Yahoo? Don't talk to me about bl**dy Yahoo!
Back in the dark ages some enterprising folk thought they could make money by creating an internet "White Pages" directory called 411.com. They offered a free website and e-mail address in exchange for personal details to profile yourself and be included in the directory. Obviously this would make you a target for advertisers but, hey - your own 20 Meg website right? Sheesh, my hard drive was a massive 80 Megs back then. 411.com was bought out by Look-Up, another directory. They tried to charge for the web-site but backed off when it was pointed out that the website was free in exchange for the right to data. So, Look-Up charges for the web space and then pay us back for the right to use the data = FREE OK? Finally, Yahoo turns up, buys out Look-Up and gives us one week's notice to migrate the HTML somewhere else. One week later the website's gone. But they still have my data. I sent them an invoice for my data and the right to use it but they haven't replied in four or five years so I reckon that maybe they don't want to pay.
Can I sue?
Remember, these guys use the Law to deal with DNS attacks by angry hackers so they must respect the Law, right?
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Through difficulties to the cinema