Intel’s problems registering 80586 as a trademark was easily solved by
renaming the chip to a Pentium. It seems that the organisers of the Sydney
2000 Olympics have a bigger problem. You see they took the Asia Pacific
Internet Company (APIC) to task for using the name Sydney2000.net and have
threatened the company with legal action if it doesn’t stop selling web sites
and eMail addresses with the name. APIC who are unlikely to have the legal
resources to take on the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games
(SOCOG) believe they are in the right. They have until May 30th to respond.
In the good old days, companies threatened by a large internationally
recognised organisation would admit defeat before the first punch was thrown
and lie down hoping the problem went away. The internet has however changed
that and empowered the small company or "man in the street" as some might say.
Easy communication allows for small players to sum up help from all over the
world in a matter of eMails. APIC’s cause was taken up by enthusiasts the
world over who were looking to support the companies fight against the giant
SOCOG. Members of the internet communities around the world publicised the act
which spells out which words and combination of words are protected in terms
of the Sydney 2000 Games (Indicia and Images) Protection Act 1996. (available
at http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/num_act/s2000gaipa1996378/s8.html).
Armed with this information, these modern day guerrillas set about registering
every possible combination of words relating to the Sydney 2000 Olympics.
Within days a proliferation of names have appeared around the globe. These
include:
SYDNEY-2000GAMES.COM
SYDNEY2000GAMES-INFO.COM
SYDNEY2000-INFO.COM
SYDNEY2OOO.COM
SYDNEYGAMESINFO.COM
SYDNEYOLYMPS2000.COM
SYDNEY2000-AU.COM
SYDNEY2KGAMES.COM
SYDNEYOLYMPIQUES.COM
SYDNEY2000-OLYMPIQUES.COM
SYDNEY2000GAMESINFO.COM
SYDNEY2000INFO.COM
SYDNEY2KGAMES.COM
SYDNEY2OOO.NET
SYDNEYGAMES-INFO.COM
SYDNEY2000AU.COM
SYDNEY-2K.COM
SYDNEY2K.NET
SYDNEY2000OLYMPIQUES.COM
SYDNEY2K.ORG
One company by the name of Trade Services located behind the website
(http://www.sydney-2000.net/syd-2000_start.html) is offering to lease a
virtual website for a 4 year period. Marketed as an off the shelf web site,
located in the USA (and presumably out of the jurisdiction of Australian law),
it is cheaper and faster than any site in Australia and includes the
registered name and associated eMail addresses. Interested parties are invited
to contact them.
While this opportunism cannot necessarily be sanctioned, it does bring into
question the effectiveness of laws in the virtual world of the internet. Few
countries (certainly not South Africa) have updated their laws to take into
account the realities of the internet. This has left loopholes in the law. An
internet address for example is simply a pointer to a specific computer on the
internet. While one name might point to a server in Alaska, a similar name
with only one letter different may point to a server in New Zealand. In the
real world a company such as Coca Cola could successfully protect their name
from someone trying to use the name Coka Cola because it is so close to the
original. On the internet, where the similar name is located on the other side
of the world but still available at both locations, lawsuits become costly and
unpractical.
Another issue raised by this incident is the way in which companies interact
with each other. The age of the internet, I believe, has brought with it an
age of co-operation for mutual benefit. This means working towards a win-win
situation rather than the win loose which has characterised our societies for
so long. Perhaps a better approach for the SOCOG would have been to sit down
with APIC’s CEO, Bala Pillai and worked out a compromise. It seems Pillai
registered the name in November 1995 prior to the Games Act coming into affect
and could even stand a chance should a legal battle ensue.
With all the subsequent names registered or in the process of being
registered, the SOCOG could probably retain a whole new firm of attorneys to
track down the companies and individuals responsible for the illegitimate
registrations. Not a likely solution unless their fundraisers have been
especially generous.
With Cape Town in the running for the 2004 Summer Olympics, there is perhaps a
lesson to be learnt from Sydney’s experience. I doubt Sydney will find their
solution in threatening or suing the people responsible for the proliferation
of Sydney Olympic web sites. Their solution might have to be far more creative
such as creating a list of all servers offering information about the 2000
Olympics and hosting it on their "Official" server. This would make them a
conduit to the other sites while maintaining their official status. Either way
Cape Town should take note as I’m sure they will have enough other challenges
should they win the bid later in the year.