yintercept - 7:39 pm on May 10, 2004 (gmt 0)

Google does not need to give extra weight to DMOZ because a lot of directories use DMOZ as a source.

A lot of people build their own directories of topics that interest them. Such efforts invariably involve a visit to DMOZ...which means the DMOZ listings quickly replicate themselves through numerous sites.

DMOZ actively encourages people to use their listings.

I've come across several web sites that have directly copied and pasted a pages from DMOZ. Each time a subdirectory gets duplicated, the sites in the directory get a PR vote. The people who copied DMOZ in 2001 and haven't updated are giving PR to a bunch of dead domains.