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Date:         Thu, 14 Sep 1995 22:52:01 -0700
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         rickgo@halcyon.com (Rick Gordon)
Subject:      VW of A alleged lawsuit

Regarding that WWW-related lawsuit, it was hard to believe that VW could be *that* stupid. And apparently they're not.

> From: jan@lipari.usc.edu (Jan Vandenbrande) > Newsgroups: rec.autos.vw,rec.autos.makers.vw.aircooled,rec.autos.makers.vw.watercooled > Subject: VW of A alleged lawsuit > Date: 14 Sep 1995 13:38:27 -0700 > Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA > Lines: 71 > Sender: jan@lipari.usc.edu > Distribution: world > Message-ID: <43a3s3$1l7@lipari.usc.edu> > NNTP-Posting-Host: lipari.usc.edu > Xref: news.halcyon.com rec.autos.vw:70632 rec.autos.makers.vw.aircooled:503 rec.autos.makers.vw.watercooled:483 > > > OK, here it is from the horse's mouth. > It sounds like we over reacted to the comments posted initially on > the UofM's website. > VW's objections apparently stemmed from the "girly" picture with the > VW logo placed (without permission) at a "strategic" location. > I guess they have a point... > > This was a good learning lesson: > > 1) Unless you know the facts, don't judge. The information was only > hearsay. > > 2) We have to be aware of copyright and trademark infringements. > Internet is not the secret little underground club shared by academics > and some organizations as it used to be. > Publishing anything on the net is similar to publishing > on traditional non-volatile storage media (paper). > In our picture gallery, we need to make an attempt to: > > a) identify the origin of the pic and give due credit > b) ask permission to publish if for non-profit reasons > c) share profits and get permission if anything will be used for profit > > 3) The internet and this group is a wonderfully supportive club. Thanks > to all of you. > > Jan. > > Here's the reply I got. I'll be reopening the sites soon, after reviewing > for questionable data. > > [Unedited] > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > jan@ug.eds.com > > > > Jan, > > > > The facts are: > > > > 1. It is not now and never has been our intention to close any website or, > > specifically, the website at the University of Manitoba. > > 2. We are neither suing or censoring anyone in this matter. > > 3. It is our desire to protect our trademark and to ensure that it is properly > > and tastefully used. This was not the case in this instance and we were > > attempting to correct this matter. > > 4. Volkswagen does not charge people to view information on its website. > > 5. We look forward to working with anyone interested in developing their own > > Volkswagen Internet application, provided that our trademark is used correctly. > > > > The site in question presented the VW logo not only without permission but in a > > way which was patently offensive -- as a cover to the private parts of a nude > > woman. At best this is in extremely poor taste; at worst it is offensive to > > our current and future female customers. > > > > Thank you for your interest in the situation. > > > > Volkswagen of America > > Volkswagen of Canada > > Public Relations > > > -- > o ___|___ [\\] | Jan Vandenbrande jan@ug.eds.com > __0 /\0/ /-------\ _ | http://alicudi.usc.edu:80/~jan/ > \<,_ O \\ (_________) .#/_\_. | "Aerodynamics are for people who > (_)/ (_) // [_] [_] |_(_)_| | cannot build engines" - Enzo Ferrari > -- > ----------------- > Jan jan@lipari.usc.edu


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