Warning! Do not link to Shropshire Council website without first completing paperwork

Mmm, well this is one approach to take to the internet:

TERMS & CONDITIONS

…

Do you want to add a link from your website to the Shropshire Council website? Do you want us to add a link to your website through our Community Directory?

Please email the Community Directory Officer (community.info@shropshire.gov.uk) with ALL the following details:

link TO www.shropshire.gov.uk or a link FROM www.shropshire.gov.uk?

organisation

job title or position

name

address (including postcode)

telephone (including area code)

email

domain name of your website

brief description of the purpose and contents of your website

reasons for requesting a link

Alas, Shropshire Council have so far declined to respond to my request for a comment explaining the reason for this policy. Far be it from me to ignore it though, so if you want to find the source of the above copy and paste this address: http://www.shropshire.gov.uk/websiteinfo.nsf/open/2F5121395E2D0EE5802574C20047E748

Time methinks for a freedom of information request asking for the number of such requests the council has received and how many times it has taken action for links that don’t meet these conditions…

(For my previous post along similar lines about Hyndburn see here.)