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A Banner Decision? Playboy Enterprises Inc. is suing Internet search engine Excite Inc. because banner advertisements for “hard-core pornography” automatically appear when computer users type “Playboy” or “Playmate” as keywords.

But so far the Bunny empire has taken no legal action against AltaVista, where banner ads for software that blocks children’s access to adult Web sites pop up when the same keywords are used. A Playboy attorney declined to comment, but other lawyers said Playboy won’t win many fans if it takes similar action against AltaVista.

“It just wouldn’t look good for Playboy to sue anyone for advertising software that protects children from pornography,” one said.