Lextech - 1:31 pm on Aug 19, 2002 (gmt 0)

The purpose is to protect the optimized HTML from being stolen.

That statement is about 10% true. After interviewing with a well known company in Ohio for a SEO Management position, I full well knew that the company was interested in cloaking for placements sake ONLY. They could have given a rat's posterior about code. It changed weekly. It was so unethical, and the goal was to be that way, that I felt physically ill when I left. Even the ultra-high salary couldn't take out the bad taste in my mouth and turning down the "opportunity" to work with them was relatively easy.......cloaking abuse is nothing more than "bait and switch" tactics that are deceptive to the consumers.