MetArt is a softcore pornography website

Website

A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...

 owned by HLP General Partners Incorporated of Santa Monica, California

Santa Monica, California

Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...

. The site features erotic photographs of partially or completely naked

Nudity

Nudity is the state of wearing no clothing. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic. The amount of clothing worn depends on functional considerations and social considerations...

 women

Woman

A woman , pl: women is a female human. The term woman is usually reserved for an adult, with the term girl being the usual term for a female child or adolescent...

, and has been online since circa 1999.

As of May 2010, it was among the top 1000 most visited websites according to Alexa Internet

Alexa Internet

Alexa Internet, Inc. is a California-based subsidiary company of Amazon.com that is known for its toolbar and Web site. Once installed, the toolbar collects data on browsing behavior which is transmitted to the Web site where it is stored and analyzed and is the basis for the company's Web traffic...

.

Reviews

MetArt has been reviewed by numerous adult content review site

Review site

A review site is a website on which reviews can be posted about people, businesses, products, or services. These sites may use Web 2.0 techniques to gather reviews from site users or may employ professional writers to author reviews on the topic of concern for the site...

s. it holds a score of 95 out of 100 on Rabbits Reviews and of 92.5 out of 100 on Nude Reviews.

Trademark Complaint

On 21 December 2005, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company

Metropolitan Life Insurance Company

MetLife, Inc. is the holding corporation for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, or MetLife, for short, and its affiliates. MetLife is among the largest global providers of insurance, annuities, and employee benefit programs, with 90 million customers in over 60 countries...

, Long Island City, New York, lodged a complaint against MetArt owner HLP General Partners Inc with the World Intellectual Property Organization

World Intellectual Property Organization

The World Intellectual Property Organization is one of the 17 specialized agencies of the United Nations. WIPO was created in 1967 "to encourage creative activity, to promote the protection of intellectual property throughout the world"....

 (WIPO) Arbitration and Mediation Center claiming that three domain names, including met-art.com, were too similar to its numerous registered Met Art trademarks. METLIFE was also concerned that “sexually explicit material” on the MetArt websites would tarnish METLIFE's reputation. In 2006, the complaint was dismissed by the WIPO because it “does not meet the standard for establishing bad-faith registration and use of the Domain Name

Domain name

A domain name is an identification string that defines a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control in the Internet. Domain names are formed by the rules and procedures of the Domain Name System ....

s under a Policy designed to provide quick relief against egregious cases of cybersquatting”.