Pan Am Games: Link to our website without permission and we'll sue

The organisers of the Pan American Games in Toronto, which start this week, require that people seek formal permission to link to its website at toronto2015.org. Under the website's terms of use, amid piles of incomprehensible legalese seemingly designed to hide from the fact that social media exists, it is decreed that no one …

[Anonymous Coward]

Okay... let me be the first to do this here...

http://www.toronto2015.org/

[Evil Auditor]

Re: Okay... let me be the first to do this here...

You forgot #TO2015

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Re: Okay... let me be the first to do this here...

The first rule of Toronto - nobody can talk about Toronto

[JeffyPoooh]

"...mockery..."

Well done!!!!

PS. Ashamed to be Canadian right about now. At least I'm a good two days drive from Toronto, which is just about enough.

PS2. It's also about two days to get to the further east point in Newf. And it's about two days from Toronto to the middle of Canada at Winnipeg. Let's review. If you're already two days from the extreme east, and you drive two more days then you'll reach Toronto, which is about two days from the middle of Canada. Big place.

[Anonymous Coward]

Ex-Mayor of Toronto Rob Ford

Drugs and Anger Enthusiast Ex-Mayor of Toronto Rob Ford was recently seen piloting his over-sized ego and Escalade vehicle in the special lanes set aside for High Occupancy Vehicles, cars containing several people. He was with all his friends, i.e. alone. To be fair, he fills the vehicle all by himself.

Toronto. Sigh...

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Ex-Mayor of Toronto Rob Ford

I really hope the lawyers are going to follow up with nastygrams. That would be awesome. We might end up with a definitive number for the amount of ways it is possible to tell people to go fuck themselves. Valuable research.

[skeptical i]

Re: Ex-Mayor of Toronto Rob Ford

High Occupancy Vehicle: likely referring to both His Fordness' volume and blood pharmaceutical level, two for one, efficiency in government.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Ex-Mayor of Toronto Rob Ford

With the voices in his head, it'd be pretty crowded with him by himself.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Ex-Mayor of Toronto Rob Ford

Surely you have plenty ammo to make jokes about him without resorting to jokes about his size...

[andreas koch]

@ JeffyPooh - Re: "...mockery..."

I feel for you mate, I had a crappy slow car like that as well when I was 20 . . .

[JeffyPoooh]

Re: @ JeffyPooh - "...mockery..."

@Koch "...when I was 20..."

When I was but a wee lad and had the inevitable hot hatch, I did ~2000 km commutes with an average speed... oh, never mind... ...overnight. Been there, done that, t-shirt and souvenir SOTs.

But now that I'm older and just happen to have a nice big loaded Mercedes that's got a couple of gears left when the hot hatches are all out of ideas, it somehow seems more pleasant to go about 1 Mm/day.

The big Merc is fully capable of shrinking Canadian provinces to the size of a small coconut, but I just can't be bothered, ...most of the time.

'Kock'? Ah, I think that Clarkson's been talking about you. :-)

[andreas koch]

Re: @ JeffyPooh - "...mockery..."

Ah, this is where I failed to understand; it isn't that you couldn't, you just don't bother. Thumbs up for that!

Oh, and it's "Koch". With a "ch". Rhymes with a scottish lake. Can't be that hard . . .

And that "Clarkson" that you mean is called May.

[Chairo]

Re: @ JeffyPooh - "...mockery..."

Oh, and it's "Koch". With a "ch". Rhymes with a scottish lake. Can't be that hard

Hmm, lake Lomond or lake Ness don't rhyme well.

Hmm, I better don't go to Scotland now, or they might force feed me haggis or throw with sheep.

[The First Dave]

Re: @ JeffyPooh - "...mockery..."

You're wasting your time with that particular analogy - most English speakers truly believe that "Loch" and "Lock" are pronounced the same...

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: "...mockery..."

It's also about two days to get to the further east point in Newf. And it's about two days from Toronto to the middle of Canada at Winnipeg. Let's review. If you're already two days from the extreme east, and you drive two more days then you'll reach Toronto, which is about two days from the middle of Canada. Big place.

Pfft. I can drive for two days from my home town in Queensland and I'm still in Queensland. Bigger place.

[foxyshadis]

Re: "...mockery..."

Yeah, but in Queensland you're constantly fighting off roving bands of murderous marsupials and poisonous wolverines, to say nothing of having to hack your own way through the bush to find the road again. It's amazing that you can drive for two days at all.

[Denarius]

Re: "...mockery..."

Qld, Gestapo one day, Stasi the next. Dont let Tony know, he might think it a goal to aim for. If one is motorcycling, in two days the marsupials, eagles, emus and Min Min Lights might have generated a scare or two and the cops will have added more justified hate to their existance after a couple of strip searches by side of road for no reason other than two wheeled vehicle use. All for society's safety you know.

However Qld is only 2.5 days north south, 2 days east west in my experience. WA beats it comfortably in both x and y axis. Without the compulsory arbitrary roadside strip searches too, so far. Also has camels to hit so one has more choice of things to be wiped out by. Roadtrains carrying stupendous equipment is common to both states.

[Tim99]

Re: "...mockery..."

Pfft. I can drive for two days from my home town in Queensland and I'm still in Queensland. Bigger place.

Pfft. Western Australia, is half as big again as QLD. My home, south of Perth, to Kununurra is over 2,000 miles. I admit that I have not driven it myself, but I did drive to Derby, which is only 1,500 miles. I made a couple of diversions on the way, so I clocked up over 5,000 miles on the trip.

Unless we have a motorist from the Sakha Republic, I claim this >>=======>

[bob, mon!]

Re: "...mockery..."

Pfft pfft. I can drive two days in Philadelphia and still be in Philadelphia. Friggin' traffic jams...

[PJD]

Re: "...mockery..."

