Date: Thu, 25 Feb 1999 07:37:49 -0500
Reply-To: "Paul B." <paul98@PRODIGY.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: "Paul B." <paul98@PRODIGY.NET>
Subject: Re: vw lawyers {little actual content}
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Here is a story about a similar situation with the name appleimac.com. This
article was obtained from
http://macweek.zdnet.com/1999/02/21/domainfeud.html
It will be interesting to see the outcome of this case since it is relevant
to the volkswagen.org/net issue. My guess is Apple will back down due to
the bad publicity.
In fact, I think publicity is the one tactic you can use against the VW
lawyers. I am sure VW would not like it "leaked" to the general press the
heavy-handed tactics VW is using against an innocent advocate of the
product.
Best of luck,
Paul
------------------------
Teen seeks 'deal' with Apple
By Reuters, ZDNN
A Canadian high school student has found himself in a David-and-Goliath
struggle with Apple over his ownership of the domain name appleimac.com.
Apple claims the site's name infringes on its trademark for its popular new
computer, the iMac. But instead of buckling under the pressure to hand over
his domain name, 16-year-old Calgary student Abdul Traya wants to make a
deal.
"I want to give it to them [Apple]. But first, I'm looking for a lawyer,''
Traya told Reuters in an interview.
"I'm starting to understand why they want it,'' Traya said, adding he wasn't
looking for trouble when he registered the name for $150 just after Apple
announced its new, translucent all-in-one computer.
Last week, the teenager was sent a stern letter through Apple's U.S. law
firm, Fenwick & West LLP, demanding he relinquish the domain name registered
to the Web site business Traya Net Inc.
Traya's business hosts about 130 Web sites on two servers, which are located
in the basement of his parent's Calgary home. "We just wanted to draw people
to the site, to test it out,'' he said.
Apple isn't taking it lightly. In its letter to Traya, the company says he
committed an act of "blatant cyberpiracy.''
"Obviously, Traya Net obtained the domain hoping to trade off the tremendous
goodwill represented by Apple's company name and its Apple and iMac
trademarks,'' the letter stated. The law firm also requested the 11th-grade
student simply transfer the domain name to Apple by signing an agreement
they enclosed. He was to get it notarized and send it back to California.
Apple's lawyers were not immediately available for comment.
Traya says he's been inundated with encouraging calls and e-mails from
supporters who've urged him to use whatever leverage he has. "I think I'm
only 16 and they're so large ... people are saying that it wouldn't look
good for them to take me to court.''
Traya now hopes to exchange the name for something "useful'' -- such as
computers for his school.
He said the experience hasn't been all bad. In the week since he received
the letter, he's had about a half-million visitors to his site -- compared
with only 200 visitors since it was posted.
