From: "Peter Trei" <trei@process.com>
Date: Tue, 3 Jun 1997 22:05:19 +0800
To: Jim Choate <cypherpunks@EINSTEIN.ssz.com
Subject: Re: Webpage picketing?...
Message-ID: <199706031316.IAA15007@einstein.ssz.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



Jim Choate wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I have been looking at how to impliment picketing on the web. To date I have
> been unable to come up with a way to force a connection to one machine to go
> through a third machine in order to express some view about the original
> target.
> 
> This idea came to me while watching some folks picket a local grocer over
> something I couldn't make out (the signs were poorly done). It occured to me
> that since one could argue that the links between sites are public avenues a
> site could 'picket' another site. The question became at this point, how?
> 
> So far I have been unable to figure a way out. Any ideas you might care to
> share with us all?
                                                                      
 
>   |      No people do so much harm as those who go about doing good.   

Jim: 

I know you've been on this list for quite some time, but this is 
not only impossible (as you would know if you understood the 
technology involved); it's also highly undesirable. You may dislike 
one of the sites linking to yours, but you really can't hijack their
connections and force people to listen to you who don't want to.

Imagine if you could! Anyone who dislikes any other page on the
web could block access - 'right to life' groups could hijack
connections to Planned Parenthood, a church site could block
playboy.com for the entire world, any government could extend it's
domestic censorship standards to the entire net. Pepsi could block
links to Coke.

There are two things you *can* do. 

1. You can put a disclaimer on your page "If you linked here from 
XXX.XXX.XXX, please be aware that I object to that connection for 
the following reasons..."

2. If you or your webmaster have any kind of technical 
sophistication, you can force links to your page to go to a CGI 
script, which uses the HTTP-referrer: header to provide different
pages depending on the source of the connection. I suspect that
Ticketmaster is doing something like this in blocking links from 
MSN. 

But please, don't try to extend the 'information superhighway' 
(blech!) metaphor to include virtual sidewalks with picketing
rights - this is silly. A better metaphor for what you want to
do would have a church groups insist that all mailings from Planned
Parenthood diverted to them, so that they can insert their own
fliers into the envelopes.

Peter Trei
trei@process.com
Disclaimer: The above represents my opinion only.