I've hitchiked from Kununurra to Exmouth, both via the coast road and highway 95.. Never took less than 4 days.

[Steve I]

Re: "...mockery..."

On the subject of driving, they say that "All roads lead to Rome." Well I went along the M4 the other day and ended up in Bristol, so that advice was bollocks.

[JeffyPoooh]

Re: "...mockery..."

Canada has roadside picnic parks bigger than Queensland.

Australia wins on the poisonous spider competition.

[TonyJ]

Re: "...mockery..."

"...Australia wins on the poisonous spider competition..."

Australia wins on the "everything and anything trying to kill you" competition.

FTFY

I refer to the old joke about the boffins doing the longest, largest study ever undertaken with regards to dangerous flora and fauna in Australia.

After many years, they finally reported that the only thing harmless to humans there are some of the sheep.

[nematoad]

Re: "...mockery..."

"Pfft. I can drive for two days from my home town in Queensland and I'm still in Queensland. Bigger place."

I could drive for two days in the UK.

It's not how big a place you live in that counts, it's how fast you drive

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: "...mockery..."

I could drive for two days in the UK

Two days in London and not get very far. I'm a Londoner by birth so I feel your pain. btw, just for the sake of perspective, the nearest conurbation of consequence to me is roughly the same distance as London to Bristol.

It's not how big a place you live in that counts, it's how fast you drive

I agree. The problem here is that the main road up the east coast, the Bruce Highway (our equivalent of the M1), is one lane each way with a 60 mph (100 km/h) speed limit and few places to overtake. It's crawling with speed camera cars, large wandering marsupials and pensioners towing caravans. It should have been called the Highway To Hell.

[Nameless Dread]

"...one lane each way with a 60 mph (100 km/h) speed limit and few places to overtake."

Welcome (or something) to the A9.

[A K Stiles]

Re: Welcome...to the A9"

At least they had the decency to stick some signs on it that say "If you're driving well below the (safe) speed limit, stop in the next layby and enjoy the scenery, and let the poor sods behind you who still have a 4 hour drive get past" - I may be paraphrasing slightly!

[Loud Speaker]

Re: "...mockery..."

I can drive for two days in London (UK) and still be in London. Its not so big, but the traffic is slower than when it was horse drawn. But you can link to web sites here and not hear from lawyers (They are probably still waiting for their horses to be saddled).

[brianlemoncda]

Re: "...mockery..."

Mahatma - I used to have a car like that too...

[iLuddite]

Re: "...mockery..."

@Mahatma Coat

"Pfft. I can drive for two days from my home town in Queensland and I'm still in Queensland. Bigger place."

Roads that bad?:)

[Yet Another Anonymous coward]

Re: "...mockery..."

>Pfft. I can drive for two days from my home town in Queensland and I'm still in Queensland.

I had a car like that once .

[batman997]

Re: "...mockery..."

"I can drive for two days from my home town in Queensland and I'm still in Queensland. Bigger place."

I am not sure if you skipped geography class or something. Canada is the second largest country in the world after Russia. Australia is 6th largest, so it definitely is not "bigger place".

[Hollerith 1]

Re: "...mockery..."

Canada is sliced up into many provinces, Australia into few states. Driving north-south in, say, Alberta will take about three days (assuming there were roads).

[disgruntled yank]

Re: "...mockery..."

As the old Texas joke said, "Yeah, I had a car like that, too."

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: "...mockery..."

Yes, but in Canadia there are paved roads.

[-tim]

Re: "...mockery..."

A good degree of mockery?

That wasn't even dodgy cert holding help desk level mockery. I would expect at least PFY level mockery from any Reg reporter.

[imanidiot]

Re: "...mockery..."

PS2. It's also about two days to get to the further east point in Newf. And it's about two days from Toronto to the middle of Canada at Winnipeg. Let's review. If you're already two days from the extreme east, and you drive two more days then you'll reach Toronto, which is about two days from the middle of Canada. Big place.

"Space Canada is big. Really big. You just won’t believe how vastly hugely mindbogglingly big it is. I mean you may think it’s a long way down the road to the chemist’s, but that’s just peanuts to Space Canada."

I'll get going now, long way to go. Yeah, mines the one with the Electronic Thumb in the pocket and the towel in the other.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: "...mockery..."

Toronto's in Canada now ?

Has anyone told them this ?

Gang D'anglo !

[Snowman]

No need for Canada to say sorry over this

"PS. Ashamed to be Canadian right about now."

The fault here rests on the Pan American Sports Organization, basically an organization formed by all the national olympic committees in North & South America. Host cities/countries rarely get much say in changing PASO rules and it is not uncommon to have to change laws to 'win' the bid to host.

[pollyanna]

Re: "...mockery..."

I live on the outskirts of Toronto and it's about 2 days drive into the city due to the crazy games high occupancy lanes (oops, #TO2025 #HOVLanes) which have essentially grid-locked much of the city day and night. Even driving OUT of #TO2015 took almost 4 times longer than normal) and I watched the stationary traffic tailed back all the way to Hamilton as I went. Sounds like it was the same lawyers who came up with the traffic scheme too.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Okay... let me be the first to do this here...

"The first rule of Toronto - nobody can talk about Toronto"

you've been there then ....

:)

[m0rt]

Re: Okay... let me be the first to do this here...

Please seek permission from myself before reading this comment.

[romulusnr]

Re: Okay... let me be the first to do this here...

What happens in Toronto stays in Toronto... because nobody can find a link to the site!

[Trevor_Pott]

Re: Okay... let me be the first to do this here...

The first rule of Toronto - nobody can talk about Toronto

Why would anyone want to?

[Anonymous Coward]

You fell for their trap!

The best way to rise in Google search results is to have a lot of people linking to your site. The best way to get a lot of people linking to your site is to tell people they can't, and watch all the tech sites scream bloody murder about how that's ridiculous and link to their site in their stories, in their comments, and in their blogs just to stick it to them.

