Monday, June 23, 2003 11:43 AM CDT
State department names used by pro-life Web sites
By LIZ OWENS, Courier Des Moines Bureau
DES MOINES --- At least two state departments learned last week that Web sites bearing their names are directing people to an anti-abortion site, and the Attorney General's Office is exploring whether the state is the victim of illegal "cybersquatting."
Cybersquatting is when someone "in bad faith exploits a famous or distinctive trademark ... to gain publicity and divert traffic," said Felicia Boyd, a lawyer at Faegre & Benson in Minneapolis, which is currently dealing with a similar case.
Iowa Department of Education officials found out the domain www.iowadepartmentofeducation.com, which they don't own, is directing people to www.abortionismurder.org.
"We weren't aware of this situation," said Kathi Slaughter, a spokeswoman for the Iowa Department of Education. "Our legal staff is looking into it."
A trip to www.iowadepartmentoftransportation.com produces an identical result.
Dena Gray-Fisher, a spokeswoman with the Iowa Department of Transportation, said officials are not too concerned.
"We have not used that domain," she said. "We do not use dot-coms, so really we don't see any concerns. We're not anticipating any action at this point."
Slaughter said her department has been working with the Attorney General's Office to determine the proper course of action against the site's owner. Pro-Life Domains is the owner of the site, according to Ignus Inc., a technology firm that tracks domain ownership.
Chris Scase, assistant attorney general, said what the domain owner is doing might be illegal under a law that protects consumers against "cybersquatting."
"We're trying to determine whether there's a provision under that act (that applies to this situation)," Scase said. The office is exploring trademark laws and fraud as other possibilities and may take action early next week, she added.
Ignus Inc.'s site only identifies Pro-Life Domains as the owner of the Department of Education site, but it lists John Barry of Bronx, N.Y., with Pro-Life Domains, as the person responsible for the DOT site.
Brock Griffin, an account manager at Ignus Inc., said the DOT domain owner information had been updated as recently as June 9, meaning Barry was the identified owner as of then.
A person who answered the phone at the number listed for Pro-Life Domains, which is registered to John Barry, admitted responsibility for the Department of Education domain but did not give his name.
According to the National Arbitration Forum, which deals with domain name disputes, a John Barry of Bronx, N.Y., has been involved in similar cases with businesses including Sears, Roebuck and Co., the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago and the Taylor Corp. In all three, a final ruling directed transfer of the domain name from Barry to the complainant.
Although Pro-Life Domains owns the sites in question, Thomas P.A. Fitch is legally responsible for www.abortionismurder.org, the site to which people are directed. Fitch said his organization didn't ask anybody to make these domains point toward his site, but he has no problem with this kind of support.
"We sure don't mind that traffic," he said.
Fitch said his organization often hears from people questioning why or complaining because domains take them to his anti-abortion site. At first, he simply told people that his organization doesn't own the Web site, but "lately, we just started ignoring them," Fitch said.
Nevertheless, these additional sites contribute heavily to www.abortionismurder.org's traffic. Thirty-five percent to 45 percent of its visitors come from domains people have pointed toward the site, Fitch said.
Iowa's department names aren't the only ones being used. Sites for Illinois, Nebraska and Ohio departments, as well as others, also point to the abortion site.