Slashdot Mirror
You May Not Link This Web Site
Ganon34 sent us a funny story about a company requiring permission to link their website. The company in question is KPMG, a financial and legal advisory company, and the article itself is an entertaining read about the aftermath of them sending demands that someone remove a link to their public web site. It's a pretty funny piece -- especially the part about KPMG's theme song. Also references the old ticketmaster vs ticet.com case that held up deep linking. It's all funny 'cuz its true.
Their page could also use some testing since it doesn't render in my browser.
That is one horrible flash intro at KPMG. No wonder they want people to get permission to link to it.
--- Think of it as evolution in action ---
I'd understand if people were linking images via img src and clogging up their bandwidth, but simple text links to their site that don't waste any of their bw seems quite stupid.
[Got Hosting?]
--Chag
--Chag
It renders in Galeon (and the music plays.. sad). But it sure is ugly and I doubt it renders the way it's supposed to.
I've wrestled with reality for 35 years and I'm happy to say, I finally won out - Elwood P. Dowd
Dibs on the use of the word "idiot" in this feedback section! If any of you guys use it without my express written permission (and that of Major League Baseball), you'll be hearing from my lawyers!
------
Let me give you the lowdown
Oops I did it again!
Damnit!
this was up on wired.com earlier this morning.
I don't think they're upset about people linking to KPMG.com as much as they're upset about people deep linking to idiotic things they've published. That might actually get under their skin.
That's pretty entertaining stuff!
:)
Wait did you hear that?? That was the sound of a few million eyes rolling!
If they don't want people linking then they'll just have to password protect their site or something...oh wait that makes it hard for people to get there doesn't it?
Hehe funny stuff anyways.
Just seemed ironic that /. linked to a site in order to break the news that a site prohibits linking to it.
There is no reasonable defense against an idiot with an agenda
:wq
Let the slashdotting begin!
--
Some weasel took the cork out of my lunch.
Yeah the last reason anyone puts up a website is because they want traffic to it. What were they thinking?
This space available at a low monthly rate...
If they don't want people linking to their website, just block all referrers. Mind you, it might be a bit difficult to get to their website, but rules are rules!
Wouldn't this be like hindering freedom of the press or something? That's like saying, "If you use our name in daily conversation, we'll sue you." Its almost as bad as companies trying to sue people because they give their products a bad review.
Job? I don't have time to get a job! Who will sit around and bitch about being broke and unemployed then?
I know these folks; they used to accidentally send emails intended for The Economist to me all the time.
Much more fun than all the Rush Limbaugh emails I used to get; these would have secret details of stuff days or weeks before it was due to be released by the press.
they asked to be informed of linkers... now you (presumably) didn't inform them that you would be sending the Slashdot Horde their way.
now they're down. what conclusion will they draw from this episode?
The Flash animation wouldn't let me leave the site. That's not nice.
Works fine in mine. Perhaps you ought to try using a modern browser?
Okay... so here's what I don't get... the company's policy clearly says "KPMG is obligated to protect its reputation and trademarks and KPMG reserves the right to request removal of any link to our website."
So what do they think? EVERYONE that they request to remove a link is going too. If they want to try to use this stupid policy to "enforce" something (what, I'm still not quite sure) then at least word it properly. In the form of "we request the right to force you to remove a link to our site." Not that either policy actually means anything.
I reserve the right to request you to remove any silver type jewerly while visitng my website.
that you ask permission before sending email to my inbox - or I'll sue!
try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
Use client executed Javascript to generate the link. Then you're not linking to their page, the people browsing your site are linking to their page.
What do you expect from a company that hires people based on GPA and status of college? All of the major consulting companies, Bain, McKinsey, PWC, et al, they won't even interview you if your SAT scores, GPA, and College aren't "top notch." It is pretty sad, as if this is really a measurement of ability. These companies don't like anyone to be individual or think outside the box and it shows in their draconian policies.
--Jon
The following web link activities are explicitly prohibited by KPMG and may present trademark and copyright infringement issues:
Links that involve unauthorized use of our logo
Framing, inline links or metatags
Hyperlinks or a form of link that disguises the URL and bypass the homepage
For further statements and representations regarding the information provided on this site, please review the "Privacy Statement."
This is a brilliant bit of viral marketing. Never heard of them 3 days ago and now they've been on FCompany and Slashdot. They are number 2 on the blogdex.
Watching Cowboy Bebop in my jammies, eating a bowl of Shreddies.
This is a company that I know _I_ have not heard of. Need instant public recognition that would require a multimillion dollar marketing budget? Send a letter to a kid asking the rediculus, and let Wired and the Slashdot affect put your company in popular mindset's as the Dancing Baby and 'All Your Base' quotes...
It's a shame about their website. There's a shockwave intro, that repeats...and repeats...and has a 'Skip Intro' button that causes the shockwave to repeat...and repeat. Boy, KPMG is about to have multi million hits over the next hours, and they have nothing to show the visitors except that silly themes song....
Toodles D. Clown
If my boss gave me the choice between singing that song and sodomizing myself with a baseball bat dipped in a paste of ground glass and 5-minute epoxy, I'd ask him for a map to the nearest Home Depot.
Will Slashdot have to remove thier links as well?
By creating this scandal, they'll cash in on the hoopla big time. What's everyone doing? Linking to them, giving them free press and promo.
Guess they're paid the big bucks for a reason eh?
My poetry site welcomes the unusual.
Clearly this is just a clever ploy to get tons of people to link to them. Look how many people have taken the bait so far!
If Current Trends Continue(tm), it's only a matter of time before they're at the top of the results for every google search.
Hahahahaha haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! hahahaha! Teeeeeheeee! Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! hahahahhahahahahahahha! Oh my goodness, that is some funny stuff! haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Oh oh oh! Hehehehe! I'm crying here! Sniff, sniff. Hahahahahahahahaha!
2) Bookmarking my website.
3) The eating hamburgers on Thursdays.
Offenders will be hearing from my legal council.
Mmmmmmm. Floor pie!
I read this earlier today in Wired and had to wonder if this wasn't all a means of advertising through reverse psychology. Tell some geeks they can't do something that obviously anyone can do and they will do exactly the opposite.
And in the process this company gets a huge number of free links from just about everywhere. How many companies would not like to have their website linked everywhere?
Are KPMG saying that if a site other than the KPMG site links to KPMG then KPMG might sue them? I wonder how much KPMG would demand for each infringing link to KPMG from a non-KPMG site to the KPMG web site at http://www.kpmg.com?
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
The best way to increase sales of a record that you don't want your kids to hear is to tell them they aren't allowed to buy it.
So maybe KPMG is intentionally driving traffic to their site.
JesusGeeks has this hours ago! :)
KPMG doesn't want us to link to KPMG? That seems absurd! What if I want to link to KPMG? I should be able to link to KPMG if I want to! In fact, I will make use of that privelige right now!
KPMG
KPMG
KPMG
KPMG
KPMG
KPMG
KPMG
The anti-salmon
Talking about being anal...........
In horrible, geriatric, why-does-anyone-still-use-it Netscape 4.77, the only thing I see on that site is a little blue square. I'm guessing the actual content isn't much more interesting.
- A.P.
"Remember when the U.S. had a drug problem, and then we declared a War On Drugs, and now you can't buy drugs anymore?"
If they are using ASP, they obviously don't "get" this whole "internet" thing.
Saint Waldo - May be trolling, but now I'm rolling.
It seems that they are not too busy enforcing it internally. Their main site has a robots.txt file.
--
# everyone go away
User-agent: *
Disallow: /
--
But "local" sites in other countries like Canada does not seem to have any not even meta-tags.
I'd say that this is one thing you should have in the clear before you bring out the big guns.
Here's the problem (from the source code):
(c) 2000, Razorfish, Inc. all rights reserved.
Learn to write HTML you losers!!!
Moderators need an additional choice: "Karma Whore" for people who cut-and-paste articles as their comments!
If all this should have a reason, we would be the last to know.
I'm trying to remember from when I last listened to it: here goes anyway:-
We're KPMG, We're strong as can be
Something, Something
And our visions of global strategy...
Anyone know all the words? (I don't have the mp3 here right now)
*** I am the real stylewagon
I've got the KPMG theme song stuck in my head now!Stupid, stupid links! ARRRGGGHHH!!!
- Bill
Thought experiments for my web hypothetical kpmgsucks.com web site (someone owns it already):
- A link to KPMG that displays only if you're coming in from a kpmg.com (oops!) address. (I'd love to hear the conversation between KPMG and its outside corporate counsel on that one.)
- A link to KPMG that shows up on 0.1% of all page views, randomly.
- A GIF that looks like a blue, underlined link to kpmg.com (oops!)
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q= link:http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ekpmg%2Ecom%2F
2800?
YES, there is a McDonald's in Hanoi Square.
Give my buddy Declan McCullaghalala his credit for breaking the story first.
So /. is recycling news from wired who
recycles it from fuckedcompany.com...sigh.
/. stories are posted elsewhere. Since ./ doesn't employ reporters (at least that I know of), its really hard to go out and find news that isn't from somewhere else or that wasn't published first.
I would like to point out that 99% of
The site renders extremely badly on Galeon... (And it's about as bad with Netscape 4.7 and Konqueror, albeit in different ways...)
Maybe they want nobody to link to it so that nobody knows that it's there?
