AT&T doesn’t like link love

Oh AT&T, when will you learn? If this recent piece of news is any indication, the answer might be a resounding "never!". Spitting in the face of the rest of the internet, Cingular/AT&T appears to be doing their part to limit free speech and personal opinion. A clause in their website’s fine print states that you are granted a limited, non-exclusive right to link the company’s homepage. This right can be revoked at any time if the incoming link contains statements that portray the company in a derogatory manner. This means that any site that contains negative information or opinions about the provider’s service, phones, coverage, or personal hygiene might find themselves with a collection of dead links or, at the very worst, a threat of litigation. They also forbid you to link to any other other than the main index page of the site. AT&T has the worst service I have ever used, their customer service representatives couldn’t tell a billing dispute from an episode of Seinfeld, and whenever I buy an AT&T phone, I proceed to void the warranty and try to return it just to see what happens. I guess I’ll put our lawyer on speed dial. Punks.
[Via Techdirt]
Read [Warning: Link does not take you to the Cingular homepage!]

Leave a Reply