The Pan Am Games would like to thank you for helping their search ranking.

[s5PGmU]

Re: Okay... let me be the first to do this here...

http://www.toronto2015.org/ AND #TO2015!

Also, how much cocaine did Rob Ford and his lawyers smoke before he told the committee to put this in the TOS (or should I say POS)?

[Vic]

Re: Okay... let me be the first to do this here...

I think you should have linked to the twats page. If enough people do, they might start to understand...

Vic.

[Fred Flintstone]

Re: Okay... let me be the first to do this here...

I think you should have linked to the twats page. If enough people do, they might start to understand...

I like the idea of filling up their logfiles with choice insults, but I think they have spent more money on lawyers than on technology (as the article indicated). It is not a given that anyone will EVER look at the 404 logs..

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Okay... let me be the first to do this here...

You mean?

http://www.toronto2015.org/twats ?

Or: http://www.toronto2015.org/twats ??

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Okay... let me be the first to do this here...

Is there one of these ? /r/toronto2015

[Afernie]

Re: Okay... let me be the first to do this here...

"Pfft pfft. I can drive two days in Philadelphia and still be in Philadelphia. Friggin' traffic jams..."

I'm pretty sure that at some point this thread became the automotive and geographical equivalent of the Yorkshiremen sketch:

"That's nothing. Our father would make us push a car from Antarctica even evening - IF we were lucky. You tell that to young people these days and they won't believe you...."

[Bleu]

Re: Okay... let me be the first to do this here...

Well the done.

I will follow.

http://www.toronto2015.org/

Any regtards who are also in the bad places of the Internet, to turning up the heat may being the enjoyable.

This Pan-Am games sounds like the dull event, world's most advanced sports drug programmes (step up USA) thrash everyone else in most sports.

If a fellow Regtard is to take explaining how I am wrong there (and not about USA's prodigious use of steroids and all) but why anyone may be interested by Pan Am games?

I like the contraction being the same as the very iconic and long-dead airline.

[Christoph]

Do they realise that the sun is shining on their sports ground without permission?

[Antonymous Coward]

LINKS TO OR FROM OTHER WEB SITES AND SERVICES

This Site may contain links to outside services and resources, the availability and content of which TO2015™ does not control.

I wonder if they obtained written permission for each of those links. Hypocrisy, we've heard of it.

Any chance of a wee linkie to the lawyers' website Reg? So we can all have a good laugh at them wot done it.

[Scaffa]

Seems Fair

If I don't add the HTML tags and just type it plain text like http://www.toronto2015.org/ - am I still technically linking to the site?

[Ben Tasker]

Re: Seems Fair

Or, what if I shorten it http://bit.ly/1r8EgyY. Am I in trouble, or is Bit.ly?

[Antonymous Coward]

Re: Seems Fair

I think you'll find no-one’s in trouble

[Solmyr ibn Wali Barad]

Re: Seems Fair

Is that because no-one'll bother to investigate what lies behind such obscure shortlinks?

[Anonymous Coward]

'...the article is likely to be critical of yourselves...' I think you mean 'critical of you'.

[Graham Dawson]

Technically correct, but the lack of a distinct second-person plural in modern English has resulted in the evolution of a number of attempts to replicate it, especially in American English - yourselves, y'all, yinz and so on. If we were still using tou/thee it wouldn't be an issue, but of course language evolves to drop and reacquire forms all the time, so it's only inevitable. Perhaps in a few hundred years we'll have adopted something else equally silly.

[Eddy Ito]

Yinz?? Is that a hyper-regional dialect like youz or yoos?

[Anonymous Coward]

I quite like the Yorkshire: "Yon fookers"

[foxyshadis]

Yinz

is hillbilly dialect: west Pennsylvania and West Virginia mostly. Never quite went mainstream like y'all.

When it comes down to it, English actually has hundreds of ad-hoc second person plurals, just not a single standard one. That makes it more interesting!

[bob, mon!]

re: Yinz?? Is that a hyper-regional dialect like youz or yoos?

An Appalachian variation. Also spelt/pronounced "yoo-uns".

[JonnyBravo]

See also Scottish "youse" :) n/t

the body must contain letters

[BasicChimpTheory]

Re: "the body must contain letters"

"D" is a popular choice.

[billse10]

"Perhaps in a few hundred years we'll have adopted something else equally silly."

Nearly as silly as the guy over at Quora telling people to expand their Amazon businesses to the UK as "it's still in English"

[Solmyr ibn Wali Barad]

"Perhaps in a few hundred years we'll have adopted something else equally silly."

Unless we hasten that process by setting up a dedicated regulating body - Ministry of Silly Talks.

[Steve Davies 3]

Perhaps

they are trying to be another IOC? After all those five rings are so unique aren't they?

What is it with the competition organizers? Do they think that they can turn the clock back to say, 1908?

[CanadianMacFan]

Re: Perhaps

Well they are hoping to use this to show that they could run the Olympics so maybe they are showing just what a good job they could do. Certain segments of Toronto feel the need to constantly seek attention by trying to bring highly visible attractions to the city, usually at great cost to the taxpayer, such as the Olympics and an NFL team. Unfortunately they usually happen to be in power and the money gets wasted where it could be better spent on improving the quality of life of the residents.

[JeffyPoooh]

Re: Perhaps

I thought that the Five Ring Thing was the new trademark for Auto Union + VW...

... .:confused:.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Perhaps

I thought that the Five Ring Thing was the new trademark for Auto Union + VW...

That's 4 rings, but yes, sometimes it gets confusing. We could add to that by encouraging them swap every couple of years, I'm sure we can dream up a reason that will get the marketing types excited.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Perhaps

Yes. Auto Union is four rings, one ring per silly predecessor company.