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
They might have a good reason, but not a good case. The article states that the offending web site "has not been especially nice to KPMG." I think that any company hates web sites that ruin their good name (or bad name as the case may be).
I really don't think that they have any legal grounds for forcing the link removal, but it never hurts to ask.
if they have written agreements with Google, Altavista, and the other search engines. If not, perhaps their name should be removed from the engine.
Same with the phone books...
"Make it ten--I am only a poor corrupt official."
--Captain Louis Renault (Claude Rains), Casablanca
I hope they do know that many search engines rely on linking to sites: it actually means they want to be an island in the middle of the internet...
Ahhh...the great dumpster continuum. Many a free computer will be found there. -- sowth (748135)
I think every search engine should pull them from their database, until they've got a mutually signed agreement with them.
Shop smart, Shop S-Mart.
Well Slashdot just linked to there home page. I wonder if they will go after them?
Snoozer.
The next you know, companies are gonna have policies that forbid browsing to the company websites. So instead of having software/hardware firewalls, they will only have legal firewalls, suing each and every person breaking their policy.
Oh yeah, I have the feeling that we will see a lot of Legal Firewalls in the future.
I just wonder how anyone can even refer to this Web Policy with a straig face...
Oh, I can't help quoting you because everything that you said rings true
It won't be long before /. gets a nastygram, especially when they see the traffic volume generated by links from here! I'm taking the under on 4 days...
----
WWJD...For a Klondike Bar?
This will not be a laughing matter in five years. The 2600 DeCSS linking case ruled it is illegal to even link to illegal sites. It's only a matter of time before KPMG's attitudes become de facto.
[begin obligatory slashdot rant] This is truly a bizarre turn of evens as this ruling raises some fundamental questions about intellectual property rights and free speech on the Internet. You would think it is legal to link to a page against the author's permission. You would also think the likes of Madonna and Julia Roberts couldn't steal registered domains containing their names. All of these have been called into doubt as we descend down this slippery slope.
The corporate chokehold on individual freedoms needs greater vigilance. If you asked someone twenty years ago what they thought of random drug testing, stealth eavesdropping techniques, etc., you would probably get a much more appalled response than you would today. What are we in danger of not being appalled about twenty years from now?
More sites on this topic, esp. 46-49 of this ruling.
The letter and response are here.
The full story is here.
HTH
marty
"I can't buy want I want because it's free. Can't be what they want because I'm me." -Corduroy, Pearl Jam
To me, it sounds more like a lame telephone loop that companies use to torture people on hold. (A friend of mine composes non-lethal telephone songs. Contact me if your company needs better phone loop music.)
So, does anybody know where this song originated?
Is this just a telephone "hold the line" theme or are KPMG employees required to sing a long to this piece every morning?
------------------
You may like my a cappella music
Running their page through the w3c's HTML validator return the following reponse...
I got the following unexpected response when trying to retrieve http://www.kpmg.com/index.html: 302 Object moved
Please make sure you have entered the URI correctly.
[Valid HTML 4.01!] Gerald Oskoboiny
strange...Last modified: Date: 2001/09/14 04:13:13
I love the part where the guy writes back:
my own organization's Web link policy requires no such formal agreement
Way to beat 'em at their own game!
Yeah, when I posted this story at 9am (when it was actually still fresh) I suggested the site deserved a slashdotting... now i wonder how long it will be legal to do that. I'm suprised slashdot hasn't been cited for bring down sites before. I guess it's just not a lasting effect.
Do they have DeCSS source code on their front page or something? They should embed some of it in their metatags; then if the pesky other parties refuse to cease and desist their nefarious linking ways, they can just have law enforcement step in and take care of business.
Easy does it!
This comment has been submitted already, 276865 hours , 59 minutes ago. No need to try again.
But this is one of the largest accounting/consulting firms in the world. They don't need tricks like this to advertise. The negative press they're going to get off of it is much worse because it discredits them. Despite this stupid move, KPMG is actually very reputable and is great company to work for.
Advertising and quality of company issues aside, I'm trying to determine whether which is funnier, this request about links or the silly legal statement they append to every e-mail sent from kpmg mail servers:
The information in this email is confidential and may be legally privileged. It is intended solely for the addressee. Access to this email by anyone else is unauthorized.
If you are not the intended recipient, any disclosure, copying, distribution or any action taken or omitted to be taken in reliance on it, is prohibited and may be unlawful. When addressed to our clients any opinions or advice contained in this email are subject to the terms and conditions expressed in the governing KPMG client engagement letter.
when others who run their own weblogs saw the item, they decided to have a little fun with KPMG. They linked to KPMG's site -- just like this -- to see what the company could do about it. Within a day of Raettig's posting, several dozen sites were linking to KPMG's front page
So all I have to do to get people to link to my site and generate tons of traffic is forbid people from linking to my site?
yeah, they don't want too many people going to their site... so they get /.'d by /., wired, and everyone else who reads this :)
Runnin' On Empty
Here's a link to the company that built the site for Razorfish.
*link via camworld
*** I am the real stylewagon
Ugh.
"We assure you that this hideous flash is a pox upon society"
I wonder if http://www.kpmg.com/?#define%20m(i)(x[i]^s[i+84])y )c+=y=i^i/8^i>>4^i>>12,i=i>>8^y& gt;14,y=a^a*8^a>8^y/n."[k>>4]*2^k*257/8,s [j]=k^(k&k*2&34)*6^c+~y;}} would be an illegal hyperlink... Yep, that's DeCSS...
ok then your [sic] infringing on my copyright! Could you as [sic] me next time before STEALING my comments for your own?
KPMG Morale and Puffery Manager - Alright, guys, that sounds really positive and great, we'll send you the check in the mail.
...
...
...
(leaves, whistling that godawful song)
Producer - Man, I'm glad that's over.
Studio musicians - Yeah, man. Dig it. Lame gig.
Studio owner - I've been listening to these backwards
Producer - Well, I
Studio owner - You've got Price Waterhouse's human resources department's number backward masked on the first verse. I hope they don't find out
Producer - I couldn't resist. Hours and hours of listening to that damn song! I'm only human, damn it!
I'm putting a link to KPMG side by side with a link to goatse.
I bet they even submitted the link themselves ...
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
"We easily sent hundreds of these letters over the past year," he said. Indeed, he wondered why this was considered newsworthy at all, as "many organizations do this."
/.? Or me? Whatever. so there!, and there!, and there!
And many organizations are freaking retarded too.
<cluestick>
Hello! When people link to you its like free advertising... hmmm maybe if we allow people to link to our site they might actually find it.
</cluestick>
What are they going to do now? Sue Google? Or
(That was very therapetic)
The Anti-Blog
I have a friend who used to work for the same company as myself. He had links to their web-site and to the sites of clients for whom he had done stellar design work as part of his online resume. The company demanded that he remove these links.
Why? Ostensibly because "too many hits are coming from your page, buddy!" But perhaps it's really because his personal page advocates veganism, or perhaps because he's a photographer who had done some same-sex weddings. Who knows?
The point is, telling people not to link to your site is just plain stupid and unreasonable, and frankly borders on unethical. May they drown in their stupid-karma!
-- thinkyhead software and media
2001-12-06 19:18:47 You Cant Link To Our Site (yro,news) (rejected)
The One Rule Of Chess You'll Ever Need: Don't play someone who carries a kit in their bookbag.
Several friends that are undergrads are going through recruiting. Because of the economy, the recruiting levels are lower. They were worried that if they took an "inferior" job, they couldn't recruit their next year.
Apparently the consulting firms only want to hire people that fit in a small pigeonhole. They want you to pay them boatloads of money to be advised by people that were chosen because:
1) They had no useful knowledge/experience
2) They fit a small description, people that focused on grades at the expense of everything else
I don't know, but if I was the 55 year old CEO of a company looking to hire consultants, I wouldn't want to be spending $1500/day for some kid straight out of school that has never done anything...
Alex
It was posted on Slashdot and PoliTech last month.
Long story short:
Michael Fraase receives unsolicited e-mail of a commercial nature (sender claimed that since he added "unsubscribe" information, it wasn't Spam at all-- you decide).
Fraase responds, saying that any more e-mail to his domain will constitute acceptance of his contract conditions. Contract conditions basically require that the spammer pay Fraase $1250 if he doesn't stop spamming Fraase's address. This is spelled out very clearly in Fraase's e-mail.
Spammer told him to fuck off, didn't stop sending e-mails, and Fraase billed him for every e-mail. Fraase then placed the whole story (transcripts and everything) on his website, calling the article "Fun with Spammers".
Two months later, spammer threatened legal action if Fraase didn't take down the website, claiming that Fraase was slandering him. Of course, the website is still up (the address has changed, content remains). No further threats seem to be coming...
Poor spammer-- he still owes $2500...
The Lamest Disclaimer on the Net ?
Haha! You've got to listen to that theme song. It reminds me of the Miss America theme song. hahahaha
I am just finishing up a Communications Law class and in just about every realm, with the exception of campaign contributions, speech=speech. Especially since the constitution has many times been interpreted as considering corporations to be "almost individuals", granting them first amendment rights.
El Karma: excelente(principalmente la suma de moderación hecha a los comentarios de los usuarios)
So its their policy, so what? It's not a contract, what binds anyone to abide by it? They can't do anything about it if he links to them, not to mention the free speech implications. This was just a lame attempt to shut off some bad press and ironically they're getting tons of attention for doing it. Perhaps that affect is the intention.
how stupid... that's all I have to say. thanks for reading my post
They took the "HT" out of HTML.
