Does ODP require open access?

If a site can only be viewed in one or some countries, while preventing Internet users from other countries from accessing it, should it be listed in the ODP?

I'm guessing the ODP wouldn't list pages behind a user authentication system.

Typically the guideline is "If a site CAN be reviewed be an editor, it WILL be reviewed". Obviously, if a site cannot be reviewed (as it's not accessible by an editor), then it will NOT be reviewed (and, therefore, not listed).

If a site is submitted that requires authentication (quite a common situation under the Adult section), then the editor is meant to ask the webmaster (or submitter) for a temporary login to allow them to review the website.

If, however, it's a "geographically specific" restriction (say, for example, the PGP distributions that are only available to Americans and Canadians) then things could get a little bit more complex. If the site is submitted in the appropriate category in Regional/ , then there is a very strong likelyhood that it will be reviewed by someone from the country with an appropriate country-based IP address (baring in mind that if someone is using a multinational ISP such as AOL, they will appear to be coming from the States anyway) - and hence will be listed. But if it's submitted in one of the topical categories (such as Arts, Recreation, Shopping) and it doesn't indicate that "This site is only accessible to people with a USA based IP address" and it reviewed by (for example) a Russian editor, then they will be more likely to delete it as they are unable to review the site.

Hope it helps!

Not quite what you asked, but...

We do list sites that require users to supply a user name and a password; for the site to be reviewed you need to include a trial username and password for editors to use with the submission, or an email address that an editor can easily get a free one without having to actually go through the sign up process itself.



Back to your question...

For a site that can only be viewed in some countries, and not others; well, you might hit a problem. There are ODP editors in many countries, and some people edit categories about countries other than where they live, or edit categories that have sites included from all over the world. If an editor in an excluded country reviewed your site, then it might get deleted depending on what exactly the page said, or it might be left to another editor to review. If the editor is able to review the site, then it will be reviewed.


What is so secret about the site that you only let certain people look at it?



<edit>beebware types faster</edit>

Very interesting! Well, in this particular case, the site is already in the ODP. Would it be appropriate to suggest to the editor to append "only viewable in the USA"? My thinking is that there should be some direction to the possible user of the link that it may not be worth their time to click on it.

I suppose I should also mention the site / ODP directory listings:

Showtimeonline aka Sho.com.

Arts -> Television -> Networks -> Cable

and also
http://dmoz.org/Business/Arts_and_Entertainment/Media_Conglomerates/Viacom/Cable_Television/

Isn't that funny. When I first looked at the site (going directly to sho.com) I was able to get in to look at it with no problems. However, when I went through the Showtimeonline.com link, I got the "We at Showtime Online express our apologies; however, these pages are intended for access only from within the United States." message. And now I get that message on sho.com as well. I have no idea why they would want to restrict access to their website that way -- it's not like accessing the website would give you access to their cable channel.

I'd say that it would be reasonable to put a note on the listing to indicate that content is viewable to US IPs only.

I think it's so that those of us in Canada can't find info about shows like Queer As Folk a few weeks before it airs on Showcase.ca - I've always thought that this was a totally weird situation <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" alt="" />

I just noticed the location of the original poster, and now I understand his motivation. He doesn't want to waste time clicking on links that aren't going to work for him.

Agreeing with motsa, I find that a reasonable request.

OK, I've added a little disclaimer to both of the listings. Thanks for pointing those out.