LCC Attack LOP

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04 Dec 2000
Nominet to LCC
25 Oct 2000
LOW to Nominet
09 Oct 2000
Nominet to LOW
23 Jun 2000
LOW to Nominet
12 Jun 2000
Nominet to LOW
01 Jun 2000
LCC to Nominet
26 Mar 2000
Nominet to LCC
12 Mar 2000
LOW to Nominet
06 Mar 2000
Nominet LOW
21 Feb 2000
LCC to Low
21 Feb 2000
LCC to Nominet

LOW to Nominet
12 March 2000

Dear Nominet

Re: Internet Domain Name: leicestercitycouncil.co.uk

Thank you for your letter and enclosures of 6 march 2000 regarding the above URL.

We do not agree with the position adopted by Leicester City Council (LCC) and would like to appeal against any decision to suspend our site. With regard to the claims made by LCC our position is as follows:

1.    The name www.leicestercitycouncil.co.uk is the URL of the online publication Leicester’s Other Website (LOW). LCC is the theme of the site.

2.    Leicester’s Other Website is the online publication of Leicester’s Other Paper. LOP featured articles, views and news concerning LCC and Leicester. LOP ceased printed publication in 1996 after nearly four years. The website version was developed to pursue and focus on LCC issues. The LCC theme was chosen as the URL of the website and it went online in 1999.

Our URL is not a company name and we are unsure how LCC are equating company law to this matter. It is clear that we have no intention of giving the impression that we are in any way connected with the City Council. Nor do we seek their approval or endorsement.

3.     It is important to us at LOW that we are not confused with LCC. We actively avoid confusion by:

a	clearly naming the index.htm page Leicester’s Other Website;
b	having a distinctive logo incorporating the name Leicester’s Other Website;
c	showing our email as eg:
	editor@leicestersotherwebsite
	feedback@leicestersotherwebsite
d	having clear links to the LCC.gov.uk site on:
	http://www.leicestercitycouncil.co.uk
	http://www.leicestercitycouncil.co.uk/disclaimer.htm
e	having a clear disclaimer that reads:

Please note that www.leicestercitycouncil.co.uk is the online publication of Leicester's Other Website. This site is in no way connected to the government institution known as Leicester City Council, Leicester UK. The proprietors of this site in no way claim to represent Leicester City Council or to speak on their behalf.
Our full disclaimer is enclosed as enc01

4.    The NOMINET UK ruling on this matter (Rules for .uk and its sub-domains, section 3.5, bullet point 3) states:

“NOMINET UK may cancel a registration or suspend delegation of a name... if that... name is being used in a manner likely to cause confusion to internet users.

We hope that we have clearly shown above that the name is not being used in any way that could possibly cause confusion to users. Our site was set up and run in good faith. We also feel it is likely that surfers finding our site will bring extra traffic to the LCC site (from our links). LOW is therefore likely to be a helpful asset to users seeking LCC.

5.    If LCC would like to make clear to us how they feel this URL is being used in a manner likely to cause confusion to internet users, we will be happy to consider making changes and make every effort to address their concerns.

6.    We are developing LOW as a major Leicester resource and we are not at the present time considering moving the site to another URL. Leicester City Council must understand that a considerable amount of time and expense has been put into the creation and promotion of this site. Moving to a new URL would incur further expense and the possible loss of current users.

Since we have no intention of misleading users and feel the name is being used within the rulings determined by NOMINET, we would not lightly consider the inconvenience and expense of re-establishing at an alternative URL.

I hope that this will help to resolve the matter and put the fears of LCC to rest. Please contact me if I can be of any further help in resolving this situation.

Yours sincerely
*Leicester’s Other* Website**	<home><top><next>