The use and abuse of metatags

Abstract

The web creates many opportunities for encroachment on intellectual property including trademarks. Our principal task in this paper is an investigation into an unusual form of such encroachment: the improper use of metatags. A metatag is a piece of HTML code that provides summary information about a web page. If used in an appropriate manner, these metatags can play a legitimate role in helping consumers locate information. But the ``keyword'' metatag is particularly susceptible to manipulation. These tags can be easily abused by web site creators anxious to bait search engines and bring scores of visitors to their sites. The law about metatags is far from settled and many legal scholars are uncomfortable with the conclusion that the unauthorized use of a trademark in a metatag represents infringement. How should we assess this practice known as ``spamdexing'' from a normative perspective? Is it commercial fair play or something more sinister? We make the case here that there are salient moral problems with spamdexing since it exploits the reputational goodwill of trademark owners and confuses consumers. It violates basic moral duties and it flouts the golden rule principle. Hence unauthorized use of a competitor's trademark in a metatag is not morally acceptable.