Date:         Tue, 23 Feb 1999 09:46:43 +0100
Reply-To:     "Dr. Rainer Woitok" <woitok@RRZE.UNI-ERLANGEN.DE>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         "Dr. Rainer Woitok" <woitok@RRZE.UNI-ERLANGEN.DE>
Organization: RRZE (Regionales Rechenzentrum Erlangen)
Subject:      Re: HELP - The Volkswagen Lawyers are after me! - HELP
Comments: To: Chris Smith <chris.smith@AQUILA.COM>
In-Reply-To:  Msg <3.0.6.32.19990222100139.007ff200@aquila.com> of 1999- 2-22
              10:01:39 -0600 from chris.smith@AQUILA.COM
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Hi Volks,

On Mon, 1999-02-22 10:01:39 -0600, Chris Smith wrote:

> ...
>         VW did go after this person but then sent a message to the Vintage
> VW List about their actions.  The said that they have no problems with the
> use of the name and logo on enthusiasts sites.

In my opinion, in this case VW isn't so much after trade mark violations
as such  but directly after  the  Internet domain name "Volkswagen.COM".
In Germany they have "Volkswagen.DE", and I think they just want to have
"Volkswagen.COM", "Volkswagen.US", and --  probably just for the sake of
completeness -- also "Volkswagen.NET" at their disposal.

And if  I'm not totally off  with my theory, methinks they're determined
to go a very long way to really get what they desire so badly.

So, in this  particular case, I'd probably  just  give in and  change my
Internet  domain name.  And in this  particular  case VW's point of view
isn't only legally correct, I think, but  also in correspondence with my
gut feeling of what's right  or wrong ...  Just imagine Jon Doe  surfing
the Internet   and pointing his  browser at <http://www.volkswagen.org>.
If this  gets him directly  to  VWoA, that's   probably exactly what  he
wanted.  However, if this gets him to some VW enthusiast group I'd guess
John Doe would be mildly surprised.

Just my two Deutschpfennings ... and no, I'm not a VW share holder.

Sincerely
 Rainer

'89 Caravelle GL Syncro 16"

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
| Rainer M Woitok                  | Phone: (+49-9131) 85-27811,-27031 |
| Regionales Rechenzentrum         |                                   |
| Friedrich-Alexander-Universitaet | Fax  : (+49-9131) 30 29 41        |
| Martens-Strasse 1                | Telex: d 629 755 tf erl           |
| D-91058 Erlangen                 |                                   |
| Germany                          | Mail: Woitok@RRZE.Uni-Erlangen.DE |
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------