BUY.COM v. BUY.COM.AU

I.T. reports that eVentures - a $50 million Internet incubator owned by News Corp and Softbank - was to launch a local version of the American discount retailer Buy.com this month. However a separate business, Buy.com.au, began running metropolitan newspaper advertisements at the weekend to herald the imminent launch of an auction site.

eVentures lodged a Federal Court application yesterday afternoon seeking to restrain the owner of the site, Duncan Angus, from launching his business until the case was heard. It is the third time eVentures, formed to take US Internet brands to international markets, has faced domain name problems in Australia. It had been set to re-name major US mortgage site Eloan as iLoan in Australia this year until a last-minute settlement involving several hundred thousand dollars and equity was reached with an Australian business of that name.

Eloan.com.au had been launched as Australia's first online mortgage site by Great Southern Home Loans in 1999.

On another front, eVentures has been involved in a low-level spat with an events marketing company, eVentures (Australia), which has owned the domain eventures.com.au since 1996.

eVentures CEO Andrew Isles said cybersquatting and domain disputes in general had not been foreseen as a problem for eVentures' plans to take dot-com brands into Australia, UK and India. "A company should be able to use their name. It's hard to anticipate people acting inappropriately, either morally or commercially ... We are very determined and will be vigorous through the courts."

But the suggestion of cybersquatting was rejected by Stephen White of Stephen White Computer Law, who says his client, Angus, ran a major IT training business, Angus Knight Learning. Angus Knight employs several hundred staff, is a member of the Australian Telecommunication Users Group and Australian Securities Institute, and launched a $3 million online training project, LearnNow.com.au, last month.

White said his client had registered the business name in 1998 and the domain name buy.com.au in February 1999 with the intention of setting up an online auction site.

"It's a good name to have. It's like sold.com.au, auction.com.au or travel.com.au. They are all generic names and they are good," said White.

The company had been contacted by eVentures prior to running advertising at the weekend, but White said that Angus had no intention of selling the name.

"My client is busy setting up a business under that name. Buy.com think they have rights in relation to the word 'buy' ... We say this is a case of a large US corporation flexing its muscle," said White.

A directions hearing is set down for Thursday and White said the outcome of the case would be "a very important decision".

Buy.com's Australian head, Richard Baillie, said a contingency plan for the launch of the Australian business would see local Internet users directed initially to the US site.

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