QLD Council "thugs" over domain name - News

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This story was printed from ZDNet Australia.
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QLD Council "thugs" over domain name

By Megan McAuliffe, ZDNet Australia
March 01, 2001
URL: http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/soa/QLD-Council-thugs-over-domain-name/0,139023165,120206194,00.htm

Owner of BrisbaneCity.com has accused the Queensland council of using "bullying" tactics to claim the right to the domain name, describing its actions as "unsavoury".

The Brisbane council is undergoing a process through the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) to fight for the ownership of BrisbaneCity.com from current owner Warren Bolton.

Angered by the council's attempts to claim the domain name, Bolton told ZDNet the whole process has been an "unsavoury" business, saying the council is using bullying tactics to claim rights to what is essentially his domain.

"They are taking me to WIPO, I think it really stinks. A senior person at the council threatened me with bankruptcy if I didn't hand it over,

"They are just bullying me, its really unsavoury behaviour," Bolton said.

According to Bolton, he received documentation from the council demanding he hand over the domain name within seven days. Claiming legitimate commercial rights, Bolton wrote back asking for a meeting with members of the council to discuss the issue. However, the council ignored all correspondence and immediately began its action to acquire the name through the WIPO process.

"They haven't even acknowledged the letter. They're acting like thugs," Bolton said.

Bolton claims to have legitimate commercial reasons for owning the domain name, which he plans to set up as an information portal for Brisbane users, however he says the reason for delaying the process is that the market has to be right.

"At present I'm in the process of building a portal site for BrisbaneCity.com. My commercial decision is the market is not ready for a big portal site just yet. Probably five years before it will be commercially viable. I don't see why I should be forced to go into commercial activity before it's viable," Bolton said.

"I've been monitoring other sites in Australia, which have been doing poorly."

Brisbane council owns both domain names, www.ebrisbane.com.au and www.brisbane.qld.gov.au.

"My point of view is that this is a local government wanting to move into the world of commerce,

"Go off and do your local government thing," Bolton said.

A spokesperson for the Brisbane Council was unavailable for comment.

As reported by ZDNet, the council is also in the process of obtaining the domain name Brisbane.com from its owner through the WIPO process.