[1] H. VARIAN, http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/research/projects/how-much-info/summary.html, visited March 26, 2002.
[2] Spiders are also known under the names 'crawlers', 'ants', 'robots' ('bots') and 'intelligent agents'. Cfr. The Computer Language Company, http://content.techweb.com/encyclopedia/defineterm?term=crawler, last consulted on April 4, 2002.
[3] See HTML 2.0, http://ftp.ics.uci.edu/pub/ietf/html/rfc1866.txt, visited April 8, 2002.
[4] See S. LABATON, Net Sites Co-opted by Pornographers, N.Y.Times, September 23, 1999, A 1.
[5] The practice derives its name from a Monty Python's Flying Circus skit where the word 'spam' is repeated ad nauseam, and in which a tavern is featured that serves only spam dishes, making the clientele burst into a song praising spam, MONTY PYTHON, The Final Rip Off, Virgin 1988.
[6] For the fullest reference to cases decided in the U.S., see F.G. LASTOWKA, Note: Search Engines, HTML, and Trademarks: what's the meta for? 86 Virginia Law Review 835, 836. LASTOWKA points rightly out that many decisions merely enjoin meta tag uses without further elaboration. See also I.R. NATHENSON, Internet Infoglut and Invisible Ink: Spamdexing Search Engines with Meta Tags, 12 Harv. J.L. & Technology 43 (1998).
[7] Civ. No. 97-Z-1592 (D.C. Colo., July 23 1997). See also J.R. KUESTER and P.A. NIEVES, Hyperlinks, Frames and Meta-tags: An Intellectual Property Analysis, 38 IDEA 243 (1998); Panel Discussion: Link Law on the Internet, 38 IDEA 197 (1998); E. GARDNER, Trademark Battles Simmer Behind Sites, Web Week, August 25, 1997, 1, 45; A. DAVIS, Web Weaves a Tangled Trademark Issue, The Wall Street Journal, September 15, 1997, B 10.
[8] Civ. No. 97-2064 (E.D. La., final consent judgment entered August 27, 1997).
[9] Civ. No. C-97-3204 (N.D. Cal., September 8, 1997). See M.JUN, Meta Tags: The Case of the Invisible Infringer, The New York Law Journal, October 24, 1997.
[10] Civ. No. A-97-734-A, E.D. Va., April 22, 1998.
[11] No. 98-56918 U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, April 22, 1999; No. CV-98-09074-CRM Appeal from the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
[12] 109 F.3d 1394, 1405 (9th Cir., 1997).
[13] 818 F.2d 254, 257-258 (2d Cir., 1987).
[14] 27 F.Supp. 2d 102 (D. Mass., 1998).
[15] 2000 U.S. Dist. Lexis 12857, .E. D. Mich., August 25, 2000.
[16] 233 F.3d 456 (7th Cir., November 21, 2000).
[17] In J. JREKEL, Meta-tagging - missbraüchliche Kennzeichenverwendung im Internet, http://www.der-syndikus.de/briefings/it/it_009.htm, last visited March 26, 2002.
[18] C. MONTELEONE, Brevi riflessioni sull'uso dei meta-tag anche alla luce della recente giurisprudenzia italiana, http://www.netjus.org/pages/pagex.asp?article=91, visited on March 27, 2002.
[19] President Commercial Court Brussels - (Belgacom v. Intouch), 15 October 1999, (translation in) Computerrecht, 2000, Nr. 5, 245-247. See also P. VALCKE and D. STEVENS, Belgische rechtspraak in vogelvlucht, Computerrecht, 1999, Nr. 6, 352-353; S. MALENGREAU, Metatags: première décision belge, http://www.droit-technologie.org/1_2.asp?actu_id=239&motcle=metatags&mode=motamot, 2 December 1999, 1-2; E. JACOBS, Metatags, de onzichtbare lokvogels van het web, De Juristenkrant, 5 December 2000, Nr. 19, 9.
[20] Antwerp (appellate court) - (BVBA Aerodata International Surveys v. NV Eurosense Belfotop), 9 October 2000, Computerrecht, 2001, Nr. 2, 82-83, and Tijdschrift voor Belgisch Handelsrecht, 2001, Nr. 6, 407-408, with Note by S. EVRARD, Metatags in de Belgische rechtsorde, Tijdschrift voor Belgisch Handelsrecht, 2001, Nr. 6, 410-412.
[21] Commercial Court Brussels - (NV Resiplast v. BVBA Resin), 4 February 2002, available at: http://www.droit-technologie.org/entree_visiteur.asp?but=lire_juris&jurisprudence_id=101.
[22] See W.H. MURRAY and R E. ROSENTHAL, Examining the Use of Trademarks as Meta Tags on the Internet, The Legal Intelligencer, November 6, 1997.
[23] N.D. Ohio, April 14, 1999.
[24] See K.A. GASPAREK, Comment, Applying the Fair Use Defense in Traditional Trademark Infringement and Dilution Cases to Internet Meta Tagging or Linking Cases, 7 George Mason Law Review 787 (1999); cfr. M.R. REES, Note: Use of Another's Trademark in a Web Page Meta Tag: Why Liability Should Not Ensue Under the Lanham Act for Trademark Infringement, 5 Tex. Wesleyan L. Rev. 99 (1998).
[25] 7 F.Supp.2d 1098 (S.D. Cal. 1998). See C.S. KAPLAN, Case Against Playboy Model Could Set Precedent, N.Y. Times Cyber Law Journal, April 17, 1998; C.S. KAPLAN, Former Playmate Wins Right to Use Title on Web Site, N.Y. Cyber Law Journal, April 24, 1998.
[26] 2000 U.S. Dist. Lexis 14180, S.D.N.Y., September 28, 2000.
[27] FS 2434/97, Hillerod fodgeret, November 17, 1997.
[28] 29 F.Supp.2d 1161 (C.D. Cal. 1998).
[29] www.compupix.com/ballysucks, leading to a claim by Bally of trademark infringement in the choice of domain names.
[30] At 1165.
[31] At 1167.
[32] See J. LITMAN, Electronic Commerce and Free Speech, 1 J. Ethics & Info. Tech. 213 (1999).
[33] Ben Susan Restaurant Corp. v. King, 126 F.3d 25, 27 (2d. Cir. 1997).
[34] Prestonettes, Inc. v. Coty, 264 U.S. 359, 368 (1924). Significantly, this case was quoted in the second of the Welles cases, 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 21047, at note 58.