Even News Providers Can't Link To A Site Deemed Illegal?

from the makes-things-tricky dept

Just as you thought folks in places like Europe had worked out that linking, by itself, should never be illegal, it seems that not everyone is so clued in. The latest example is in Germany, which has always had problems with the idea of linking to websites they deem illegal. The latest is that they don't want anyone linking to the MP3 store Allofmp3.com, which is of questionable legality in other places. This presents something of a "problem" for German news sources reporting on the ban. They can't "link" to the site either -- but they have to be able to mention it in order to tell people what the ban is. So, now, all the people reading the story will simply cut and paste or simply type the URL into their browser window -- making the whole point of the ban entirely meaningless. In fact, like so many things, this is only likely to drive much more attention (and business) to the supposedly "banned" site. You would think, by now, people would have figured out how the internet works.

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