+ VW makes it five.

[Mephistro]

Re: Perhaps

So the five rings have been trademarked? Miyamoto Mushashi must be spinning in his grave!

Mine is the one with the wakizashi in the pocket.

[Fred Flintstone]

Re: Perhaps

Miyamoto Mushashi must be spinning in his grave!

Ah, but between keeping his blades sharp, fighting people and writing about it he had no time left to trademark it. Let this be a lesson to all of you (etc). :)

[Michael Dunn]

Re: Perhaps @Mephisto

I'd have expected Miyamoto Musashi to have been cremated.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Perhaps

"Perhaps they are trying to be another IOC? After all those five rings are so unique aren't they?"

Try, they are an affiliate of the IOC, specifically 41 of the National Organization Committies from countries in the Americas, some of the events are the direct Olympic qualifier for the 2016 Olympic Games for teams from the Americas.

[Borg.King]

Dear El. Reg.,

Sirs,

I would be grateful if you allow me to post a comment to this item.

Kindest regards,

B.K.

[PleebSmash]

Re: Dear El. Reg.,

El Reg, the official tech news rag of #TO2015™.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Dear El. Reg.,

Permission denied.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Dear El. Reg.,

Might I be permitted to use the word Bollocks when describing this process? Possibly prefixed by the words load of fucking? It would greatly enhance the impact of my commentary.

[lambda_beta]

Re: Dear El. Reg.,

Sirs, I would be grateful if you allow me to post a reply to the comment which stated "I would be grateful if you allow me to post a comment to this item."

Thank you

lb

[lambda_beta]

Re: Dear El. Reg.,

Sirs, I would be grateful if you allow me to edit my reply which stated "Sirs, I would be grateful if you allow me to post a reply to the comment which stated ' "I would be grateful if you allow me to post a comment to this item."

Thank you

lb'

Thank you

lb

[lambda_beta]

Re: Dear El. Reg.,

Sirs, I would be grateful if you allow me to withdraw my reply to edit my reply " Sirs, I would be grateful if you allow me to edit my reply which stated "Sirs, I would be grateful if you allow me to post a reply to the comment which stated ' "I would be grateful if you allow me to post a comment to this item."

Thank you

lb'

Thank you

lb"

Thank you

lb

[James 51]

'they are effectively forcing Google et al to unwittingly and automatically break its own rules.'

I think you've discovered step two in a three step to profit plan.

[W Donelson]

I smell Lawyers screwing the TO2015 people.

[Dazed and Confused]

Stinks

> I smell Lawyers screwing the TO2015 people.

I feel sorry for you, lawyers smell bad enough at the best of times, but while they are screwing? you're a braver man than me.

[Shades]

New Games Name...

The Games That Shall Not Be Named

[Destroy All Monsters]

Weekend trolling is best trolling!

I like the "unfettered discretion" arrogated to themselves by totoro2015.org lawyers.

Imagine if Vikings had declared "unfettered discretion" to burn down & loot monasteries on the coast.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Weekend trolling is best trolling!

"Imagine if Vikings had declared "unfettered discretion" to burn down & loot monasteries on the coast."

They did.

The worrying thing is that they only had longships, swords, bows and arrows, ferocious and bloodthirsty deities and a total devotion to rape, loot and pillage, while this Voldemort-like organisation has lawyers. I am surprised El Reg dares to provoke them.

[James O'Shea]

Re: Weekend trolling is best trolling!

El Reg has Simon, the PFY, a carpet, and some quicklime. The lawyers don't have a hope.

[Caustic tWit]

Re: Weekend trolling is best trolling!

Pfft. They're only Canadian lawyers.

[Dan Paul]

Re: Weekend trolling is best trolling!

Yeah, sooner or later they're going to apologize!

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Weekend trolling is best trolling!

"Yeah, sooner or later they're going to apologize!"

Legal apology:

"We have decided it will not be in the best interests of our client to proceed further at this time, but all rights are reserved in respect of any future legal action".

At least, that's the most you'll ever get.

[Harry the Bastard]

it'd be much funnier if the rest of the interwebs took them at their word and didn't link to their site

[CanadianMacFan]

This stupidity is probably the only way they are going to get attention. If they weren't being held in Canada they wouldn't be getting nearly the amount of coverage. Normally it's "There's a Pan Am Games?"

[Captain DaFt]

Normally it's "There's a Pan Am Games?""

I thought it was more like: "Pan Am Games? What's that?"

[Roq D. Kasba]

Is it something to with a defunct airline?

[Martin-73]

Yes, mr Famous Song Title, that was my original reaction also.

[skeptical i]

From that Ken Russell movie with Kathleen Turner:

"We're all out of Pan Am coffee, but we have plenty of TWA tea."

[fishman]

There's a Pan Am Games? - Landing with a thud

Even the people of Toronto don't seem to care.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/10/world/americas/in-an-apathetic-toronto-the-pan-am-games-land-with-a-thud.html?_r=0

[keith_w]

Re: There's a Pan Am Games? - Landing with a thud

Of course we care. We care about the traffic jams that have resulted from a)changing the existing HOV lanes and b) dedicating 1 lane on the highways which don't have HOV lanes as an HOV lane so that both of them are restricted to vehicles carrying athletes, people with games passes or 3 or more persons.

We also care that the food vendors near the Rogers Centre (formerly the Skydome) were banned during the opening ceremonies and will be banned during the closing ones as well. We also cared that every one entering the Rogers Centre was searched to ensure that no one was smuggling in their own bottle of water or bag of peanuts, ensuring that the vendors inside were able to charge exorbitant amounts for the aforementioned water, other beverages and sundry snacks.

We also cared that they changed the finals for at least 1 of the events so that people who had bought tickets for that time and place were not able to see the event which they had intended to.

I am sure we are going to care a lot more if we get the Olympics that are now planning to bid for.

