"It not yet clear how broad the patent is, but it is possible that other
search engines might now have to license some technology from Lycos."
http://www5.zdnet.com/zdnn/content/zdnn/0902/zdnn0012.html
However, I thought there were other Web spiders which predate Lycos, and I
know there was a WWW conference paper on Fielding's MoMspider, so I wonder
how they are making their claims to avoid prior art concerns.
- Jim