"Don't even think about it," said a sinister voice.
"Who is this?" I asked, frightened.
"Never mind," said the man. "Just think of how it would be a shame to find some management consultants in your cubicle when you show up at work tomorrow, shaking their heads sadly and holding out a cardboard box with your possessions."
Carousel is a lie!
Well their page is definitely not usable with images turned off. You'd think Razorfish people would know to at least use alt tags.
Most people would die sooner than think; in fact, they do.
Do they not want anyone to find them...? Do they keep their phone numbers and address unlisted?
Also, how does linking to them in any way effect their brand name? That just doesn't make any sense? And this is an e-commerce company right (couldn't get their page to load)... if all e-commerce compaines are this savy, then that pretty much explains the dot-com bust!
Ben
...need I say more. Although, I'm not surprised to see such a huge display of "dumbass" from a company like KPMG. A good buddy of mine used to work for them. Apparently, they're just eat up with "dumbass".
http://www.JournalOfTheRandom.com
Bah. The concept of a scoop is as dead as a dead tree, so to speak. Noone gets an exclusive anymore. News is news. It's instantaneous, it's worldwide, and it's (still) free. Sadly, I suspect the management here has been asked by several networks to stop their repostings, if for no other reason than the slashdot affect.
After listening to that ridiculous POS (and wondering how much shareholder money was dumped into that crud) I decided to do my part and put the MP3 in my Morpheus Shared Folder. Enjoy! (And take that, KPMG! "KPMG/We're strong as can be/A dream of power and energy/We go for the goal/Together we hold/On to our vision of global strategy..." Yuck!)
sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.
Looks like they went down. Heh. I wonder what they are going to tell their clients about scalability and load balancing now :)
-Jeff
-Vercingetorix
"Necessitas non habet legem." -St. Augustine
Pure arrogance.
--
Evan
"$30 for the One True Ring. $10 each additional ring!" -- JRR "Bob" Tolkien
Y dont u read BBspot in the morning and get these stories alot earlier
"All I can tell the "lesser of two evils" folks is that if they keep voting for evil, they'll keep getting evil."-Lp.org
someone said they got the page to render in a mozilla-based browser, but all I get in mozilla are bunch of blue boxes (since, of course, you can't do flash in mozilla)
Anyone else having problems rendering it in mozilla?
Their page could also use some testing since it doesn't render in my browser.
Also, they're ugly.
Waldo Jaquith
Chris, the guy who got the email from KPMG and who owns the raettig.org domain, also rather graciously hosts my mail and webserver. From the end of his bed, of course, sitting on the end of a t1 line. Now, when this story broke on Tuesday on FuckedCompany, Metafilter and a few of the more well-known weblogs, we all thought it was rather amusing (and still do, really). On the other hand, it meant that the t1 got saturated pretty quickly.
This morning, when the Wired article appeared, I bet him it wasn't going to be more than 24 hours before his box got slashdotted. Needless to say, five minutes ago I tried checking my mail and was surprised that nothing at all was happening. Quick brainwave: check slashdot. And there the box is. Excellent explanation!
Oh, and anyway, one of these links is obligatory...
http://danhon.com/
I love a good minute long flash intro. I wish more pages would do this. It really enhances the feel of the site.
THIS SPACE FOR RENT
Hey Taco, I hope you followed Linus's example and filed a bug report with KDE.
A journey of a thousand miles starts with a brutal anal raping at airport security
A mirror of the letter and response is here.
A mirror of the full story is here.
HTH
marty
"I can't buy want I want because it's free. Can't be what they want because I'm me." -Corduroy, Pearl Jam
Emerging Legal Guidance on 'Deep Linking' By Margaret Smith Kubiszyn
Sig: What Happened To The Censorware Project (censorware.org)
I forbid anyone from linking to this site. Anyone found linking to it will be harshely spoken too and requested they remove their link.
Wonder how long until the site is #1 on the internet. What great marketting.
The universe is held together with duct tape and karma. What goes around, comes around, and gets stuck to your forehead.
Boy, is KPMG [kmpg.com]'s theme song lame.
and then some.
I've been trying to find the Jungle and Hard Rock versions (or any other variants for that matter). The Corporate Anthems site http://www.corporateanthems.raettig.org/ has had to remove them due to demand, and the P2P networks (strangely!) don't seem to be much help. Anyone got any links?
Actually it is rocket science...
Error:
Here is the policy section from their disclaimer page.
...
The following web link activities are explicitly prohibited by KPMG and may present trademark and copyright infringement issues:
Links that involve unauthorized use of our logo
Framing, inline links or metatags
Hyperlinks or a form of link that disguises the URL and bypass the homepage
...
THIS SPACE FOR RENT
Well, I never heard of them either. I don't know if this is good marketing: don't forget it gives them a *negative* image...at least for the web-savvy people.
This was also reported on FuckedCompany a few days ago. An interesting discussion went along with it.
*Condense fact from the vapor of nuance*
Don't want people linking to your site? Fine. Then don't let them. When the webserver gets an HTTP GET request, check the referrer address. If its not coming from a "proper" link, then simply refuse to serve the page. No need to fuss about improper links. They simply won't work. And you'll be MORE than capable of keeping all those potential customers OFF your website. Who really wants customers anyways? All they do is provide you with more work to do. :)
-Restil
Play with my webcams and lights here
REverse the URL's
So /. is recycling news from wired who
recycles it from fuckedcompany.com...sigh.
Uhh.. hello.. welcome to slashdot.org, I can see it's your first time here.. it's a weblog.. not a news reporting agency.. Not sure if you noticed this or not, but slashdot almost never (if ever) 'breaks' a story.. all they do is post links to relevant stories accross the net... you see.. the concept behind slashdot is thousands of people read the crap news that's out there and submit the relevant pieces to the editor's of slashdot, who then sort through them and give us the best of the best (well.. they at least try)..
It works because those of us who read slashdot don't want to read all the millions of stories out there just to get to the few things that interest us.. so instead, we let the editor's sort through the crap to give us the few interesting tidbits..
I hope you enjoy your stay.. ohh.. and *sigh* right back at ya...
I thought someone said there was going to be free beer!
Here's a little gem I found in there:
They also block Netscape 6.0/6.1 based on user-agent headers
That's paranoia at it's best. What do they plan to do about engines like Google, Yahoo, etc.? What about news released about their company? How about those financial reports that their drones put out and link back to their site for more info???? Ugh.
As the articles points out, KPMG has only gotten themselves into this embarrassing situation because they were unhappy about people making fun of another embarrassing situation: The KPMG Theme Song! It explains their power, strength, and global strategy (which must include really bad music).
(heres the akamai link to the mp3)
___
The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason. --Ben Franklin
Wish the Goatsee guys would think the KPMG policy is a good idea and enforce it.
Help fight continental drift.
"It's a weird mix of corp-speak and Slashdot grammer."
Now you've done it! Surely they'll be mad at you for saying their grammar is like Slashdot's.
Their spelling is better than Slashdot spelling, however.
Bush's education improvements were
I particulary like the line
Geesh
It's 11pm, do you know what your deamons are up to?
I'll start.
Slashdot is not responsible for any comments posted. So Taco can't get nailed for your link or mine
In 1997, there was a legal case about how the Shetland Times was unhappy about the Shetland News linking to its site. I believe that KPMG is a UK-registered company (my browser doesn't render their site either), and although Scottish law has significant differences to English law, I'd be surprised if a court would find in KPMG's favour (should KPMG push the point). The Shetland case was considered a landmark case at the time, and revolved around our old friend, copyright law. As such, it may be that KPMG are trying to make a different point, but I think they're going to have difficulties if they push this one.
That would be interesting though. Besides the various katz rants what does slashdot offer besides being a forum? I would certainly enjoy a more professional journalistic bent from slashdot but can we trust them to be at all objective?
An Education is the Font of All Liberty
You can't link here: http://consultutah.com
Or here: http://mydentalcard.com
So There!
I do everything the voices in my head tell me to...
> (c) 2000, Razorfish, Inc. all rights reserved.
Am I the only one who finds it ironic that a consluting company (aren't we, in the KPMG world, supposed to hire conslutants when the task is beyond our ability to perform?) has to outsource its own web development?
Can you say "middleman"?
And what's with that Flash piece at the beginning of their website? I keep expecting the Powerpuff Girls to Zoom in from the left...
davejenkins.com |
These clowns' rectums are two sizes too small -- even as far as slimy-green lawyers go.
WARNING: Bored Lawyers on Premises!
--
Power to the Peaceful
If you ain't got Mojo Nixon then your page could use some fixin'...
...in order to have your permission to ask your advice!
P.S. I'm also in a harry :)
Your right to not believe: Americans United for Separation of Church and
I find it hard to believe that making a mockery of yourself on the web does much to "protect the brand." Unless, of course, the brand is based on mindless legalism.
"Let's see, I'm looking for a fast-moving, innovative organization on whom to lavish the extra $10 million in my IT services budget.... I know! How about I give it to a company that protects its brand as a leader in e-business by prohibiting links to its own site? And that commissioned the worst piece of recorded music ever committed to magnetic tape? Now where's my extra-large checkbook...."
http://www.google.com/search?q=link:http://www.kpm g.com&hl=en&filter=0&num=100&safe=off ;)
OK, let me see now:
1. linking a company's website (standard link):
totally bogus claim by KPMG - serves them right for our reaction.
