更改关键词搜索结果行为的违法性认定研究

Abstract

The act of altering key word searching results demands urgent regulation for it has damaged the legitimate rights and interests of other market players, infringed upon the internet users’ right to know and freedom of choice, and disrupted the order of competition on the internet. However, identification of the illegality of such act by applying traditional means of identifying unfair competition act would encounter predicament in terms of philosophy, standard and basis for identification. It is thus suggested that the following routes may be followed: insisting on the identification philosophy of giving priority to the protecton of the order of market competition and coordinated protection of pluralistic interests, establishing the identification standard of taking the competition mechanism as its core, improving legal basis, and increasing the influence of industry practice. In recent years, the substantial increase of new type of unfair competition over the internet by the use of key word searching has not only harmed the legitimate rights and interests of other competitors, but also infringed upon the legitimate rights and interests of net-users, seriously damaging the order of competition on the internet. As a new kind of unfair competition on the internet, altering key word searching results is quite different from traditional unfair competition practices in terms of both elements of act and its implementation mechanism, which has rendered the agencies in practice confronted with many predicaments in applying the traditional means of unfair competition identification to the illegality identification of such acts. Due to its new presence and form, the theoretical circles have not yet carried out in-depth and systematic research, nor put forward any useful suggestions for judicial practice. In view of this, this paper attempts to conduct an in-depth and systematic research from the perspective of illegality identification, and hopefully it will help judicial practice.