Linking from one website to a specific page on another website without
permission in a manner that interferes with or diminishes the intellectual
property rights or advertising revenue of the owner of the site to which it is
linking. In this situation, the site doing the linking uses the intellectual
property rights of the site to which it is linking to enhance the value of the
first site.
For example, consider a publishing firm that provides information on human
resources policies and procedures to its customers. Its online material
contains a number of links to a specific page within a human resources
consulting firm's website. The consulting firm sues the publishing firm,
alleging that the links violate the consulting firm's intellectual property
rights. This is because the links enhance the publishing firm's website
while bypassing the consulting firm's home page and minimizing the
potential for compensation to the consulting firm. This is because the home
page is from where the bulk of the consulting firm's advertising revenue
comes.
Coverage for liability incurred from improper deep linking is available
under cyber and privacy insurance policies, specifically under the website
media content liability insuring agreement. In addition, improper deep linking
is covered under traditional media liability insurance policy forms.