|
|
|
|
|
Internet, as everybody knows, is borderless. There's no difference between e-mailing a friend who lives near or your relatives who live the other side of the Earth. It goes the same with visiting websites, and you can both read Canadian, French, South African, Australian, Chinese, Brazilian and lots of other newspapers' websites equally easiy(on the premise that you understand each local language). This characteristics of Internet seems to have established an universal "netiquette," but in fact there're some local rules that are only valid for Japanese(maybe for some Asians as well, but I don't understand other Asian languages than Japanese) but that don't exist where European languages are spoken. Let's see.
1): Notices like "Don't link us without letting us know previously" or "Contact us on linking us."
The universal rule is that links can be done without permission of each content's builder(this concept is called "link-free" in Japan). The building of your website means the possibility to receive visits from everywhere in the world(theoretically everybody in the world can see your website), so you need to show only the information to be linked or viewed freely as you're aware of exposing it in that circumstance.
Maybe this notice is an expression to fear that your website be presented erroneously or a desire to be informed of when being linked, but authors have no right to interfere on how their websites are linked except cases that are against the Copyright Law. It's just like you can't interfere on the reviews on your book. Nobody has the right to stop the publication of comments or to alter its contents when you are severely criticized, except descriptions against the fact. Isn't the obligation of previous contacting on linking, just like censure, is against the freedom of expression? And isn't it out of the question to determine asking for link permission as "etiquette?"
The question of asking "Contact us on linking us" is less important compared with the former one. But this also obliges other website builders to contact the author on linking, and seems to be still problematic still from the viewpoint of the freedom of expression. Authors shouldn't manipulate others' links to your website, and isn't it fair to ask for others as "I'd be happy if you could contact me on linking to my website"?
2): Descriptions like "link us to the top page."
This seems to be against the characteristics of Internet. Links are to go directly to the information you need, and surfers will like your website to be directly connected with such information rather than having to clicking five or ten times from the top page. And many search engines tend to show only the URLs of such information without letting us know where the top page is, and sometimes nobody's sure how to arrive at the home.
Some webmasters think people should start their visit to the top page just like entering by the front door on visiting a house. But this concept isn't right on taking the basic purpose of linking into consideration. As Internet is the biggest encyclopedia in the world, should webmasters permit such "direct links" as much as possible to increase the convenience from visitors' viewpoint?
I understand some websites want visitors to go by the top page to see their ads, but must they also understand the needs of other website builders who need "direct links?"
3): Custom to tell others your name.
Everybody begins their e-mail by telling like "Hello, this is Sato" on exchanging messages. But this seems unnecessary except cases to e-mail for the first time(like "Hello, my name is Saburo Fujita, CEO of ABC engineering"), as the sender has already let the receiver know of his/her name like "sender: Yoshiro Sato." This kind of customs whose indispensability is doubtful can be found in Europeans as well as they finish their messages with his name(like "Albert" or "Victoria Soto, HelloSpain.com webmaster"...
(mig@lime.plala.or.jp)