[phil dude]

Oscar Wilde....

There's only one thing worse than bad publicity....

P.

[Andy Non]

Reverse psychology?

Can't help wondering if it is just a clever ploy to get as many links to their site as possible and consequently boost their search engine rankings.

[Pascal Monett]

Reverse psychology requires intelligence.

Not managing to get a mail server running demonstrates rather a lack of intelligence.

So no, there is no psychology here. Just lawyers. From last century millenium.

[originalucifer]

The secure version is even better: https://www.toronto2015.org/

[Anonymous Coward]

Gotta love akamai....

[Destroy All Monsters]

Why you not link properly? https://www.toronto2015.org/

[billse10]

Proceed to www.toronto2015.org (unsafe)

[TheProf]

Sue ball

Can I sue anyone over the fact El Reg has brought to my attention a sporting event of some kind?

I do not like sport and now I will be in constant fear that a stranger will try to start a conversation about sporting people in Canada. (Can I say Canada without being sued? Canada, Canada, Canada, Canada, Canada. Yes, that seems fine.)

[Anonymous Coward]

"Strickly speaking, anyone who links to the website or even anyone who uses the games' own hashtag of #TO2015 is violating its terms, and could be sued."

Site terms of use are only relevant if you want to keep using the site. Doubt if you can be sued for breaking any part of a ToS unless the way you break it also conflicts with an existing law. You can deny a user access to a site if they break the ToS, but that's about where it ends.

[John Brown (no body)]

Exactly. Linking to the site is not "using" the site. Anyone following the link to the site is "using" the site, but unless and until they read the ToC , it means nothing to them either.

I don't know about Canada, but here in the UK we have laws about unfair terms and conditions which means specific terms will be laughed out of court if anyone tries to enforce them and depending on the circumstance, could potentially invalidate the entire ToC document.

As the article points out, these lawyers really don't have a clue.

[Mad Chaz]

If this was the US, they could probably still sue for computer hacking or something. Luckilly, it's a bit harder to become a judge in Canada and yes, they would be lucky if all they got was laughed out of court.

[Mark 85]

You can deny a user access to a site if they break the ToS, but that's about where it ends.

I'll save them the trouble and not visit their site.

[Anonymous Coward]

It's a common mistake to assume that just because something is written in legalese, that it is in any way legally enforcable. I had one site where part of the conditions of use was that users must wear a squirrel costume in order to use the site. It was there for years, and nobody ever noticed.

Mostly those documents are arse-covering for the site owner/creator...several pages of "if you do anything illegal using our kit then it's down to you". There may also be somewhat optimistic "expected codes of conduct" which are usually only read so that people can make sure that they've broken all of them and not missed any. Some -like El Reg's- are pretty reasonable (although having a "no trolling" rule and allowing a comment thread immediately afterwards was a bit on the masochistic side, if you ask me. Also quite meta; because asking El Reg commentards not to troll is a troll in itself. Some are power-wanks on the part of the site owners, and some attempt to modify user's behaviour which is about as successful as you'd expect. Legality (apart from the arse-covering) doesn't really come into it. Mostly it's simply a matter of "how much do I fear getting banned from this site" that dictates the amount of attention you need to pay to these things.

Either the Toronto chaps are very stupid indeed, or they have a clever marketing department who know that if the internet is asked to do something it will immediately do the opposite. Personally, I'm not going to link to Toronto2015.

[John Tserkezis]

"Personally, I'm not going to link to Toronto2015."

Disturbing, just disturbing. But not as distubring as the Toronto games.

[Corin]

Some slightly more subtle errors

http://www.toronto2015.org/faq#Pan-Am-Ticketing

Ah yes, the famous London 2010 Olympic Games...

[John Brown (no body)]

Re: Some slightly more subtle errors

An easy mistake to make. Obviously "The Games" are every four years and the The Glasgow Games was only last year so they remember that. The London Games were a long time ago, long forgotten and were obviously four years prior to The Glasgow Games. So that means the Toronto games will be in 2018. Simples...err....really....

[Andrew Jones 2]

Out of interest - has a company managed to (successfully) trademark a hashtag yet? Surely it's something some silly company will try before long?

[Anonymous Coward]

Not yet

They're waiting until hashtags support a superscript (TM) and the circle R symbol?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Not yet

Twitter, of course, could fix this by applying a suitable licence to posts which prevented this (i.e. it is a condition of using this site that you do not trademark any hashtags, and anything in the format of a hashtag which is trademarked will be removed from this site without warning.) If they haven't done so it may be because they are trying to work out a way to make money out of it. Before they go bust...because although revenues are increasing, so is the first derivative of losses.

[Ken Moorhouse]

Confused Lawyers

The lawyers are probably getting confused with the ability of other websites to Frame their content, making it look as if it is theirs.

[Bucky 2]

Re: Confused Lawyers

They made that much clear when they added the header, X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN.

No, they must mean something else.

[Phil Endecott]

Isn't TO-2015 a power transistor package?

(The closest I can find is TO-201, which is a coaxial transistor! If you want to waste the rest of your weekend exploring a dinosaur's graveyard of obsolete transistor packages, have a look at https://www.jedec.org/standards-documents/focus/registered-outlines-jep95/transistor-outlines-archive )

[JeffyPoooh]

Re: Isn't TO-2015 a power transistor package?

I like TO-3. The way they're typically installed on the *outside* of the chassis.

The Shaker Engine Lid or protruding Roots blower for electronics.

[Will Godfrey]

Re: Isn't TO-2015 a power transistor package?

Indeed. Nice rufty-tufty package that means business.

Oh, and it doesn't shatter if the contents die, so you have a chance of finding out what it actually was.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Isn't TO-2015 a power transistor package?

