>We just came across a nasty little "bait and switch" scam run by
>an outift called InterGalaxy.com.
>
>What they are doing is taking lots of home pages from legit sites
>(including ours, which is how we discovered this), sticking them
>into a no frames section on their pages (to conceal them so you'll
>probably only notice it if you view the Document Source) and then
>submitting umpteen hundred so-called index pages to the search
>engines.
the act of copying your page into their own is a violation of copyright.
the act of submitting that page to search engines to glean hits is called
"pawning off" your content, and is also very illegal.
NOTE: i'm not a lawyer, so i don't know the details of the issue. OTOH,
i got the basic scoop from the senior corporate counsel for a fairly
good-sized media company (who was also my VP), and i respect his knowledge
well enough to take his word for it. the valid bits are his, and any
clueless mangling is mine.
consult the appropriate experts before taking action, but i'd be willing to
bet that you can hit them with all sorts of nasty injunctions if you really
want to. even if you never actually take a suit to court.. which could be
a real pain since it involves international jurisdictions.. it's quite
possible to make someone's life unpleasant with procedural issues.
there's nothing like a surprise audit of your business practices to put a
kink in your schedule.
again, i'm the polar opposite of an expert on matters of international law,
but i'd assume that the effort curve works both ways.. if you can actually
make something stick to them, i can see it taking them *years* to peel it
loose.
mike stone <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 'net geek..
been there, done that, have network, will travel.
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