Is gatoring unfair or illegal?

There are many forms of contextual advertising. A newspaper, say The Washington Post, might run a story on its electronic Web page about how Monica Lewinsky gave Bill Clinton such and such an expensive necktie as a present. The Post might provide (for pay) a link to the Web site of R.H. Macy & Co., which offers the same necktie for sale. Probably, no one considers this advertising to be competitively wrongful or otherwise illegal. Toward the other end of the spectrum, however, we have the companies eZula and Gator, which Web site proprietors have challenged for using unfair marketing practices. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) published a notice in the Federal Register, asking for comments on whether links that connect a viewer at a federally insured bank´s Internet site to another entity´s Web site could create customer confusion over which products are offered or sponsored by the federally insured institution. The FDIC also asked whether it should regulate such linking. The author looks at the issues raised by this practice