I can't remember if they were TO-3 or another large metal power package of the era, but as I recall the technicians who serviced the CU Titan computer used to identify blown power supplies by tapping the transistor cases and listening for the rattle of a large germanium die that had fallen off.

On another occasion I discovered that an "engineer" at one company I worked for had built a large custom DC power supply using paralleled 2N3055 - which some of you may remember - but with neither ultrafast fuses nor any proper means for ensuring correct current sharing in the output stage. I discovered this when the supply went titsup*, and two cases had arced through leaving large holes while a third one was just in the process of melting when the power was tripped. At least you could see what was happening.

*transistor internal transfer of silicon by unexpected plasma.

[Simon Harris]

Re: Isn't TO-2015 a power transistor package?

+1 for the backronym.

[Zog_but_not_the_first]

Shakespeare nailed it

"First kill all the lawyers"

[Mark 85]

Re: Shakespeare nailed it

Perhaps the second should be: "Then kill all those listen to them about their ideas".

[Anonymous Coward]

Referer

All they have to do is check a request's "referer" field - and only accept the ones in their list.

[Stevie]

Bah!

I think the letter would have been more helpful if you'd pointed them to a blacklisting service so they could stop all links from everywhere before they are attempted. Then they just need to have their DNS records expunged and it's job done, I should think.

Unless you think they would be safer simply turning their servers off?

[smartypants]

At least you got a reply

...albeit an automated failure, which is more than Apple do!

[Will Godfrey]

Lawyers

'nuff sed?

[Anonymous Coward]

I read that as 'Panem games' and thought, way to role play there guys.

[Anonymous Coward]

If what's-her-name-with-the-bow makes a guest appearance and skewers someone from the legal department, I'm into this.

[Anonymous Coward]

Ré email failed

Could that be because you TYPED the letter, instead of writing it??

[Turtle]

Re: "First kill all the lawyers"

"First kill all the lawyers"

It was said by Jack Cade's follower Dick The Butcher in Shakespeare's Henry VI; it was in the midst of a harangue in which Cade lays out his, errr... social-political program.

Consider the following: "'The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers' You know the line, from Shakespeare's 'Henry VI, Part 2.' Like a mantra, it is mindlessly quoted by pundits, stenciled on T-shirts and generally marshaled as condemnation of the legal profession from the very pen of the Bard of Avon. Not only is this a gross calumny, it is a symptom of gross cultural illiteracy.[...] Dick the Butcher shouts enthusiastically, 'The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.' There it is - the phrase so frequently used to damn the legal profession, shouted by a butcher in response to an ex-convict and confidence man who was in London to foment anarchy, burn the city and loot the commonwealth. But that's not all. Cade shows us what his world would be like without lawyers. Immediately after Dick the Butcher mouths his famous line, a clerk enters. Someone accuses the clerk of being able to write and read. Cade orders, 'Hang him with his pen and inkhorn about his neck.' Yes, second thing let's do, let's kill anyone who can write or read." (http://articles.latimes.com/1993-12-14/local/me-1614_1_jack-cade.)

I don't know if this was an idea ever espoused by the real Jack Cade. It might not have been, as Shakespeare's account of Cade and the events surrounding him seem to be quite ahistorical.

Shakespeare wrote the line but that's not nearly enough reason to think that he espoused the idea himself. He put those words in Cade's mouth to show the audience the barbarity and ignorance of Cade and his followers.

I have also seen the quote attributed to Leon Trotsky, who might have been well-enough read to know it from a translation of Shakespeare. I do not know if Trotsky ever said it or not, but it would have been both appropriate and ironic if he had.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: "First kill all the lawyers"

Pol Pot read The Bard?

[volsano]

I would be happy to link to one of their pages.

But, in return for their permission, I would require to be informed no less than 21 (twenty-one) days in advance of any changes they intend to make to that page -- that includes but is not limited to embedded advertising, javascripting, visible text, invisible text, CSS classes attributes and tags, non-visible comments, HTML alterations, and images.

Otherwise, how can my overworked and under-ferrari-ed lawyers ensure that we are still linking to the information we originally linked to?

Fair's fair.

[Len Goddard]

Catch 222

According to these cretins, you automatically accept the ToCs by visiting the site, even if you don't read them or know they exist. Furthermore, they reserve the right to change the ToCs but by accepting the original ToC you agree to be bound by the changes.

This is not the work of a real lawyer. It is the work of some incompetent who looked at the cover of a law book in a school library somewhere. A real lawyer would surely make some attempt to produce something which would not be laughed out of court with extreme prejudice. Surely?

[nematoad]

Re: Catch 222

"According to these cretins, you automatically accept the ToCs by visiting the site..."

What's a Table of Contents got to do with anything on this thread?

Could you possibly mean T&C (Terms and Conditions) or ToS (Terms of Service) ?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Catch 222

"This is not the work of a real lawyer."

Or maybe it's the work of one who thinks he can put in any terms- legally-enforceable or otherwise- in there and at worst the ones which *aren't* will (possibly) be struck down *if* they get to court (but enough people will believe that they are enforceable and/or don't want the hassle in proving it) that they have a chilling effect.

Of course, this only works if you don't take it too obviously beyond the bounds of credibility for even Joe Public- something which evidently hasn't worked on the Reg in this case. :-)

I suspect that most such unenforceable terms like this are a combination of incompetence, laziness (cut and paste boilerplate from elsewhere, whether or not it makes sense in this context) and the dual cynicisms of throwing enough mud at the wall and hoping some'll stick and/or hoping that Joe Average will be intimidated into believing they're enforceable.

[Mr Fuzzy]

Time to dig through the old issues of 2600

Apparently we're not allowed to use the site to encourage phreaking.

You have to wonder who thought there might be a chance of a shady group plotting to use the site for an athletic event to cause others to misuse a PSTN.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Time to dig through the old issues of 2600

...too horrific to contemplate.

