Netizen's Attention is drawn to the
article on Cryptography quoted below from tmcnet.com where a relatively
new system of web advertising has been used. Under this system, specific words
in the article are hyperlinked under a "Sponsored Links" programme to certain
URLs.(See Picture). Accordingly, the word
"Internet" is linked to a promotion material on Disaster Recovery, the word
"communication" is linked to a broadband advertisement. The word Europe is
linked to a travel agent's advertisement and "Internet traffic" is linked to
an affiliate scheme and "on demand" is linked to IBM.
Despite the innovativeness in the system, there is an
uncomfortable feeling that this system hits at the very root of the basic
Internet system where "Hyper Links" are used to enable expansion of content
through distributed files. It may be remembered that the "Patent" claim of BT
on the system of "Hyper Linking" was opposed in principle as being detrimental
to the fundamental system of Internet technology. The shameless commercial use
of the hyper linking system therefore goes against this principle.
Secondly, the "hyperlinking" system is supported by an
unwritten ethical practice where the words used to link to a file are not
misleading. In the sense that a word "George Bush" linked to "Osama Bin Laden"
would be considered unethical and probably defamatory. The entire "Phishing"
frauds thrive on the illegal deceptive use of hyper links. In a way, the
sponsored link system appear to endorse indirectly that there need not be a
conceptual link between the word linked and the content of the hyper linked
document.
This is not considered as a welcome development for the
industry. Continued use of the system may result in the systems being used for
deception.
Also note that in certain cases the words linked are
associated with an organization such as LINX and FBI in the article so closely
that the underlying message also appear to carry an associative benefit. This
could be termed as a deceptive use of a trademark.
Though it may be stated in defense that the sponsored links
display a box where the link is contained, the content of the box itself
amount to promotion and its association with the linked word and its
neighboring trademarks continue to be a cause for concern. As in the case of
spywares, the "Apparent Hyper Link" is made to behave in a manner not expected
by the user of the document and to that extent, the sponsored link system is
deceptive and is a tainted form of advertising.
The service is brought by vibrantmedia.com.
In the commercial sense, it must however be
appreciated that the idea is innovative. It is possible that just as the
"Sponsored Ads" in search engines having corrupted the sanctity of the search
system, though the vibrant media ads may corrupt the hyper linking system, it
is possible that the system may survive and grow.
The undersigned had used of "Sponsored Links" in a
different context of the e-book :ITA-2000 and Beyond" where a link was placed
at the end of each page to Cyber Law College. However the words linked was an
exact description of the link ie,
www.cyberlawcollege.com. Also the word was used at the end of the page and
contextually did not carry any description. Also, it was exposed only to a
group of audience who had acquired the e-book.
The vibrant mechanism however is addressed to the public,
has no control on deceptive usage and is therefore cause for concern.
I wish a debate is raised on the ethics of such use of
hyper linking.
Naavi
May 28, 2005
Comments
are welcome