2. linking deep into a company's website (deep link): totally bogus claim by KPMG - serves them right for our reaction.
3. storing the company song on your own website - ok, sorry guys, this is piracy. It's their song, it's even copyright, they can ask you to remove it. But they can't stop you from linking to it, just storing it on your website.
-
--- Will in Seattle - What are you doing to fight the War?
(NOTE: Others not using Netscape 6.1 might not see the error message I saw when they click on the above link. I haven't tested it, and am not sure how they have their site setup.)
I tend to be a bit technological-oriented when I look at a company, and how well their website is done gives me a good impression of:
It's bad enough they won't want people linking to their site. God forbid it should get them some new business! Watch out, nobody better send them a letter in the mail, or they might come and getcha!
And they said zombies weren't real!
...require you to have JavaScript enabled or all you get is a blank page. JavaScript should enhance the site, not be manditory to see it. I'm sorry to say I won't be clogging their bandwidth, I'm not going to turn JavaScript on just for that!
http://www.kpmg.com/
--Manuel
"I hate quotations, tell me what you think"
Yeah, and the funny part is, if you read the guy's posts, you'll see he's bothered by the bandwidth drain since he's received so much media attention.
/."
When I saw it on fuckedcompany a few days ago I thought: "Gee, and he's bummed about the hits he's getting and the drain on his server(s) now...(both of which died at one point)...wait til this story hits
And for the record, if we don't want to link to kpmg.com, why not register kpmg-sucks.com or kpmg-sues.com, or kpmgsux.com, all of which are available at the moment. kpmgsucks.com is already taken, but has no content yet...hmm. Perhaps the guy who owns that domain was/is an employee who had to sing that anthem too many times (i.e., once).
Frankly it's genius... what BETTER way could you get a bunch of obnoxious bastards to do your bidding and drive traffic to your site?
Here's their stance on web visitors.
my ears have been raped by that damn song
Problem is, you're increasing the search engine scores when people search for KMPG.
Instead, we should be making them show up at the top of the list for more interesting things like goatfuckers, child porn, or just corporate fraud.
Forward, retransmit, or republish anything I say here. Just don't misquote me.
I work at KPMG Consulting; there really is a bizarre lifestyle here. I do LOVE the theme song. It was available on one of our international intranet sites; one of the more hip netherlandic teams had it commissioned as part of their morale-building exercises.
It worked, actually; everyone in the company has laughed about that for the past year. I guess it was only a matter of time before we got publicly ridiculed because of it. I wonder if it was leaked for publicity? Hmmmmm...
-sk
KPMG is a ridiculous company. The other Big 5 firms usually snicker at them under their breath. I don't know how many times the firm I used to work for were called in to clean up a KPMG mess..
'mmmmmmmmm.... forbidden donut'
[ oops ]
...I'm remixing it right now using Sonic Foundry Acid Pro!
I must say, the speed-metal riffs sure make a difference.
I saw links on kpmg under "help" to www.microsoft.com and www.netscape.com... you suppose they made agreements with them before linking to their sites?
Read all about it here. It is extremely funny.
-Matt
Check out this interesting article on timesdispatch.com (sorry, it's only available in the google cache):
Oct 24, 2001
Auditor to pay $9 million in fraud suit against HCA
WASHINGTON - KPMG LLP, an auditing firm that worked for HCA Inc. in the 1990s, agreed to pay more than $9 million to end a lawsuit related to a Medicare fraud case against the hospital chain, the government said.
The settlement resolves civil allegations that KPMG helped HCA keep a false set of reports that exaggerated claims HCA filed to get reimbursement from the government health insurance.
But George Ledwith, a KPMG spokesman, insisted the company wasn't trying to harass anyone, and was just "protecting its brand."
If they want to "protect their brand", I would suggest that they start by firing Mr. Ledwith and the lawyers who sent out the threatening letters, as they are obviously sullying KPMG's reputation as a 'internet-savvy' company.
If 29,000 nerds contact their lawyers by email and ask for an agreement to link to their website, then haggle about terms for a while, etc, etc, this policy will get really expensive. It might be a good idea, but they might have to lay off a few more partners to pay for it.
http://www.despair.com/consulting.html
'nuff said.
With reasonable men I will reason; with humane men I will plead; but to tyrants I will give no quarter. -- William Lloyd
You would think that for a pop rock radio station KPMG would have a better theme song.
(btw people east of the Mississippi might not get this pun)
Hate E-commerce?
IIRC even Google would prefer you to link to them in a method acceptable to them and everyone knows slashdotters love Google so much that if their offices were next door they would bring the staff hot coffee and doughnuts everyday.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
KPMG: Please do not link to our website.
HAH! I wonder if CmdrTaco is going to recieve a cease & desist letter? Watch yo bad self, Rob!
Seriously, the irony here is just to much. How does it affect them in any way except more traffic for their site == more exposure + more banner ad revenue. And unless someone is using KPMG's equipment to host that link, they don't have to agree to jack shit. I propose a new theme song:
K-P-M-G!
We're out of touch with reality!
We have a website we don't want you to see.
If you link to us we're gonna break your knees!
It's all a part of our global stradegy...
CAn'T CompreHend SARcaSm?
That would be KPMG Consulting, not KPMG. (Two different companies).
That a site that doesn't want to be linked to without permission would write their page to be non-renderable in a browser that is not of their choice...IE. They have just bought into the "standard" set forward by a certain company that prides itself in setting "standards".
We made up the right to ask people to take away links to our site.
Boy, Dionne Warwick must have it bad. She's gone from "That's What Friends Are For" to singing the KPMG theme song. And I thought she was dead.
I'm against picketing, but I don't know how to show it.
The site www.kpmg.com is running Microsoft-IIS/4.0 on NT4/Windows 98.
But that's not the most interesting part. But rather... The IP and its netblock is:
192.208.44.134 - Digital Equipment Corporation
Has the netblock ownership changed, or is Compaq hosting this site?
________________________________________________
suwain_2
To really annoy these prissy companies that make their money by shoving banners and screen-wide ads down 28bps users' throats, create a script on your page which links to their page, extracts the useful text your interested in showing your viewers, places it in a box (with attributions) and removes all ads and unnecessary graphics as you deem. Better yet, create a script which logs automatically into a pay-for-subscription service (but without revealing the password).
social sciences can never use experience to verify their statemen
There's a lot of information about KPMG and medicaid/medicare fraud. They claim they're innocent, but they paid $9,000,000 rather then allow the case to come to trial.
According to an article in the Orlando Business Journal,
The lawsuit alleges KPMG made false statements in Basic American's Medicare home office cost statements for fiscal years 1990 and 1991. It contends KPMG knew it was making inaccurate repayment claims for its clients' facilities and hid mistakes from government auditors so the hospitals could keep Medicare funds.
It further asserts KPMG drew up "reserve" cost reports to estimate the impact on the hospitals' reimbursement if the claims were discovered during a Medicare audit. In both the "reserve" and "filed" reports, the lawsuit said KPMG detailed which expenses and allocations weren't allowed and suggested the hospitals put aside funding in case the alleged false claims were discovered.
Hey, whats the Slashdot theme song?
slashdot almost never (if ever) 'breaks' a story
And yet, you can still find out about more stories here, quicker, because of the vast group of people posting links, and the absurdly efficient group of people who approve them. It amazes me how many things I see on slashdot before I heard about them anywhere else.
This particular story is an exception, but only because I work at KPMG Consulting (but maybe not for long after this!?!).
Jeez. That's a lot of contracts...
"I don't trust goats," --To Catch a Spy
I think the've never recovered the corporate pysche since then...so now they have a sappy "world domination" theme song and a penchant for attacking little people.
And with Arthur Anderson left holding the bag that was Enron...sheesh...who trusts the Big 5?
-- @rjamestaylor on Ello
If the original theme song starts to not make you ROTFL anymore you gotta hit up the jungle remix!
One thing you seem to be missing: Slashdot has never been about "objective reporting" or "professional jouranlism". It's News for Nerds. The very idea of Slashdot is a forum where 99% of the crap on other sites is filtered, leaving us with stuff Nerds would presumably care about.
I'd like to know what legal ground you would stand on if you claimed you didn't have a javascript-capable browser, or had disabled scripting (this isn't a rare thing - 12% of users according to thecounter), and therefore could not read their disclaimer page. A lot of websites use scripted popups to open such legal things (and more important ones too than this garbage).
Better yet, KPMG theme song remixes!
the jungle remix
the hard-rock remix
There's also a teutonic remix out there somewhere, somebody want to provide a link?
Don't KPMG's lyrics belong in a KMFDM song? The short puncuated lines might work well in "Drug Against War" though the inclusion of longer lines goes along better with "Sucks" (plus the altered line "NO DOUBT ABOUT IT KPMG SUCKS" is so true). Look at this comparison:
KPMG "Theme Song":
WE GO FOR THE GOLD
TOGETHER WE HOLD
ON TO OUR VISION OF GLOBAL STRATEGY
KMFDM "Sucks":
WHATEVER WE TELL 'YA
IS MEANT TO BE CRAP
WE HATE ALL MUSIC AND ESPECIALLY RAP
I'm thinking someone needs to put the KMPG theme song to Industrial.