(Sudden warbling tones of a modem)

[grumpyoldeyore]

Toronto -

- I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore

[Anonymous Coward]

Can I link this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBpgcZ1zYJs

[Grade%]

More interest here than in Toronto.

And that's about par for the course. 2.5beeeeelion dollars to put them on, 250meeelion for security and no one gives a flying fuck. Canada. (oh except the anti-mining protesters -- but they were infiltrated and neutralized before the games began.) Timbits anyone?

[knightred]

I was just watching the diving competition from the PanAm games and thought... you know Canada is about the furthest from the rest of the "pan am" as could be possible... I mean there's 2 North American States, numerous South American States and and like half a dozen Middle American States, how does the US or Canada win any sort of right to hold considering the travel costs they are placing on the rest?

(edit) hmm, googles says Mexico is part of North America, so there are 3, I guess I culturally put them to Central America being they speak Spanish like most of the rest of the Americas, I know some speak Portuguese and there are German speaking sects all over the Americas for various reasons.

[romulusnr]

central america is kind of a myth, like if you think of middle east as neither africa nor asia. Mexico is North America but it is also Latin America (as is all of Central and South America). The former is a geographic designation and the latter is a demographic (well, really just linguistic) designation. Geographically North America includes all of Central America -- but don't tell USA folks that, especially not a certain Mr. Trump...

[nematoad]

" I mean there's 2 North American States,"

No, there are three. United States of America, Canada and Mexico. St. Pierre et Miquelon could be considered to qualify but as they are self-governing parts of France probably do not.

Just because Mexico is Spanish speaking does not make it a Middle or South American state.

[JeffyPoooh]

Re. Complaints about Canada vs "Pan Am"

I'd like to point out that Canada covers the full *width* of the Americas, seeing how it touches several oceans.

[arctic_haze]

Staying on the safe side

I will not link their precious URL. In fact I will be even more careful. I will neither watch the games nor even read about the results.

Am I safe now?

[Will Godfrey]

Re: Staying on the safe side

No. You just indirectly referred to them. Sueball is probably on it's way

[romulusnr]

Re: Staying on the safe side

You wouldn't want to link to them with your eyes now would you!

[BobRocket]

Which Toronto Games

Is it the ones in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Ohio or South Dakota, perhaps it is all happening in County Durham.

(Quebec is also in County Durham, Chris Waddle used to work there)

[Tom 7]

So presumably their domain name will have to be deleted from DNS servers

Fuckem!

[joal]

What happens next

1. Everylink links furiously to http://www.toronto2015.org/, because the internet just adores the Streisand effect

2. Toronto 2015 website gets immense publicity

3. Ticket sales go through the roof

4. Pan Am games promoters go out to a long lunch, joking about how terribly they have misjudged this Internet Thingy, because they just don't understand it at all (aka Profit)

[diodesign]

Re: What happens next

"Ticket sales go through the roof"

'cos everyone's jumping on a plane to Toronto?

C.

[romulusnr]

FIFA, IOC, major sports leagues, now these guys... they ought to all be eradicated from the face of the earth. Let's not forget they set nigh-impossibly body image and expectations for youth, feed gluttonously from public troughs, demand concessions from governments and then leave them a shambles, like a swarm of locusts in for a holiday... Call me mad, but shouldn't sports be about people having fun and getting exercise, instead of filling up stuffed shirts with billions in cash?

[Anonymous Coward]

Perhaps some custom referers?

I think I'll use:

Referer: http://www.yourmothersasshole.com/to2015_sucks/torontoblows-andgofuckyourselves.html

...or something like that, send out the link to many people.... use Burp Suite or squid to replace the referer header, bounce it through another proxy, and let 'em log that.

[The_Pirate]

I'm probably only feeding the troll....

...but i couldn't stop myself from emailing them this:

- - - -

Dear Pan Am Games lawyers,

Welcome to the internet. And thank you. Thank you. Thaaaaaaank youuuuuuu!!!!!

I have had some bad days lately, and really, really needed a laugh. It was so nice of you to provide that.

The sheer thought of anybody needing permission to link to anyones websites is so outrageously hilarious, that i nearly crapped myself laughing. Well, at least i managed to mop most of that mouthful of coffee out of my keyboard again. I have had coffee coming out of my sinuses for a while now...

I didn't manage to find your "Terms of use" myself - it was actually "The Register" that broke the story (Link - without anybodys 'permission' : http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/07/11/pan_am_games_warns_link_to_us_and_well_sue/ ) and my big thanks to El Reg too - you two really, really made my day.

Perhaps your lawyers should read up a little on this new-fangled Intertubes watchemcallits? Hint: you put something on the Internet == everybody can use it. Within the copyright laws, of course. Without permission. Without wasting a second reading your silly and meaningless "Terms of use".

Please keep up the good work. I can use more laughs like that.

Have fun -

The_Pirate

- - - -

Their server may have gotten better - at least my mail hasn't bounced yet. Unlike my checks. I'm quite hopeful for a reply - if i get one, i'll share it....

[Richard 12]

Re: I'm probably only feeding the troll....

Mine didn't bounce (yet) either.

The best way to point out the idiocy is to ask permission.

Everyone on the Internet, individually.

That way, they drown in emails and nobody at all can use the brand, whether a sponsor or not.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: I'm probably only feeding the troll....

Why is it that I have developed the urge to "mail bomb" these people?

A good spammer should have the capability to send 1-2 billion largely identical requests from 1-2 billion unique and largely non-existent email address.

Hmmm ...

[Ol'Peculier]

Wonder if the CN Tower had permission to light up with the PanAm colours? (It took somebody from Toronto that pointed out what the colour scheme was though - I just thought it looked pretty)

[RogerT]

I think we should all have done what they asked. Including Google. They'd soon learn the errors of their way when they get no traffic to their site!

