In this case, web site (“Seattle Sidewalk”) maintained by
Microsoft had deep links to interior page of Ticketmaster. Another company
(“CitySearch”) was paying Ticketmaster for permission to deep linking. Ticketmaster
argued that such free of charge activity of Microsoft devalued its site and infringed its
trademark. This case was settled without court opinion. Microsoft agreed to remove deep
links to Ticketmaster and link only to home page of the site. Although this case does not
directly involve copyright issue it remains important by two reasons: 1) it was the first
major case in U.S. challenging deep linking as an improper use of web site owner’s
intellectual property; 2) if deep linking assists to avoid payments for services, it is ground
for challenging such activity. Anyway, this case encouraged further actions against users
of deep links.