If you're going to go, make some noise on your way out.
I like to play children's songs in minor keys.
"We're all sons of bitches now." --J. Robert Oppenheimer
Does this issue pertain to all the websites out there that are "not link free". I did a google search for "not link free", and came up with 465 hits. Maybe it's just my imagination, but a large number of those seem to be Japanese sites. Any idea why?
I can see why KPMG doesn't want anybody to link to their site without their permission... Anybody see how crummy the page looks? Yeah, I agree with KPMG: they'll probably tell people to stop linking to their page until they make it look good.
PS! It is against MY policy to receive ANY correspondence from KPMG.
GOOD GOING!
The render is REALLY MANGLED with Opera 5. What kind of dumbass company helps clients harness the Internet'' but can't even write web-standards-compliant html?
And a consultant is some guy that will tell you (for a large fee) 1000 ways to make love to a woman, but has never even had a girlfriend.
People in the dotcom era made more than their parents and at a younger age. But what was that money able to buy them relative to the times? In the not too distant past, ordinary people with ordinary jobs had the ability to raise, clothe, shelter, and feed their families in decent neighborhoods with decent schools and still have a little left over to save for their children's college and their own retirement. Life wasn't glamorous, but it was very livable.
Today, we have a criminal concentration of wealth in the hands of the few and a government of the highest bidder, that can pass a billion dollar bailout of the airlines in a heartbeat while it takes untold weeks to begin debate on economic stimulus for the heart of this nation, the regular, tax-paying working person. We have crippling consumer debt indenturing a generation of people and their children to the wealthy because the jobs available, both blue and increasing 'white' collar, pay so poorly that they barely cover the basic necessities. We used to build fine and beautiful public schools of brick and brass and now all we can afford are claptrap trailers and ancient textbooks. War profiteering... It would be very easy to go on and on...
THink about it. It you want massive hits to your website, can you think of any better way than to get slashdot to say you forbid links--with the inevitable "defiant" link? . . .
hawk
Did anyone actually read the entire article? I have pasted the most important paragraph below: [i]The policy he refers to -- posted on the company's website -- states, "KPMG is obligated to protect its reputation and trademarks and KPMG reserves the right to request removal of any link to our website." [/i] The key word is [b]request[/b]. They are not demanding the links be removed without the agreement signed. A homeless man can request a dollar from me. I can say 'No'. So really, what's all the hub-bub about?
'mmmmmmmmm.... forbidden donut'
Theme song for a law and finance firm... Did these guys really go to law school or did they just watch a lot of Ally McBeal?
slashdot used to be a quick source for technical news. Now it's rare to find technology news that isn't in the prior day's Wall Street Journal . . .
hawk
Maybe this is the answer for the RIAA. Don't release crippled CDs that include copy-prevention measures. Release music that no one wants to copy. I bet that the KPMG theme song was not traded on Napster or any other P2P music trading service. MP3.com probably never posted a pirated copy of it.
Maybe the RIAA could consult with KPMG about how to produce music that no one will try to pirate.
A long, long, time ago I worked for Peat Marwick Mitchell & Co. in Atlanta as a CPA at the time of the merger that created KPMG, and we had a lovely little explanation of what KPMG stood for (when the partners/managers/PHBs werent around):
Kiss Peat Marwick Goodbye
It was also the most stuffy, up-tight place I have ever had the single misfortune of working at.
It looks like it hasn't changed a bit in the last 15 years.
I'm not really a CPA, I just play one on TV
Why do i hear the southpark episode of cartmanland playing?. Eric cartman the financial genius.
"Their page could also use some testing since it doesn't render in my browser."
Your browser could use some work because it doesn't fully support CSS. Don't bitch because your precious (underachieving) Konquerer isn't up to the task of handling things that have been standard for years now. Netscape 6.2 and Mozilla both finally have decent CSS support, use one of those and shut your god damn "if you site doesn't work in my shitty browser, you need to fix it or I'll whine about it in front of the whole world" mouth. How does the saying go? We've upped our standards, so up your.
Dear Mr. KPMD:
I heard that your firm had an excellent reputation for financial services, and I wanted to check out your website for specifics. But I can't find a link to it! Could you please write and tell me how to find your website??
Thanks,
Rob
here's a simple solution for KPMG.
only 'approved' referrors go into a control list. check the referrer on incoming connections, and if there's no match for the list, show a bad referer page.
so, what's the problem again?
One day while walking in downtown San Francisco, I saw a hobo^H^H^H^H, ummm a "homeless person" walking down the sidewalk having an argument with himself about whether or not the theme song from the old "I Dream of Jeannie" TV show had lyrics or not. Well, does it?
Google lists 2800. I guess their lawyers are going to be busy...
The big consulting firms recruit here on campus at Purdue, for engineers and business majors. I've talked to some of the people they send, and they struck me as being arrogant assholes. They might be competent (or not ... was KPMG Enron's accountant?) but not the sort of folks you would want to work with, or hang out with, or be seen in the same room with.
I don't think I could sleep well tonight if i didn't mention the links that pissed Ford off so much that 2600 is now in a lawsuit (big news).
/. 2600
They registered fuckgeneralmotors.com which contains nothing but a single link to ford.com. You can find information about 2600's crusade here.
Just try to
Razorfish has their credits in the homepage source. They should be proud of this client...
My employer's Head WebMaster recently released the newly revised web policy manual that all of the various department webmonkeys have to abide by.
In that manual under the section titled "Linking Policy" is this paragraph:
I haven't yet inquired as to exactly what the intent of such an absurd statement is or how that would be enforced or how the world at large would even be aware of a policy that is (AFAIK)only referenced in a purely internal document posted on our intranet.
Just how many companies have such silly policies?
Perhaps I'll start "linkriot.com" whose sole purpose is to collect the URL's of and link to the sites of such misguided entities.
somebody should go stick that "theme song" up on Gnutella! Tell everybody who has a link on their site to share the theme song out. Hopefully the shame and awfulness of this song will make up fo rhte free advertising they're getting.
- Use their logo
- Use frames
- disguise the real address in the url
They do claim that, "KPMG reserves the right to request removal of any link to our website" but do not claim that you are required to honor their request. So, it appears that they have not read their own policy statement.In a somewhat comical incident, the same thing happened in Finland when the police forces sent a cease-and-desist letter to an association for linking to their main page (and with probably as much foundation in law as in this case).
Well, they may want to be called "advisory company", but they really are just an overpriced consulting firm.
On a more positive note, they haven't changed their name (yet?) to a more bizarre latinish one (like their competitors... "Ace Ventura" or something like that... that is, ex-AsshurtsUnderpants Consulting). Or Pricey - Whorehouse - Poopers.. Have they already changed theirs?
I reserve the right to request a cheeseburger.
I reserve the right to request your rendition of Muskrat Love.
I reserve the right to request sexual favors.
I reserve the right to request we all go bowling!
I reserve the right to request your undying love.
I reserve the right to request SPIDERS! SPIDERS! AAAAGH!
I beg your pardon...
I reserve the right to request a foot massage.
I reserve the right to request a box of peat moss.
I reserve the right to request that you check if my armpits smell.
I reserve the right to request all the dirty pictures on your harddrive.
I reserve the right to request you stop poking me.
I reserve the right to request that every employee of KPMG memorize the names of the Teletubbies.
'In knowledge is power, in wisdom humility.'
See Fucked Company for a slightly livelier discussion on this subject. It was posted there few days ago already... And they um, 'slightly dislike' consultants, too, so it's good laugh for everyone involved! (only thing scummier than a consultant appears to be a head hunter...)
Probably they found out linking is baaaaaaddd ...
...
...especially links on Slashdot to them
--- I am known for the ones who want to find me on the net. Is that a privacy risk or a privilege? One might wonder..
(i'm so sorry.....)
Actually there are 3 types of Linux users, you forgot the people who just buy it and put it on a shelf.
Yes, I am offtopic.
"And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the World"
1 John 4:14
I'll be taking legal action against KPMG for creating such a god damn ugly web site! And as for the theme song, well that's a few million in punitary damages! - "Worst Song Ever".
I wonder if I can download it from KaZza?
* * Always question "the National Interest" - 9 times out of 10 it is a cover for evil
Anybody that goes to court over this should just claim insanity since I'm pretty sure that would put you right off. There's _no_ reason to link to their site Aaarrgh, what are those whitedressed guys doing here?! Keep that shirt away...nooooOO
Their FAQ doesn't even mention the possibility of obtaining formal authorization to link to their site:
We would like to set up a link to your website. What is the process?
KPMG does not authorize links to or from its site.
Boy, now *that's* really demonstrating some savvy!
It looks like KPMG has decided that its online presence represents part of its trademark image and therefore must be defended.
In the US, I believe that the Lanham Act protects registered marks from uses that are likely to confuse consumers. In addition, a trademark MUST be defended (unlike a copyright). In other words, when you become aware that any of your trademarks is being used without your permission, you must defend it, or risk losing that trademark (as it then becomes "common usage").
However, it is a moot point whether or not a domain name can represent a trademark. Here's a long, but useful article that explores some of the issues. The Lanham Act specifically referes to instances where the trademark of one company is used by another in a commercial context. If there is no commerce, trade or transaction context, then the mark can hardly be said to be confused. However, if you claimed on your Web site that "KPMG's financial success was based on the illegal trade of African monkey organs" and linked "KPMG" to their Web site, you might be on shaky ground.