[Anonymous Coward]

#TOGAMES MEMORIAL

http://wgntv.com/2015/07/11/toronto-honors-dead-raccoon-with-street-memorial-internet-mourns/

[RISC OS]

I shant be watching http://www.toronto2015.org/

[Anonymous Coward]

Enjoyed the belly flop video

Otherwise i ignored Toronto2015[tm] because I didn't get written permission from them to click on their website.

[AceQuery]

Server: Microsoft-IIS/6.0

2 days to go; cutting it fine with their Windows Server 2003 migration plan.

[Sgt_Oddball]

Re: Server: Microsoft-IIS/6.0

Now, now...if you try you can get iis 6 working on server 2008/r2.

Why is another matter.

(it's also this kind of slackness as to why mine doesn't give any headers back bar clacks overhead (natch.))

[Anonymous Coward]

Now Pan Am Games have graciously changed their TOCs, I hope all you people who placed links to the site that shall not be named, but now can be are now completely relieved that you're no longer criminals of the lowest kind. A letter or two of apology to Pan Am wouldn't go amiss.

[Vic]

A letter or two of apology to Pan Am wouldn't go amiss.

A letter of thanks that they've been shown the error of their ways would be rather welcome. I, for one, am unapologetic for what I've done...

Vic.

[James 51]

did we ruin someone's weekend?

Depends on how much they charge for over time.

(we need a naked greed icon).

[kmac499]

Canuck Post Pub Nosh

Dunno If I missed this one; but whilst we're in the Americas and North of the 49th can we do a Post Pub Nosh review on Poutine...

A few bowl fulls of that should slow down any athlete attending the games that cannot be named..

[Huw D]

Re: Canuck Post Pub Nosh

ah, squeaky cheese, chips and gravy.

Note: the other half is Canadian and she's gonna kill me for calling it that

[a cynic writes...]

Re: Canuck Post Pub Nosh

Will this do?

[Vic]

Re: Canuck Post Pub Nosh

can we do a Post Pub Nosh review on Poutine

I'd rather see a Post Pub Nosh review on Poitin. It would mean changing countries.

Vic.

[Lallabalalla]

Ruin somebody's weekend??

There's a couple of lawyers in Toronto worked a few extra hours and are now ordering themselves another new Mercedes. Trebles all round, I'd say...

[misterinformed]

"Deep linking" bans

Verizon Wireless say you can't link to any part of their web site except the home page: http://goo.gl/WFjYKK (see the paragraph under the heading "Requirements for linking to www.verizonwireless.com")

The same instructions appear on lots of other sites - example Google search: http://goo.gl/hDKBle

[ZilogMan]

I got threatened by a US company THIS weekend..for using a hashtag!

Ha! Here in Sydney at the weekend, tow Attack Dogs actively sought me out at an event, and threatened me for "stealing their hashtag". The security staff for the 5* hotel were standing there p!ssing themselves as these two bints got told "how about you call the cops and tell them we've stolen your hashtag luv?"

I don't think they were expecting that response.

I see a lot more of this happening with this #TO2015 bullsh!t - but only in the US. Elsewhere in the RealWorld™, noone gives a rats arse.

Watch and have a giggle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D06stcYwxMU

[JeffUK]

Ironic, that theregister tries to impose conditions upon people linking to their website..

"The Register permits any website to link to any of our stories, provided it clearly states its source and does not include the full text of the story on its own site"

Pretty much implying, that they too believe it is within their power to permit (or not) people to link to their site.

[Anonymous Coward]

Nope - that's fairly normal copywrite practice - and what Pan Am games should have said in the first place.

[Sleep deprived]

"Let's hope the organisers are better at running games than they are servers."

Actually, they are running games few people care about... who'd want to link to their website?

[disgruntled yank]

Just TOO 2015

Can I suggest a motto, namely "PanAm et Circensem"? They're getting a good start on the latter.

The US seems to notice the Pan Am games only when it and the rest of the hemisphere are more than usually at odds. In 1972, I think it was, Puerto Rico wanted to arrest the US basketball coach Bobby Knight, and the Indiana government made loud noises about refusing any extradition requests.

[entfe001]

It's not the first time I've seen this clause...

...it also was on Renfe's quite useless website, the Spanish state-owned railway company. Even more, it explicitly requested permission from them to include a link to their website on e-mails. Yes, e-mails.

So I sent them an e-mail requesting permission. Never got a reply.

Now that I think about it, was that e-mail itself a breach of the conditions becasue I sent to somewhere at renfe.com (which included the forbidden renfe.com) before asking permission from them by e-mail? Should I had written a prior e-mail asking for permission to send them an e-mail asking for permission? And what about this e-mail?

[Philip Lewis]

Quick, someone who is too bored to have a life read this and give me the tl;dr version.

http://www.pga.com/other/terms-use

[DrXym]

Scientology should use this ruse

Tell people they cannot link to scientology's website and watch as people do it out of spite. And end up improving their rankings.

[bigtimehustler]

Pretty certain that would never be legally enforceable.

[stvrodcas]

Seriously these people are genuis of bussiness, this type of events need almost desperate the difusion that internet can give them, beside the world cup or the olympic games the amount of people interested in follow these events are decreasing and they make this more complicated. The logical answer of the people would be ok so then I preffer not to link the site and that´s it.

[cortland]

If

If you are reading this page do not turn off your computer.

Do not leave the premises under penalty of law; police are on the way. Should you do so, you will be charged with evading detention, obstructing just ice [sic] and mopery .

Warning: May contain nuts.

[Chris 239]

Bigger place...

I saw a bit of a documentary last night where they talked to a couple of women on a train in Siberia, they were going to Moscow - apparently it's a 6 day train ride!!

[Robert Baker]

Re: Bigger place...

Sometimes the train journey from Blackpool to London takes almost that long.