E-DRUG: HealthNet.com sues Healthnet.org
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dear E-druggers,
A large HMO in California (called HealthNet, using the commercial
domain healthnet.com) is sueing the host of our E-drug server
(SatelLife) for using the domain healthnet.org This might threathen
the very existence of our E-drug discussion.
A short article appeared this week about this conflict in the BMJ
(see below).
It might help if E-druggers send a polite email to the CEO of
HealthNet ( Cora Tellez ) and ask the court case against SatelLife /
healthnet.org to be stopped, as healthnet.org (the non-profit NGO
SatelLife) is giving a lot of support to E-druggers in developing
countries.
Send your polite (but clear) message to email:
cora.tellez@healthnet.com
with a copy to their PR person (Dan T Niccum) at email:
<Dan_T_Niccum@Notes.FH.Com>
Please send a blind copy to Holy Ladd of healthnet.org/SatellLife at
email:
hladd@usa.healthnet.org
Thanks for your support of SatelLife / Healthnet.org
Wilbert Bannenberg
E-drug co-moderator
Email: WilbertBannenberg@compuserve.com
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http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/319/7225/1592/f
News extra
HMO sues charity over domain name
Douglas Carnall BMJ
A large Californian health maintenance organisation is suing a health
charity because it wants its internet domain name.
HealthNet is owned by Foundation Health Systems and looks after 2.2
million Californians with a budget of $8.9bn (�5.6bn). In contrast,
SatelLife, which owns the HealthNet.org domain name has an annual
budget of just over $1m (�625 000). It helps health workers in 164
countries access health information using email and a cheap low orbit
satellite connection (see /cgi/content/full/313/7072/1606).
HealthNet registered its name as a trademark in 1981, but did not
register HealthNet.net and HealthNet.com as domain names until three
years after SatelLife registered HealthNet.org in May 1993.
The charity is not keen to give way. "Changing the domain names would
involve reprogramming machines in many remote developing world
locations, as well as the satellite," said SatelLife director Holly
Ladd.
"We estimate it would cost more than $1m to do, and create
considerable confusion amongst our overseas users. There is little
likelihood that users would confuse healthnet.org with healthnet.com.
After all, they plan to spend $20m on their web presence alone next
year."
The charity is also unhappy about the $7000 legal bill the action has
already incurred, though its future costs are being met on a pro bono
basis by a sympathetic legal firm. Until 1993, domain name
registration was under the aegis of a single organisation, Network
Solutions, who tightly maintained access to the coveted ".com" ".org"
".net" and ".edu" domains.
The process was fully privatised in 1998. The history of this process
is described at www.networksolutions.com/internic/internic.html. The
non-profit organisation that oversees the domain name registration
companies is ICANN. Its policy on dispute resolution is at
www.icann.org/udrp/udrp-policy-24oct99.htm
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