Looking at the policy in more detail, it does attempt to distinguish situations where the use of a hyperlink could be used to confuse the reader (linking out of context, linking to deep URLs).
A policy cannot dictate a binding contract in the real world. The company can "request" that links be removed; I guess this is one step in the defence. I'm guessing that a suitable stage 2 would be to deny access from referring sites that have not complied with such a request. While they could disallow deep-linking quite easily, this would make it a PITA for sites with which they do have policy agreements.
DRM
As somebody who worked for a company that had a "theme song" let me just say: This is the surest sign you should quit that anybody could ever give you. Anytime there's a "song" it's because some corporate wonk made it up to raise everybody's spirits after a management fiasco.
Stock price down 72% from last year? No bonus again this year? Your CEO was given a $20 million golden parachute to resign for his incompetence? Let's all sing!
Who did what now?
of how silly it is when I go into a business and I see that they are selling clothes and accessories with their logo... wait a minute! Shouldn't they be paying me? Or at the very least be giving away that stuff? And then I notice that the price is rather inflated and I am just stunned.
Once again we must chortle heartily at the foolishness of KPMG.
Security through promiscuity is no better than security through obscurity.
http://www.geniusbug.com/articles.php Even though it took about 20 minutes from my morning, it was definitely worth it.
But do they run linux? :)
Now that they have demonstrated that as consultants that would like to be involved with e-commerce they don't have a clue. And further, that as consultants they can't keep their own machine on line under load. Why on God's green earth would anyone hire these idiots? Take it a step farther, if you are a PHB, and you use these fools to cover your six, think again! Yes, Virginia, you can get fired for hiring KPMG. Time to re-evaluate your consultant strategy! Hire some drop out high school hackers
Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes "Who Keeps the Keepers Themselves" ~ Juvenal
lynx -useragent='Mozilla/4.0 (lynx; faked; hahahaha)' http://www.kpmg.com/
After accepting or rejecting the five cookies they offer (one for the initial connection, one for having seen the flash, one for a session id, and some others for who knows what), the page appears, and looks like it was written especially for Lynx! All the images have alt tags, the text formats nicely, it's easy to read..
So now what was all that
Edith Keeler Must Die
Hmm.. I guess cmdrtaco is just going to have to wait until someone creates a flash plugin suitable for terminal/lynx browsing!
Always fun when you see that on a mailinglist. Preferably one with a web archive.
... then the terrorists have already won!
LOL
"Anything is better than IE, and you can quote me on that." -- Wil Wheaton.
What kind of "e-business consulting company" has a homepage that won't even load in Netscape 6.2?
www.clarke.ca
From the KPMG website:
One of the objectives of KPMG's Web site is to communicate our comprehensive capabilities and the breadth of our knowledge and experience in serving client needs. We are also interested in demonstrating our familiarity with new media and Web technologies, and using these tools to help deliver our messages and engage our audiences as effectively as possible.
"Yes folks, we have a deep understanding of Web technologies. BTW, you can't link to us without a prior agreement..."
I'm not saying that it isn't foolish to ask people not to link without an agreement. However, the same thing can be said about asking people not to spider your site that you put right there on port 80. And robots.txt is in fact an internet standard so this same sort of foolishness is built into the net from the ground up.
No, Thursday's out. How about never - is never good for you?
"..I never washed my hands, that's your policy, not mine!" Abe Simpson
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Actually, believe it or not, yes (at least with Microsoft). They allied w/ Microsoft a few years ago and have an MS developed knowledge centre.
www.kpmg.com/about/statistics.aspF INALVERSION.pdf a sp t ory2.htm w ork.pdf%20et%20www.kpmg.com/%20Rut2000_prod/Docume nts/6/2000IFS.pdf t .htm o ry3.htm o ry2.htm d f . html q xd.pdf 1 _web_new.pdf . pdf t ory3.htm w ork.pdf d f t m r ce d m.asp r vey.pdf b .pdf
www.kpmg.com/Rut2000_prod/Documents/7/5312%20FIF-
www.kpmg.com/Rut2000_prod/Documents/9/IRM_EB1.pdf
www.kpmg.com/services/content.asp?l1id=20& l2id=0
www.kpmg.com/home/content.asp
www.kpmg.com/library/99/february/story2a.asp
www.kpmg.com/industries/
www.kpmg.com/disclaimer
www.kpmg.com/news/index.asp?cid=498
www.kpmg.com/sitemap.asp
www.kpmg.com/library/96/july/story1
www.kpmg.com/search/index.asp?cid=267
www.kpmg.com/library/99/november/story1_m11_kvdm.
www.kpmg.com/directory/
www.kpmg.com/Rut2000_prod/Documents/9/IRM_EB.pdf
www.kpmg.com/about/index.asp?cid=459
www.kpmg.com/library/97/december/story1.asp
www.kpmg.com/international/library/97/september/s
www.kpmg.com/microsite/annualreport/
www.kpmg.com/services/content.asp?l1id=20& l2id=70
www.kpmg.com/news/index.asp?cid=450
www.kpmg.com/interactive/
www.kpmg.com/about/
www.kpmg.com/Rut2000_prod/Documents/9/GAAP2000art
www.kpmg.com/tax/corporate_tax_rate_survey/defaul
www.kpmg.com/archive/august96/story1.html
www.kpmg.com/library/98/august/Eurobk3-1.pdf
www.kpmg.com/international/library/98/february/st
www.kpmg.com/international/library/97/december/st
www.kpmg.com/international/home/content.htm
www.kpmg.com/stats.html
www.kpmg.com/Rut2000_prod/Documents/9/ba200002e.p
www.kpmg.com/salt/prodserv.html
www.kpmg.com/st/
www.kpmg.com/news/index.asp?cid=499
www.kpmg.com/library/default.asp
www.kpmg.com/library/98/january/story3.asp
www.kpmg.com/index.shtml
www.kpmg.com/library/98/june/story3a.asp
www.kpmg.com/privacy.asp
www.kpmg.com/mission.html
www.kpmg.com/industries/content.asp?l1id=40&am p;l2id=0
www.kpmg.com/about/locations.asp
www.kpmg.com/international/library/96/july/story1
www.kpmg.com/industries/content.asp?l1id=70&am p;l2id=350
www.kpmg.com/library/99/july/story3_m7_ac.asp
www.kpmg.com/services/content.asp?l1id=80& l2id=0
www.kpmg.com/library/99/june/story1_m6_ac.asp
www.kpmg.com/services/content.asp?l1id=30& l2id=0
www.kpmg.com/industries/content.asp?l1id=10&am p;l2id=280
www.kpmg.com/services/content.asp?l1id=20& l2id=60
www.kpmg.com/december96/parlives.html
www.kpmg.com/home.html
www.kpmg.com/industries/content.asp?l1id=70&am p;l2id=210
www.kpmg.com/industries/content.asp?l1id=90&am p;l2id=340
www.kpmg.com/consulting
www.kpmg.com/about/press.asp?cid=324
www.kpmg.com/library
www.kpmg.com/industries
www.kpmg.com/services/content.asp?l1id=10& l2id=0
www.kpmg.com/services/
www.kpmg.com/Rut2000_prod/Documents/7/NewBodyatl.
www.kpmg.com/disclaimer.html
www.kpmg.com/services/content.asp?l1id=30& l2id=400
www.kpmg.com/FS/Publications/
www.kpmg.com/disclaimer.asp
www.kpmg.com/home/navigation.htm
www.kpmg.com/Rut2000_prod/Documents/9/KPMG_MA_200
www.kpmg.com/news/index.asp?cid=487
www.kpmg.com/Rut2000_prod/Documents/9/Privacy_web
www.kpmg.com/sap/
www.kpmg.com/october96/story1.html
www.kpmg.com/search/index.asp?cid=416
www.kpmg.com/february97/women.html
www.kpmg.com/about/press.asp?cid=469
www.kpmg.com/Rut2000_prod/documents/9/mas.pdf
www.kpmg.com/library/99/july/story2_m7_ac.asp
www.kpmg.com/news/index.asp?cid=373
www.kpmg.com/international/library/97/september/s
KPMG International
www.kpmg.com/home.htm
www.kpmg.com/services/content.asp?l1id=20& l2id=100
www.kpmg.com/tax
www.kpmg.com/Rut2000_prod/Documents/9/GAAP2000art
www.kpmg.com/search/index.asp?cid=304
www.kpmg.com/Rut2000_prod/Documents/7/Royalties.p
www.kpmg.com/microsite/annualreport/kpmg_people.h
www.kpmg.com/library/98/december/story1b.asp
www.kpmg.com/search/index.asp?searchTerms=m-comme
www.kpmg.com/Rut2000_prod/Documents/9/ERM.pdf
www.kpmg.com/services/Default.asp
www.kpmg.com/servfunc.html
www.kpmg.com/news/index.asp?cid=325
www.kpmg.com/about/mission.asp
www.kpmg.com/irm
www.kpmg.com/sap
www.kpmg.com/industries/content.asp?l1id=100&a mp;l2id=0
www.kpmg.com/ies
www.kpmg.com/ec/
www.kpmg.com/tax/country_tax_facts/default.htm
www.kpmg.com/news/index.asp?cid=436
www.kpmg.com/search/index.asp?cid=484
www.kpmg.com/indust.html
www.kpmg.com/library/00/february/story3_b2_ac.asp
www.kpmg.com/library/99/september/el_story5_b9_kv
www.kpmg.com/Rut2000_prod/Documents/9/efraud%20su
www.kpmg.com/services/content.asp?l1id=20& l2id=120
www.kpmg.com/library/
www.kpmg.com/wwpres.html
www.kpmg.com/Rut2000_prod/Documents/9/WinStrat_we
www.kpmg.com/microsite/annualreport/home.htm
www.kpmg.com/services/content.asp?l1id=10& l2id=10
www.kpmg.com/library/98/june/knowmgmt.pdf
www.kpmg.com/industries/content.asp?l1id=80&am p;l2id=250
www.kpmg.com/library/97/november/story1.asp
Comment removed based on user account deletion
From the source of the front page (which doesn't render unless you have JavaScript turned on, how nice):
;o)
[quote]
r a z o r f i s h , Inc.
