This was under IP on NewsPage> "Your Web Site Is About To Be Defaced"
August 3, 1999
PC Week: William
Golding's "Lord Of The Flies " shows that a
society with a fragile structure of rules will
ultimately break down. We're just about
approaching that meltdown point with the
Web, and it all centers on copyright
protection.
There's nothing new about the copyright
argument itself. Copyrights protect
expression and not facts, ideas or
information. In its current iteration, almost
anything published on the Web can be
considered copyrighted the moment it is
published. But at least one new software
product allows users to alter the look of Web
pages and, therefore, modify a corporation's
form of expression.
The technology is from Third Voice
(www.thirdvoice.com), which had the
fantastic idea to create a program that lets
people mark up Web pages with notes for
use in discussions. Using a small plug-in
(currently available only on Internet
Explorer), users can post and view comments
on Web pages. Anyone equipped with this
plug-in is able to see everyone's comments.
It's akin to tagging Post-it Notes onto a
magazine, or more accurately, posting the
notes on every magazine as soon as it leaves
the printing press.
However, the nature of the Web is
expression itself, and therefore there's a
threat in the form of Web defacement.
One of the most defaced sites is Microsoft's,
which makes the Third Voice technology at
least highly entertaining, since obviously
some open-source advocates have
discovered the program. Other sites that are
marked up are CNN's (www.cnn.com) and the
White House's (www.whitehouse.gov).
However interesting this technology is, Third
Voice is clearly primitive. In fact, most of the
Third Voice comments are nothing more than
pathetic ramblings. However, it's these rants
that have given Third Voice some popularity.
In fact, Third Voice is popular enough to
have its own anti-Third Voice campaign
(www.saynotothirdvoice.com), which, for all
I know, was created by Third Voice
advocates just to generate more interest.
Amazingly, the way copyright guidelines are
written, they may very well protect
expression of a site modified by Third Voice
users, since it is a new expression
altogether. For a complete overview, go to
fairuse.stanford.edu/niilegis. Suffice it to say
that the copyright laws will be heartily
challenged over the next few years.
But I'm not worried about Third Voice at all.
It's the potential of the technology that
upsets me. In the near future, Third
Voice-like technology will enable users to
manipulate sites before they can be viewed
in their original formats. A server version
would obviate the need of the plug-in, for
example.
Countries at war--or even those not at
war--will find this kind of tool the ultimate
propaganda machine. Closer to home, your
site could easily be defaced by
competitors--except that it wouldn't be your
site, it would be pages stored on someone
else's server. Perhaps I'm a little over the
top, but I view the Web and especially
information on the Web as a fragile entity.
There's way too much misinformation, and
tools such as Third Voice and future versions
of it can undermine the little credibility that's
there.
In any case, I doubt copyright laws will be
effective. This is a technological battle.
How would you like your Web sites defaced?
John Taschek can be reached at
john_taschek@zd.com.
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