Vulnerability Development mailing list archives
RE: The Hazard of using 'printer friendly' functions on commercial sites
From: "Thierry De Leeuw" <thierry.deleeuw () advalvas be>
Date: Mon, 29 Apr 2002 23:34:26 +0200
Hi, A possible workaround is to check the referrer. If it is not empty (link sent by mail,...) or does not come from your web, just link to the normal page (with the ads ;-) ) Just my 2 cents ;-) Regards, Thierry De Leeuw -----Original Message----- From: Max Kennedy [mailto:mxkennedy () fuse net] Sent: lundi 29 avril 2002 19:27 To: vuln-dev () securityfocus com Subject: The Hazard of using 'printer friendly' functions on commercial sites There is a problem that commercial web sites, particularly ones that serve news feeds need to consider. That other commercial web sites may use your 'printer-friendly' feature, intended for individuals to print out stories on their printers, as a method to link to your stories while removing your ads. I first noticed www.worldnetdaily.com and www.drudgereport.com doing this to yahoo news. Both of these sites are high volume sites that make their money by linking to stories. By adding '&printer=1" to links, about 90% of yahoo's ads are removed. This means that yahoo serves the stories, but doesn't get paid. This seems very dishonest to me, especially considering that the other sites are also commercial, and make their money this way. The vendor yahoo has been contacted. Suggestions: Change your TOS to explicitly cover this type of malicious activity and damages you might seek. Seek out high volume sites taking advantage of your sites and send them warning letters. Reconsider if you really need a printer friendly function. Max Kennedy
Current thread:
- The Hazard of using 'printer friendly' functions on commercial sites Max Kennedy (Apr 29)
- RE: The Hazard of using 'printer friendly' functions on commercial sites Thierry De Leeuw (Apr 29)
- Re: The Hazard of using 'printer friendly' functions on commercial sites Tim Morgan (Apr 29)
- Re: The Hazard of using 'printer friendly' functions on commercial sites Simon Tamás (Apr 30)
- Re: The Hazard of using 'printer friendly' functions on commercial sites Tim Morgan (Apr 29)
- Re: The Hazard of using 'printer friendly' functions on commercial sites xm (Apr 29)
- RE: The Hazard of using 'printer friendly' functions on commercial sites Thierry De Leeuw (Apr 29)