Description: KPMG [home]
Created: 2000-04-20 jj
(c) 2000, Razorfish, Inc. all rights reserved.
KPMG LLP
Dan Wells
Matt Michelman
Jennifer Holly
Derek "Uber" Wargo
Mike Lavine
Joey B.
[/quote]
You figure a web-consulting firm could at least do it's own website? Wonder if the people at 'r a z o r f i s h' were inspired by thier theme song when they made the site?
How kpmg.com renders in Mozilla
Jehovah!
Can't say it!??! Can't link to it?!?!?! It must be *HOLY* !!!!
This is what DeCSS is all about! It's actually one of the possible expressions of the name of "The One".
Quick! It is a religious prerogative to find out all the possible ways in which it can be expressed! Let the Beowolf clusters begin their processing... we need to enumerate the 2^128 names of Bleep
Calags
- "Are there any women here today?"
Never attribute to stupidity what can be construed as a monopoly preservation tactic.
I was wondering what happened to Air Supply after the 80's...
sheesh.
Was it just me, or did anyone else notice that the length of the song (as reported by XMMS) seemed to oscillate between 3:49 and 5:44? Seemed to be all the way through (but no, I didn't listen to all of it :) How does that work?
Looks like it was more than their HTML that needs fixing...
Can't find examples of evolution? No matter, neither could Dawkins
I always wondered what happened to Chicago.
...sounds like it was written by david koresh (ever heard any of his masterful works?)
Looks like KPMG picked up some of Digital:Convergence's (SP?) old employees....
If KPMG can enforce their policy easily enough by simply not delivering content when the HTTP request comes in asking for their site. They say they are "e-business savvy", so they should have no trouble setting this up in just a few minutes.
The web is about linking. That's why they call it "The Web". If KPMG doesn't want to join in, then they should just stay out. And there are many ways to do that, including still having a site served by HTTP to send content to whoever types their name in manually, or links from sites they approve of. They should just do it and prove their competence in running their site their way.
But why the hell would I want to link to their site anyway. It sucks! The whole damn thing is a morass of lame Javascript. They can't even put plain HTML in and have to have Javascript generate it. It's clear to me that they don't know how to do things on the server side.
now we need to go OSS in diesel cars
... would you link to that? That's the most hideous site I've ever seen. :)
You haven't heard a corporate theme song until you've heard Cybermedia's theme song, Power to the People
I cringed so much listening to this that my soul feels wrinkled!
LS
There is a fine line between being a cultivated citizen and being someone else's crop. - A. J. Patrick Liszkie
ConsultUtah & MyDentalCard ... First thought I had: "Serving the needs of 'extended' families..."
They probably don't realize that "e-business" has anything to do with making an accessible web site.
now we need to go OSS in diesel cars
One that does buiness with the 90+% of companies using MSIE 5+
-- @rjamestaylor on Ello
Gawd, that's one butt-ugly website. Which moron designed it?
"And this one (guitar) I've never played. See--it's still got the tags on it"
"Wow, that's something..."
"Don't touch it!"
"I wasn't going to touch it."
"Well don't touch it. Nobody must touch this guitar. In fact, don't even look at it. Turn around."
Sorry. Flashbacks.
"People who do stupid things with hazardous materials often die." -- Jim Davidson on alt.folklore.urban
Silly company.
--Ben
So I thought I would try my browser, but it didn't work. I end up in an endless redirection loop (HTTP/1.1 302 Object moved).
So I ran the command ">lynx --version", and I see that I an running "Lynx Version 2.8.3rel.1 (23 Apr 2000)". Obviously not a 4.0 browser. And I guess that they don't want to hear from anyone with a 33.6 modem. I guess that they don't want my business, because I don't qualify enough to view their site.
Can anyone render it in Opera 4 or higher?
The significant problems we face cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them. -Einstein
Is the logic of legalese.
Obligation to protect its reputation? That's like saying I'm obligated to protect myself when some attacks me. Obligation doesn't seem the foremost motivation in these cases.
-------
Incite and flee.
It should be noted that KPMG LLP is the company in question. KPMG Consulting (a public corporation) is a seperate entity with their own web site (kpmgconsulting.com). As far as I know KPMG Consulting does not have this policy.
"We easily sent hundreds of these letters over the past year," he said. Indeed, he wondered why this was considered newsworthy at all, as "many organizations do this."
Imagine that a newspaper or a student wrote an article or paper in which KPMG was mentioned, including the URL in question. If the company called up The New York Times or MIT and tried to make this bullshit fly, what would happen? Do they really think the news organizations all over the country wouldn't be all over that story? Headline - KMPG (clueless.kpmg.com) tries to censor major news organization
Censorship is censorship
Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
I really don't see how they are protecting any trademarks here. Why would anybody want to pretend to have a name as bad as KPMG?
I say great, let the dinosaurs use the services of KPMG, so while those of us who want to compete with those Fortune companies knock the stuffing out of them, KPMG "consultants" can write reports and have meetings, until we beat them so badly by being smarter, faster and better and they become the Enrons of the future. Oh and if your boss stiffs you on a raise, make sure they get KPMG in, they can do far more damage to a corporation than anything you can dream up.
Any sufficiently advanced man is indistinguishable from God
Jerome Tucille claimed that no-one ever found out much about Galambos' views because the latter's primary tenet was that it was morally wrong to distribute intellectual property for free, and no-one had paid him for the rest of them.
I shudder to see the big, seizure-inducing, Micro$oft-ripoff of a splash-page animation that KPMG is using. A company that prides itself on being all about e-business should not be proud of a non-bypassable animated splash screen emblazoned with the latest buzzwords. It is a travesty and speaks ill of their customers, who I presume are impressed by this eye-candy. I notice they used Razorfish in at least some part of this site design. I suppose you can't blame Razorfish... KPMG would be a big client, and what the client wants, the client gets. Before this article and its mentions of KPMG and Ticketmaster, I had never heard of a company complaining when other sites linked to their site. I have often heard of site owners being angered when their content is loaded up in someone else's frameset. Remember all those 'break out of the frameset' links? I doubt that such a 'linking agreement' is legally enforceable. This amounts to KPMG asking for veto power over every other site on the web, far beyond any precedent set by libel and slander cases.
You linked to KPMG in your no-links-allowed article. interesting :-)
(this should make them REALLY REALLY angry)
says it all, i think.
Try looking at it in Mozilla... it looks totally f'd up.... IE shows a crappy flash intro and an overly scripted site while Mozilla shows most of the right side of the site near the bottom and a form that's nowhere to be seen in IE. The rendering differences are so big it looks like you're looking at two different sites. Whoever these people are, they have no right to call themselves web designers or web service providers of any kind seeing as they can't even make a functional web site.
We're going to make information free Mr. Anderson, whether you like it, or not.
Fine, I won't link to your website, I'll just provide the URL and instruct the user to copy and paste it into the address of their web browser.
Happy, Pappy?
So true. I hate all those people and companies who think GPA is the way to rank individuals. Your mark for each course depends primarily on midterms and final exams. These tests are based on your ability to study.
Your ability to study depends on many factors. For me, I HATE to study just for a test to get a 'good mark'. Actual retention of test material is usually lost in a weeks time.
However, I LOVE to study for gaining KNOWLEDGE(such as old-skool computer science) and then applying such knowledge. GPAs don't show this.
k2x
From reading their policy letter at:
http://chris.raettig.org/email/jnl00036.html
It states that:
"Please be aware such links require that a formal Agreement exist between our two parties, as mandated by our organization's Web Link Policy."
IE, to link between sites, you need a formal agreement between each party.
Yet later in the email, they blatently link to:
http://www.corporateanthems.raettig.org
So KPMG just broke their own policy! They linked to another site without a formal agreement!
Have you actually read through some of those documents? Sure, they are mostly stuffy and full of starch. But there's some scary stuff, when you consider who they are really targeting it to. Let me quote from one of them:
now we need to go OSS in diesel cars
This guy is right. He deserves to be modded up beyond the default.
View how many actually link by using Google's linked page search.
Many, and I mean -many- grey and black market websites have this type of a policy. Privet FTPs and Forums also have a simular policy, don't give out the address.
:)
Hell I belong to a number of places on the internet, websites included, that are not supposed to have their address's handed out or be linked too.
Of course these sites are trying to AVOID publicity and users, seems to me that a company wants all of the publicity that they can get. Then again negative publicity, ah, hehe. I can see them only going after sites that say bad things about them.
