enrage
a growing number of site owners.
When we look at a piece of fee-simple real estate we know that owners have
certain rights -- they can build on the property, finance it as they like, sell
it, sell a part of it, etc. The same is also true of web sites. A web site is
property -- "intellectual property" -- and thus owners also have rights.
In general, a "link" can be seen as an electronic connection between one site
and another. If you link to Smith"s home page it"s
likely that no one will care and that Smith, even if desired, cannot prevent
such a link. This is the equivalent of someone standing on the street and
pointing to your house.
But what if the link does not go to the Smith home page, what if we have an
"interior" link?
Now the issue is not so clear. Maybe Smith has a home page counter and by
linking directly to an interior page the counter does not record visits to the
site made directly to the interior page. The result is that the Smith site
seems less active and Smith cannot sell ads as easily because he has less
traffic.
The view here is that with certain exceptions -- say a media review of your
site, a link to an academic reference for a research paper, a resource cited
for purposes of "fair comment," a link created by a non-profit organization,
etc. -- the use of interior links requires approval of the site owner.
"Frames" present a different issue. If the Smith site is framed by Jones, it
means that the Smith page may appear to be part of the Jones site. But Jones
did not write the Smith content, did not do the coding, did not do the
research, doesn"t own the copyright (title) to the materal, and didn"t do prog
ramming. In effect, when Smith"s work is framed his property is being used by
someone else.
Now it may be that Smith is okay with framing and sees it as a useful way to
build traffic and site value. But many Smiths vehemently disagree and do not
want their material framed.
Bruce P. Keller, an attorney representing several news organizations, perhaps
explained it best when he wrote that a site that frames ""reaps" where it does
not "sow."" (See: "Online Publishers Wage a Battle Over Frame and Fortune," The Washington Post,
February 11, 1997)
No less important, not only can framing create copyright questions, trademark
issues can also arise.
Trademarks are another form of intellectual property, the exclusive right to
use certain terms and art. When a framed page includes a trademark, or when a
URL includes a trademark, site owners who frame face additional liabilities.
Seen the other way, trademarking names and art is a good way to protect online
materials.
But suppose Broker Johnson frames a photo of a listing held by Broker Hewitt.
Will a visitor know to contact Hewitt? What if Johnson copies the listing,
posts it on his site, and the listing expires?
Miller"s rules in these matters are fairly plain:
*Links to home pages are fine.
*Without permission of the site owner, links to interior pages are generally
not acceptable, depending on the facts and circumstances.
*Links to anything on a government site are fine -- government material is
not copyrighted and you paid for it.
*Frames without permission are verbotten.
Site owners can use search engines to see who is linking to their sites -- and
who has "borrowed" their content. Site owners can also protect their property
by placing copyright and home page information on each web page.
In addition, real estate regulators are looking at the issue of online
disclosures and related Internet matters. For the latest protocols, brokers
should contact their state real estate license officials.
Question Of The
Week
Q We want to find a nice rental
but seem to have few choices because we own a dog. Why are landlords opposed to
animals?
A Landlords will likely have
several questions:
* Is the animal dangerous?
* Will the animal damage the property?
* Will the animal be a nuisance to neighbors?
* Is the animal required to assist the tenant; for instance, a seeing eye
dog.
Many landlords will accept certain pets provided a tenant is responsible for
having floors and carpets professionally cleaned at the end of the lease term.
For details, see a local broker.
Weekly Resource
Ever wonder where online real estate lawyers exchange ideas and get their
information? A good bet is the DIRT mailing list and web site hosted by Patrick
A. Randolph, Jr., a professor of law at the University of Missouri, Kansas City, School of Law.
Open to both lawyers and non-lawyers, the DIRT news group has 1,400 subscribers
(including brokers, appraisers, and home inspectors) and is unusual for several
reasons.
*The list is moderated -- this means Prof. Randolph cleans out spam, flames,
and junk coding before content is transmitted to the group.
* Some of the subjects are fasciniating. For instance, can you have a tax
exempt exchange between yourself and a company you own? How do you lease a
building to a charity for one night?
*There is a "Daily Development" which discusses various legal issues
involving real estate. Daily reports dating back to 1995 have been saved on the
DIRT home page.
This page also includes information concerning real estate seminars and
publications.
To subscribe to the DIRT news group, go to the home page and follow the
enrollment directions.