Re: HTML markup validation problem...
Note that & in an href attribute will be converted to a literal ampersand by the browser when the link is clicked (or when a JavaScript GET request is made), so you won't be changing the link by using &. (If, on the other hand, you URL-enocde the ampersand, it will remain escaped until it gets to the server. The fine art of multi-level escapes sent more than a few developers to the asylum back in the frameset days :-) )
“Beware of bugs in the above code; I have only proved it correct, not tried it.” --Donald Knuth
"It was as if its architects were given a perfectly good hammer and gleefully replied, 'neat! With this hammer, we can build a tool that can pound in nails.'" -- Alex Papadimoulis (on TheDailyWTF.com)