Re: list lawyers - read this

["Mike Green" <mikeg@rennlist.com>]

Dan & others,

    I was on the ass-end of Porsche's battle for marque
purity/domination/etc.  I did the shirts for the list formerly known as
PORSCHELIST.ORG (now rennlist.org).  Porsche spent mega$$$ taking the site
down, actually, it never went down, just changed names (and got a bunch of
great benefits in the process, but I still like PORSCHELIST..).. and the
admin of the list spent mega$$$ defending the case.  I'm not going to give
any numbers, but let's say he coulda bought a new 996 with the lawyer money.
    On the list, we praised the marque... Yea, we blasted the dealers
somtimes for reaming us on parts with no offer to use KY... but we got
people to buy real porsche parts, got newbies to buy the whole damn
cars...Porsche just wanted complete control over their name...

    Now how does this effect audifans? I would hope to say NOT AT ALL..
Cause I would *hope* to think Audi is notlike Porsche in this respect
(granted, the TT looks like the 996 got it on with the new Beetle and it was
the child, as Bill said on our p-list..).  Is audifans infringing on the
name, yes, but unless audi is hell bent like Porsche to have complete
dominion over their name, I would not worry about it.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mike Green
mikeg@rennlist.com                        | AOL IM S/N "nekbet"
Rennlist Member #990602-1264     | PCA - Sonnenschein Region #1999040094
'85/1 Guards Red 944NA               | Wrecked 10/3/99 :-(
'90 745GLE 16v Volvo (temporary)  | Univ. of Central Florida - Orlando, FL
website http://www.sonnenscheinpca.com/Mike
"Friends don't let friends drive on I-95"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



----- Original Message -----
From: Dan Simoes <dans@iclick.com>
To: <quattro@audifans.com>
Sent: Friday, November 19, 1999 1:02 PM
Subject: list lawyers - read this


How does the following affect audifans.com, in your opinion?

Thanks.

| Dan |

SOURCE: Porsche Cars North America Inc.

Porsche Applauds Congress' Passing of Cyberpiracy Bill

ATLANTA, Nov. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Porsche Cars North America Inc. (PCNA),
is presently battling hundreds of cyberpirates who have registered
Internet domain
names that attempt to capitalize on the worldwide fame of the trademark
Porsche®. Cyberpirates engage in the predatory and parasitical practice
of including Porsche® in a
domain name in order to attract Internet traffic to hard-core porn
sites, in order to give themselves instant recognition on the Internet,
in order to extort money from Porsche
Cars, or in order to otherwise take advantage of the goodwill that
Porsche has developed in one of the most recognized brands throughout
the world. With the rapid explosion of the Internet, competition for
the attention of the nearly 200 million web users is fierce, and trading
on the goodwill of famous trademarks is one way for web site operators
to get noticed.

``Famous trademarks such as Porsche® are some of the most important
assets of well-known corporations,'' noted Patricia R. Britton, General
Counsel of Porsche Cars North America. ``Porsche has spent
millions in promoting its trademarks. Porsche simply cannot afford to
have its world renowned name tarnished and diluted by the unauthorized
misappropriation of its trademarks in domain names on the
<big snip>
+++