Note to mods: Not sure if this is the right forum.

Before you read this, I need to make some substitutes for the post. [them] will be used as a substitute for a web hosting company that is banned. Their name starts with C, ends with T. They just recently expanded to Europe. Logo is a circle with two letters.

This morning, a small experimental ad with around 20 views for VerseHost was run on Google AdWords Select. The ad was being placed on Google for testing for an unnamed member of our FineClicks affiliate program to see how it goes since they suggested it. The problem was, our advertisement would be triggered when a search for [them] is done. [them] informed us that this was happening and so we removed it. No clicks, around 20 views of the advertisement were displayed before they contacted us. In the e-mail, they said they were going to sue us for stealing their business.

Supposedly, they have subpoena'd Google for evidence of the search result with their keyword and are going to sue us for stealing their business. Take note that our advertisement made no mention of [them] whatsoever and that it had around 20 views, most of which were from test searches.

I find it hilarious yet annoying that the CEO of a large company like theirs would personally contact me and make a fuss like this over a small text link that barely made it to the monitors of a couple users. I have heard that [them] threatened to sue a couple ex-customers of their company for giving poor feedback back when they had the super long downtime.

I politely replied to the CEO first. He wrote a more threatening e-mail back to me about how we're seriously screwed and everything. This time I was really annoyed and gave him a polite version of "shove it, you're wasting my time with your bullcrap - nobody cares".

I have heard a lot of bad things about [them] and this only adds to the list. They don't even bother to ask what is going on, just "sue them now!" and "your company is in serious trouble".

What is your take on this?

Straight from the desk of their CEO:

Thank you for your time. We will be in touch "David."

You will learn your lesson in using competitors names in an effort to divert
customers to your tier-2, sub-standard hosting company. I am in the process
of pulling your client list now and will contact each to alert them of your
business practices. We, unlike you, have the resources to sue and protect
our interests. You have barely enough money to pay Cogent, your tier-2
bandwidth provider.

How incredibly immature of him. I don't really know what to say here, except that I cannot believe that he would make such a ridiculous statement. Its absurd...

Originally posted by dside443
I am in the process of pulling your client list now and will contact each to alert them of your business practices.
Just might want to save that email... but yes, buying key words like this has actually already been an issue and was settled out of court I believe. I'd have to really dig to find the case and the companies involved.

If you really did buy key words with their name it, then you could have a problem. I am not sure where it is, I would have to dig but I believe it has been taken to court before and monetary damages awarded for the practice.

And in my opinion no matter how bad a company they are name stealing is not a real ethical way to run your business either.

The keyword was temporary because we were testing a whole bunch (inputted a list to see what keywords were priced to compare for the Google estimate). Since it was just a test, the per click limit was set to 5 cents temporarily while I went to research about other keywords. I know that it would be pagejacking if I intentionally ordered advertising using their brand; but that was not the case. It was only left there for a bit while I was playing around with the keywords. The ad got no clicks and few views.

Plus, there is another reputable host listed under the same or similar search keyword. I don't see what the problem was.

Well David,
I support you %100. Of cousre as a satisfied customer, I may be biased, your......

"........ tier-2, sub-standard hosting company"

.... has provided my clients and I with very "above" standard service in my opinion. I am happy to be a customer of Versehost and I do recommend them to friends and clients.
Glenn

Geez...and I cannot even figure out who that mysterious company is.
To my defense, I have chickenpox and the itching keeps about 95% of my brain busy.

I wish I knew who that company is, to stay away from them...:angry:

Originally posted by dside443
Straight from the desk of their CEO:

Thank you for your time. We will be in touch "David."

You will learn your lesson in using competitors names in an effort to divert
customers to your tier-2, sub-standard hosting company. I am in the process
of pulling your client list now and will contact each to alert them of your
business practices. We, unlike you, have the resources to sue and protect
our interests. You have barely enough money to pay Cogent, your tier-2
bandwidth provider.

Oh thats a keeper... Print out 2 copies right now... Send one to your lawyer. Send the other registered mail to your self. When you receive it don't open it and put it somewhere safe (essentially your giving yourself a better legal timestamp then a date printed on a peice of paper).

Since your DNS info says your in Jersey (even though a traceroute leaves me in DC w/ cogent) and they (said other host involved) doesn't have any offices there you'd be in federal court.

So :D --> (Man.. It took me a long time to look this up)

Tortious Interference with a Business Relationship
(Also NJ has a law Tortious Interference with a Prospective Business Relationship)
but, I digress...

The elemental proofs for it are:

A valid, enforcable contract must exist b/twn A & B
Party C knows that a contract exists b/twn A & B
Party C intentionally causes one of the 2 parties to breach the contract. Party C must have a economic benifit from his actions.


& Your case law references
-> Lumley v. Gye, 1853
-> Texaco, Inc v. Pennzoil Co.,
-> Kallok v Medtronic....

Hope you get to see what he writes to your customers... Get some libel action in there as well :D..

How is he going to obtain your clients list? And how does he feel that he has the right to contact your clients? As Studio64 pointed out, you would probably have a good counter-suite against them for libel also.

I'm gessing that if the server is name based, he can do a reverse IP lookup on that IP and find out all the domains attached to it. Or, he can find every single IP on that machine and do the exact same thing. It'll take a while, but he can do it.

Brian

cyansmoker, it's the company that had a long downtime during December 1999 - January 2000.

Thanks Studio64 for your advice.

Originally posted by dside443
cyansmoker, it's the company that had a long downtime during December 1999 - January 2000.

Thanks Studio64 for your advice.

That clue gave it away... *I know* :stickout

--Shaun.

Originally posted by dside443
Straight from the desk of their CEO:

Thank you for your time. We will be in touch "David."

You will learn your lesson in using competitors names in an effort to divert
customers to your tier-2, sub-standard hosting company. I am in the process
of pulling your client list now and will contact each to alert them of your
business practices. We, unlike you, have the resources to sue and protect
our interests. You have barely enough money to pay Cogent, your tier-2
bandwidth provider.

what kind of crap is that? Obviously they seem to think they are superior over your company.

Keep all the docs you can and is trys to sue you then file a counter suit.

check your logs too and see if he really is trying to check your dns servers for your client list.

Hang on... " starts with C, ends with T"....of course!

Oh, well, d'uh!

Like they can give anybody lessons...

What company is it?

It's a censored word, I wouldn't be able to use it here. Rearrange these scrambled letters: S - H - I - T - C - O. (the company name ends with HOST)

My virgin eyes!

Originally posted by dside443
It's a censored word, I wouldn't be able to use it here. Rearrange these scrambled letters: S - H - I - T - C - O. (the company name ends with HOST)

ROFLMAO!!!!

You mean your virgin see eyes? (host)
How bold of them.

Those were precisely the words I was looking for!

Thank you ATST.

Amazing what anagrams can reveal :D...

Some more humorous ones..

Dormitory = Dirty Room
Desperation = A Rope Ends It
The Morse Code = Here Come Dots
Eleven plus two = Twelve plus one

And my favorite one of all...

To be or not to be; that is the question, whether tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.

=

In one of the Bard's best-thought-of tragedies, our insistent hero, Hamlet, queries on two fronts about how life turns rotten

Now that's weird :D

Originally posted by Studio64

Dormitory = Dirty Room


Ahh, those were the good days.

It seems that another company (starts with a B) is now advertising under the [them] keyword too. I'm sure they're going to get a letter of "WE'RE GOING TO SUE YOUR SECOND RATE COMPANY" too. :alien: