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Corporate Giant Gap Inc tries to Close Small UK Web Site
Added: (Fri Apr 18 2003)
The Gap Inc, the High Street clothes store well known for its slick advertising and youth-conscious image, is using all its corporate might to close a small British web site called ‘Global Affiliate Programs’ because they operate from the Internet domain name www.gap-online.co.uk.
In the bizarre ‘cyber-squatting’ claim The Gap Inc, through their corporate lawyers Clifford Chance of London, allege that visitors to the Global Affiliate Programs site would be confused into thinking they were visiting a Gap Inc site. They also claim that the site's appearance is similar to gap.com, an allegation which the operators of Global Affiliate Programs deride as laughable. [See notes for reporters.]
The Global Affiliate Programs web site is a directory of advertising and affiliate programs for people looking to add adverts to their own sites. It has been operating without any attention from Gap Inc for over two years.
The dispute between the American based giant and the British based minnow is now in the hands on Nominet UK, the officially recognised registry for UK domain names. The Gap Inc's lawyers have demanded that the British web site hand over its web address, but they have refused. Global Affiliate Programs is owned by Cybernet Ventures Limited which also runs the popular Find UK (http://www.find-uk.com) UK search engine.
Cybernet Ventures Limited’s Company Secretary, George Forsyth, who has responsibility for Global Affiliate Programs, said:
"The site has been live at www.gap-online.co.uk for two and a half years now. It’s very strange that they are pursuing their claim to the domain name after such a long time. I wonder if The Gap Inc.have just decided to move into the online UK market, but found that all the suitable domain names are taken? Their claim is nonsense and we have been both reasonable and helpful in this matter. We’re now going to let Nominet decide the site’s fate, but have every confidence that this will be seen as a case of reverse domain name hijacking on GAP’s part.
Nominet UK are expected to make on decision on the matter in April.
ENDS
Note to reporters.
Copies of all correspondence between Clifford Chance, Cybernet Ventures Ltd
and Nominet are available online in pdf format at
http://www.gap-online.co.uk/attemptoclosethissite.htm.
2. Screen grabs of both the Global Affiliate site and Gap Inc’s US web site can be found at http://www.gap-online.co.uk/spotthedifference.htm.
George Forsyth can be contacted on 020 8330 5579 or 07980 396942