Hello Raoul and all, 

At 01:27 PM 20/12/1999 +1000, Raoul Wegat wrote:

 > Things get more interesting by the day in COMAU...
 > Here's an email response I got when querying a domain
 > application that was late in being approved (4 business days). 
 > 
 >> Dear Applicant,   
 >> Our searches indicate that the domain you applied for is identical
 >> to a registered tradmark(s).The existence of this identical registsred
 >> name indicates that a third party may claim intellectual or property
 >> rights in that name.  In your domain name application you have
 >> warranted that the name applied for does not breach the rights
 >> of any third party. Given the above registered name, we cannot
 >> proceed with your application unless you reconfirm your warranty .. 

Today's Online Australia Update presents a different perspective on the
matter.. surely it would seem that all those who are a party to any domain
registration are, therefore, also potentially creating an instrument of fraud?

<http://www.onlineaustralia.net.au> 
---Qantas Wins Internet Domain Name Court Case--

Qantas Airways has won a court case in New Zealand over the qantas.co.nz domain name. A business that trades in domain names has been ordered to deregister the name, after which Qantas intends to take it.

The important legal case involving Qantas and the Domain Name Company Ltd was decided last week in the New Zealand High Court. The company had offered to sell the domain name to Qantas for a significant sum.

Qantas group general manager e-Commerce, Paul Shepanski, said the decision was significant in protecting the Qantas name and goodwill in cyberspace, reports AAP. 'Just as we have vigorously protected our brand and trademark rights to date, we will continue to do so in new global business media such as the Internet,' he said, according to the news agency.

Justice Anderson said in his decision that 'the deliberate blocking of the lawful exploitation of goodwill by Qantas through registration effectuated for that purpose or with that consequence is a fraudulent appropriation of part of the goodwill attatching to (the Qantas) name.'

'The most likely purpose in registering the name of such a well known entity is to block that entity's lawful exploitation of its goodwill through the use of the Internet,' he went on. 'It is important to appreciate, of course, that the domain name is the gateway to exploitation and the defendant's registration has blocked the gate. Such registration is...an instrument of fraud.'
--

Happy trails ..
Stephen Loosley
www.stephen.hm