Sometimes I like to read Jon Udell’s weblog. He’s a smart guy with good ideas, and comes up with eloquent ways of expressing them. When I find things that I like, especially on weblogs, I like to link to them. But, oddly, Patrick Kenealy, the CEO of IDG, which publishes InfoWorld, is trying to ban links to their articles.

Now I don’t know Patrick, but I do know that they’re paying lots of people to update weblogs, check facts, edit stories, and publish articles on IDG sites. And I know that I usually find those articles and read their associated ads through links from other sites.

Patrick, it’s well within your rights to ask people not to link to your stuff, or to do so conditionally. But it reflects a grave misunderstanding of the market you’re in. Learn from iTunes, not from the RIAA. Ask your writers and your advertisers what they’d prefer. I bet they’re not looking to be walled off from the web.