URL redirection without search engine penalty?

Looking for the best .htaccess command

[Webs]

After a server migration, I recently discovered that my version of CPanel has started writing permanent redirects to the .htaccess file in this format:

RedirectMatch permanent ^/$ [example.com...]

The only form I saw before was:

Redirect permanent / [example.com...]

So, my question is, will this new "RedirectMatch" format result in a search engine penalty for sites to which a number of domains are redirected, or will it preserve the immunity from penalty afforded by the simpler form? Thanks in advance to anyone who knows the answer.

[edited by: pageoneresults at 11:37 am (utc) on Jan. 6, 2005]
[edit reason] Examplied References [/edit]

[jdMorgan]

Webs,

Welcome to WebmasterWorld!

The results are the same: a 301-Permanent Redirect server response is generated. Whether search engines penalize a domain is not determined by 301 redirects in and of themselves. Redirect responses are a necessary part of the basic HTTP protocol.

You might garner a penalty if you redirect more than a handful of domains for the purpose of affecting search engine rankings.

Jim