Date:         Thu, 25 Feb 1999 15:20:27 +0100
Reply-To:     Per Lindgren <lindgre@ONLINE.NO>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Per Lindgren <lindgre@ONLINE.NO>
Subject:      Re: vw lawyers {little actual content}
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

As written in the text:
"Traya now hopes to exchange the name for something "useful'' -- such as
computers for his school."

Maybe David can get a deal vith VW to get y'all some SA Caravelles to N.America?
Hehe, just kidding.

Almost Friday

PerL

"Paul B." wrote:

> 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.