This amuses muchly.
As reported earlier, Hoare & Co. insists that you ask before you link to their website.
So, I asked.
On your legal page I note the following: "You may not link any other website to this website without obtaining the prior written consent of C. Hoare & Co." I would like to link to your website from my blog as an example of interesting legal disclaimers (aka money for ridiculous old rope selling).
And I received a response.
Dear Mr. Worstall, I am afraid the bank does not like links to its website so sorry the answer is no. Regards,
Eh?
I was thinking of doing the same. But you’re ahead of me.
Next step is to write to them and tell them you’ve done it anyway. Then see what happens.
This could be really fun. At some point it will end up on the desk of a senior partner at an expensive law firm like Norton Rose, and they will take several grand off the bank in order to write them an opinion that they are pissing in the wind. But it could be fun in the meantime, don’t you think?
It’s interesting how much money people are willing to piss away when it’s their own money, particularly when Jeff Randall eulogises these chumps for being so wise with their own money.
“I am afraid the bank does not like links to its website”
Lol!
Do you think Google asked them?
http://www.google.com/search?q=Hoare+%26+Co.&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a
rry Hoares’s bank, you don’t get to say who links to you or where, or why…
Idiots
Z.
So
“In an increasingly faceless and automated world, we stand apart by providing a personal approach delivered with care and courtesy.”
Would that be them talking about how they manually write to all those sites that automatically linked to them?
AFAIK there’s no common law country where a ruled against unauthorised plain hyperlinks. Even in the infamous Shetland Times case the plaintiff settled out of court to avoid a spanking.
As I say, this is going to be fun if they want to push it. And fairly easy to goad them by the looks of it. Tee hee.
Are you sure you’re allowed to write to them, Kay Tie? They might have a restriction on sending them letters, too.
Oh yes, me too of course:
http://www.hoaresbank.co.uk
“They might have a restriction on sending them letters, too.”
I suppose I could write and ask them.
Time for a linkathon across the Blogosphere, methinks.
Tossers.
Tim, I know some of the people there. You want me to call them up and take the piss?
Can you actually phone them…? They might not like that either!
I’m wondering if this isn’t a cunning plan to increase Google ranking. You know, plant ludicrous no-linking policy in blogosphere, watch while outraged bloggers orchestrate a massive linking campaign, and bask in the glow of PR9?