Also from my (admititly very very -very- limited) experance on the Japanese side of the web, they also have rules about linking, with a person needing to ask for permission before linking to some sites. I have read on American web sites about the American webmaster getting yelled at by the Japanese webmaster for linking to their site without asking. ^_^
Need help treating your acne? Come here!
Was it bypassable? I didn't see a 'skip intro' link, like most splash screens have. And you're right that it only shows up once.
:) They always make me think, someone had waaaay too much time or money on their hands... that could have been better spent on actual content. Or making their fonts a bit larger. Or something.
I simply have a real philosophical problem with splash screens, particularly animated ones
Here's the very first comment from the source for the KPMG.com website.
Was't Razorfish sued by another client? This flash intro is prima facie evidence of monumental hubris.
<!-- r a z o r f i s h , Inc.
Description: KPMG [home]
Created: 2000-04-20 jj
(c) 2000, Razorfish, Inc. all rights reserved.
KPMG LLP
Dan Wells
Matt Michelman
Jennifer Holly
Derek "Uber" Wargo
Mike Lavine
Joey B.
-->
The worst part of this is Keith Powell, who's squatting on kpmgsucks.com doesn't have a page and is probably missing out on the most traffic it'll ever get.
All your link are belong to us.
Someone hates these cans.
Their disclaimer http://www.kpmg.com/disclaimer.html says "Based on the fundamental universal condition of the electronic communication process, KPMG does not guarantee or warrant the Site will be uninterrupted". Can anyone say /. effect?
/
I really love their http://www.kpmg.com/robots.txt. it says:
# everyone go away
User-agent: *
Disallow:
-
- - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
Gees, hope Slashdot and its readers weren't duped.
--Rick
--Rick "If it isn't broken, take it apart and find out why."
Suppose I send a plain ol' text message, in which I mention http://www.kpmg.com in plain text, but the recipient's email client renders the url as a link. Who needs to get a link agreement - me, the recipient, or the company that wrote the email client?
no problems in internet explorer, maybe you should take your head out of your unix ass instead of moaning
It won't work with opera properly (and it works with 99.7% of sites now) Don't link to it, just post links to another certain website
SO many people out there don't realize that KMFDM sucks.
"Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality." -- Dalai Lama
The DMCA outlaws "[circumvention of] a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected [by copyright law]." This is not a technological measure, nor is it a violation of the First Amendment (Congress shall pass no law, but KPMG can do whatever the hell they want.), just a really stupid EULA. Now, if they were blocking access for everyone but those coming from the licenced URLs, and you wrote some Javascript to forge an authorized referral, that would be circumvention of a technological measure.
Do you read me, pooky?
Eyh! Stop showing links to me! Thats not my policy. Go away. I'm gonna send a request to all of you demanding that you remove the links whenever they appear over my internet connection. While links earlier was something useful on the net, it's well-known as the "one thing that always leads to porn, as long as you click enough of them".
I'm not sure if thats a problem. I may for some strange reason end up surfing pr0n.
hmm. better keep those links coming.
mats
One man's ceiling is another man's floor.
no wonder their web site crapped out.
i had to work with their sourcecode, done by the godawful razorfish. (remember, the guys who sent clients away if they didnt like them)
its an ugly mess of asp code generating javascript code which in turn is incorporated via a convoluted include hierarchy.. as to the data model, well they don't have one.
the quality of the code is what you would expect from a teenager, not a professional consulting firm.
i did a few simple changes to that horrid code to see if i could speed it up. instantly it ran 3 times faster.. go figure.
i was really glad when i could dump that code on someone unsuspecting, and head for the hills..
-gregor
I know the poor guy who's box is being slashdotted to hell who KPMG sent the mail to. It was definitely not deep linkinng they were talking about - it's links to kpmg.com.
A little planning goes a long way...
Someone today sent a letter to protonic.com's site support system letting us know that someone he disliked was linking to us, and wanted to know if we really wanted our company's name "associated with people like that." :)
Why do company bother with such trash?
It reminds me of a big conference run by Ericsson where a tune was sung by a rap singer(So selling any street cred down the river). The song went as far as I can remember "Fast forward together".
The net result? well the division is no more, nor half the employees(including the divisional cheif) and the policy it was trying to promote is languishing in telecoms hell.
It also reminds me of the Sirius Cybernetics theme tune "put your head in a plastic pig... "
Choose your allies carefully, it is highly unlikely you will be held accountable for the actions of your enemies
why dont they play it safe and guarantee that such things wont happen in the future? there is an easy solution for that: just take the site off the net.
Frankly, if KPMG doesn't want to be linked to, they should not be on the web.
Employee of Inrupt, Project Release Manager and Community Manager for Solid
This site (yes, I clicked on the link) actually rendered so horribly in my browser (Opera 5 for Linux) that whatever it is these people do I wouldn't know about it.
Running it through W3C's validator showed that not only does the company itself have quite an er... alternative view on how the internet works, the people they hired to write their webpage aren't exactly up to speed on web standards either.
...that McDonald's are planning to sue people who give "unauthorized" directions to their restaunts.
There was a similar case (turn JavaScript off when visiting the page)) in Finland a couple of months ago. The police ministry had ordered a Finnish webmaster to remove the link to their website. There was quite a lot of talk about that in newsgroups and even in the television.
hapo
The fact that the website doesn't even display remotely correct in Netscape 6.2 proves it is a crappy site and is not really worth linking to anyway.
URL: http://madman.weblogs.com/2001/12/05
I hope you like the commentary. I've really bashed them on the head with a club :))
They seem to have a browser switch depending on the "User-Agent" header (checked with handmade http request via telnet). Tss tss. And even nicer. The "get MSIE" page itself redirects unknown browsers to... what? The "get MSIE" page, which in turn redirects the user to... I wish I had a major available consulting task to exclude them from.
Well, I just tried to go to their site with Netscape 6.2 and it tells me I need a 4.0 browser like Netscape or Internet Explorer. I guess they really have their act together.
I think that it would be just to request, on their behalf, that all search engines remove the site, and all referneces to it, from their databases. After all, I doubt that there are agreements in place.
Wouldn't this merely be helping them to enforce their policy?
-------------------------
As easy as herding cats!
It actually gets worse than that, even.
Years ago, when trying to do a check to ensure that folks didn't link directly to a frame, and linked to the frameset, I found that Netscape and IE handle HTTP_REFERER on a framed document much differently.
I can't remember which is which, however, one of them considers that the HTTP_REFERER to a frame to be the HTML page with the frameset. The other considered it to be the same as the HTTP_REFERER to the frameset.
Needless to say, I couldn't implement anything using HTTP_REFERER, as some browsers would get stuck in an infinate loop, unless I forced them to go out of the frameset, and then come back in.
Build it, and they will come^Hplain.
As an aside, it's sad that WebTechniques has decided to pull the plug on all the useful-to-developer content starting with their March 2002 issue. I'm sure it'll be missed as a resource. I was very happy with the 70 columns I got to write for them, and I'll miss that particular outlet.
If I'm not a member of your organization, your "policy" doesn't restrict me in any way.
Companies, you can make all the happy little rules you want to make, but this is the big bad real world, where nobody gives a shit about what you think is fair. Understand?
- Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set him on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
I don't expect to get moderated up but _I_ found this amusing, anyway. I often find myself amusing, though, so what can I say?
8 87 4%2C00.html
Of course, I made sure to point out that I came from an unauthorized link.
I'm sorry, but MERGIN?! Really!
OK, here goes:
--
I'm not sure what your web site is supposed to look like, but it doesn't seem to render very well in Opera, the up-and-coming, super-fast and friendly standards-compliant web browser. You might want to have a look at Opera to ensure that all your clients and prospective clients can enjoy a successful web browsing experience.
Some of the problems may be caused by the numerous HTML syntax errors and misspellings (i.e. "mergin" instead of "margin") on your site (I only checked the front page).
To check your web site for HTML standards compliance, I suggest you visit this site:
http://validator.w3.org/
You may have to upload your source HTML file manually, as your web server appears to be blocking the validator from downloading your site directly for validation.
Or, alternatively, you could use the Opera web browser. Open the page, then right-click on the screen, and select Frame->Validate source.
Hope this helps.
Sincerely,
(my real name)
Web Developer
P.S. I found out about your site from this Wired Magazine article:
http://www.wired.com/news/business/0%2C1367%2C4
And of course you can find Opera at http://www.opera.com
Good luck!
I have no special gift, I am only passionately curious. --Albert Einstein
Well, I was going to submit it, but nothing happened.
So I started up Bloatzilla 0.9.2 and just opening the kpmg home page crashed the browser!
I installed 0.9.6 which brought up the site OK, but it's is just as ugly as with Opera. And no, I still can't submit the comment. Unless it's doing it with no confirmation or feedback, in which case I've submitted it about 15 times.
Galeon 1.0 wouldn't work either which isn't too surprising since it's based on Gecko, but...
Netscape 6.1 (gecko again of course) results in an "incompatible browser" web page from kpmg, and recommends downloading the latest version of Netscape or IE.
Does anyone have IE? Can you try submitting a comment?
Is this an IE-only web site?!
Do I really care any more?
No, I guess not. I'm outta here.
I have no special gift, I am only passionately curious. --Albert Einstein
Just put 'No links to KPMG' on every page you create, with the text in the same colour as the background, then make sure that the search engines know about your pages. Then when people search for KPMG. . . ;-)