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Fri 08 Aug 2009Shortened web addresses may become weak link in net usage
Unstable services could fold, leaving dead links and lost data, writes Karlin Lillington
THEY SEEMED like a good – perhaps necessary – idea at the time, those URL (web address) shortening services like Tr.im.com, Tinyurl.com, Bit.ly, or Short.ie. But after a few social networking soap opera weeks recently, during which social networking site Twitter stopped supporting all but a single site – Bit.ly – and in which rival URL trimmer site Tr.im closed down, then re-opened, then opted to open source the service and allow the wider developer community to take charge, some are wondering what good such sites serve and whether they are just causing more clutter and frustration on an already complex internet.
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