What are Microsoft Smart Tags?

Microsoft Smart Tags are additional hyperlinks added to web pages that lead visitors away from those web pages to Microsoft-favored web pages.

What do Microsoft Smart Tags mean for my online business?

Microsoft Smart Tags could mean lost visitors, lost sales, and lost revenue.

Click here to see an example of how Microsoft's anti-competitive and unfair Smart Tags lead NetBank's customers to Netbank's competitor, Wells-Fargo. (NetBank disabled Microsoft Smart Tags on its website once Microsoft Smart Tags' potential damage was brought to the attention of NetBank's CEO.)

What do Microsoft Smart Tags mean for me as an individual?

Microsoft invades your privacy, steals your personal information, and records your web browsing habits.

Microsoft Smart Tags are implemented in such a way that Microsoft Internet Explorer must connect to Microsoft servers to determine which additional words or phrases to hyperlink on a given web page. While making this connection to Microsoft, Internet Explorer transmits your IE registration information and information about the web pages you are visiting to Microsoft in order to use that data to market services and products to you.

If you want to see Microsoft Smart Tags in action on your own computer you'll need Microsoft Office XP installed on your computer and use Microsoft Internet Explorer to navigate to almost any web site where Smart Tags are not disabled.

As a web site operator, how can I protect my business?

• Disable Microsoft Smart Tags in every web page you serve.
• Write an invoice to Microsoft for the amount of time you've spent disabling Microsoft Smart Tags in all of your web pages.
• Write the United States Attorney General, write your Representatives, and write your Senators, informing them that Microsoft's practices are unfair and anti-competitive. It is better to write or fax your views than it is to send e-mail.

As an individual, how can I protect my privacy?

• Use Netscape or Opera, or any browser that is not Internet Explorer.
• Use false information about yourself in ALL of your web browsers.
• Write the United States Attorney General, write your Representatives, and write your Senators, informing them that you do not approve of Microsoft stealing and recording your personal information and web browsing habits without your permission. It is better to write or fax your views than it is to send e-mail.

US Department of Justice

Click here to read Ratio Corp.'s letter to the United States Attorney General, John Ashcroft in PDF format.

US Senators

Click here to read Ratio Corp.'s letter to Senator Schumer (NY) in PDF format.

US Representatives

New York State Attorney General

Click here to read Ratio Corp.'s letter to New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.

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