I just posted a link to a newspaper’s website. BUT, I think it may be a free registration site, but I’m not sure. Are there any policies about linking to news sites that have “free registration requirements” that ask for your name and email address to view the site? Am I allowed to recommend people to go to a website like bugmenot so they can log in without hassles?
I did a quick search of this forum and did spot any references to it.
Link to the news sites… if you feel like mentioning that registration is required to read the article. mention it, otherwise I think it should be assumed that most news sites do that.
I would not mention bug-me-not and other sites expressly set up to bypass the rules and regulations of the sites you are linking to, in much the same way we don’t recommend to people how to steal music or pirate movies.
Thanks. I figured the link itself was okay, but wasn’t sure. “Free registration required” links sometimes get removed from other message boards because they are frustrating for users who don’t wish to register.
Since I wasn’t sure about the bug-me-not, I didn’t say anything alongside my link because it seemed ethically questionable. I’ll continue with that then. Just a warning that the link goes to a “free registration required”.
Thanks again.
Sometimes people don’t even recall that they signed up long ago for a free site, so some of those links are unavoidable. Also, for my local paper, most of the links expire after one day. When I asked them why they said they were not authorized by Associated Press to keep syndicated links active more than one day, but their own reporting links would be live.
What he said. And thank you.
Speaking purely as a single member, I’d consider it a courtesy to have the note made that “link to story in Keokuk Daily Kumquat (requires free registration)” – so I can choose ahead of time to take the trouble to load the site, register, and read, or not, depending on how interested I am in the background story. It’s also a courtesy from another member than the OP if, when the OP has linked to such a story and the Commenting Doper has read the article in another newspaper that does not require registration, the alternate link be provided by the CD.