Looking for a provocative email address? For a paltry US$5 a month, Voguemail will give you any address ending in @actup.com. ACT-UP, however, may not be amused. "We were pretty appalled ... It's a complete violation of our democratic principles," says ACT-UP webmaster Steven Shapiro.
Email Service Provider Voguemail is offering personalized email addresses for those who seek "memorable" names. The only catch is that the addresses utilize commercial domain names for nonprofit organizations such as the NRA, ACLU, PETA, NAACP, and ACT-UP. The domains don't belong to the trademarked nonprofits.
None of the organizations that Voguemail has targeted are pleased, but lawsuits would be too costly for these cash-strapped nonprofits; ACT-UP can only afford a letter in complaint. Even the ACLU has yet to contact Voguemail with its objections, although a spokesperson comments that "we are not tolerant of the commercial use of our trademark." Tom Fortier, Voguemail's owner, has a different perspective: "I think if ever I was in trouble that the ACLU would help me - this is what they stand for."
Knock-off domain names of commercial companies aren't unusual. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, for example, went to InterNIC for help earlier this year when a group registered peta.org for a site called People Eating Tasty Animals. Though domain names are free for the taking, protection from angry trademarked businesses is not guaranteed. "If the NRA comes along with the trademark and wants the name, they'll have to give it up," Electronic Freedom Frontier legal counsel Sherry Steele comments.
So far, the glamour of "nra.net" doesn't seem to be drawing crowds. Says Fortier, "I haven't even come close to making the money I've spent on this - it's a pretty pricey hobby."
