Internet Infoglut and Invisible Ink: Spamdexing Search Engines with Meta Tags
![handle is hein.journals/hjlt12 and id is 51 raw text is: Harvard Journal ofLaw & Technology
Volume 12, Number 1 Fall 1998
INTERNET INFOGLUT AND INVISIBLE INK:
SPAMDEXING SEARCH ENGINES WITH META TAGS
Ira S. Nathenson*
Unseen treasure and hidden wisdom, of what use is either?
- 14th century librarian'
The more we know, the less we know.
- 20th century author2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. INTRODUCTION ..................................... 44
II. WHERE Do YOU WANT TO Go TODAY?: INTERNET INFOGLUT
AND SEARCH ENGINE ABUSE ........................... 51
III. DEFINING THE INTERESTS ............................. 72
A. Relevance and Noise ............................. 72
B. Reasonable Expectations .......................... 77
1. The Public .................................. 78
2. W ebmasters ................................. 82
3. Proprietary-Rights Holders ..................... 84
C. Domain Names, Linking, and Framing Compared ...... 86
D. Externalization Costs ............................. 89
IV. STRIKING A BALANCE ................................ 92
A. Deceptiveness: Protecting the Public .............. 93
1. Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act ..... 93
* J.D. 1998, University of Pittsburgh School of Law; B.A. 1985, University of
Pittsburgh College of Arts and Sciences. I would like to thank Professor Julie E. Cohen
for her encouragement and suggestions, and Jeffrey R. Waxman for other helpful
comments. None of this would have been possible without the love, support, and
patience of my wife, Helen, and my children, Katie and Jenny. I may be reached at
<ira.nathenson@worldnet.att.net>.
1. Roger K. Summit, Knowledge Online: Currentlimplications andFuture Trends,
in INFORMATION SCIENCE: STILL AN EMERGING DISCIPLINE 10 1, 102 (James G. Williams
& Toni Carbo eds., 1997) [hereinafter INFORMATION SCIENCE].
2. David Shenk, Data Smog: Surviving the Info Glut, TECH. REV., May 15, 1997,
at 18.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/hjlt12&div=8&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
What Is HeinOnline?
Contact us for annual subscription options:
Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?
profiles profiles most
Internet Infoglut and Invisible Ink: Spamdexing Search Engines with Meta Tags
Contact us for annual subscription options:
Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?
profiles profiles most