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WhitePage.com.au to be shut down - 1:23 PM, 10/30/2006

Urgent Announcement

WhitePage.com.au to be shut down forever.

Dear WhitePagers,

Telstra Corporation Limited has ordered the shutdown of Whitepage.com.au

Over the last 12 months WhitePage.com.au has grown to host over 10,000 personal blogs visited by over 12,000 users per day.
It’s with bitter disappointment that we announce to you the news of the recent WIPO (world governing body that determines the ownership of domain names) order to transfer WhitePage.com.au to Telstra Corporation Limited.

On the 5th of October Dr. Michael J. Spence of WIPO (http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/panel/profiles/spence-michaelj.pdf) has decided in favor of Telstra Corporation Limited in the dispute over the domain name WhitePage.com.au. Specifically Dr. Spence found that

  1. WhitePage.com.au is confusingly similar to whitepageS.com.au and breaches White Pages trademark owned by Telstra Corporation Limited.
  2. That AAA Marketing World (the current owner and people behind WhitePage.com.au) had NO LEGITIMATE BUSINESS interest in the WhitePage.com.au domain name.
  3. That AAA Marketing World has registered this domain name in BAD FAITH and in offering you free blogging service was ridding off the famous White Pages brand name.

Full text of this decision can be found at: http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/decisions/html/2006/dau2006-0008.html

Needless to say that we strongly deny all of the above accusations. We do not believe that Telstra Corporation Limited has exclusive right to the two generic and descriptive words “White” and “Page” and subsequently the domain name WhitePage.com.au that was available to the public at the time of us registering it. We invested our personal time and funds to cover advertising and employment costs associated with this project. We have good reputation in the field of Internet marketing, helping create and develop such famous brands as HotelClub.com, RatesToGo.com, ProductReview.com.au and many more. We have not acted in bad faith by developing WhitePage.com.au service.

Shortly after the WIPO decision was announced AAA Marketing World has contacted Telstra Corporation Limited calling to their common sense and requesting a meeting in order to discuss the many possible technical and legal resolutions to this situation. We aimed to ensure uninterrupted operation of your blogs while delivering complete protection to Telstra Corporation Limited trade marks. In our letter we have explained the intent of WhitePage.com.au and provided the numbers of free personal pages hosted at this domain name as well as the damage the transfer of WhitePage.com.au will cause to what now is Australia’s largest free online blogging site.

The Legal Counsel for Sensis Pty Ltd Mr. Bruno Macri has responded on the 26th of October 2006. Below is the extract from Telstra’s response.

“We acknowledge the intent and purpose of your ‘blog’ web site and stress that we are not concerned with the nature of your business, or web site content. Telstra’s only interest and concern is with the name, (and in particular the URL) in which your ‘blog’ web site is associated.

We believe that Telstra’s concerns in this matter have been made clear to you throughout the course of correspondence and Telstra believes that the decision of the WIPO Panellist is correct.

We do not accept that an obligation to transfer the domain name to Telstra will produce a number of complaints and negative media coverage towards Telstra, as there is no causal connection between registration of the domain name by you, and Telstra. Accordingly, we recommend that you seek to register an alternative domain name for your ‘blog’ web site and seek legal advice to ensure that such name is unlikely to infringe third party rights prior to it being used. We then recommend that you contact your users and provide them with your new domain name address”.

We now expect that WhitePage.com.au domain name may stop functioning as early as Wednesday the 1st of November.

Our last hope in saving WhitePage.com.au is to raise media and public support in hope to penetrate the bureaucratic ignorance of Telstra’s executives.

Here’s what you can do to help:

  1. Write or Call Telstra Corporation Limited

    Sol Trujillo - Chief Executive Officer
    sol.trujillo@team.telstra.com

    Bruce J Akhurst - Group Managing Director - Telstra Media Services and CEO Sensis Pty Ltd
    Bruce.J.Akhurst@team.telstra.com

    Phil Burgess - Group Managing Director - Public Policy & Communications
    Phil.Burgess@team.telstra.com

    David Moffatt - Group Managing Director - Telstra Consumer Marketing & Channels
    David.Moffatt@team.telstra.com

    Bruno Macri - Legal Counsel
    bruno.macri@sensis.com.au

    Andrew Maiden - Telstra News Services
    andrew.maiden@team.telstra.com

    Let them know how disappointed you are in Telstra and their ignorance.

  2. VERY IMPORTANT.

    Write to any local and national media representatives: local and national newspapers, every current affairs website you can find. Let them know about this injustice.

    Please include:

    Today Tonight
    http://www.seven.com.au/todaytonight/contact_suggest
    Craig McPherson & Neil Mooney
    cmcpherson@seven.com.au
    nmooney@seven.com.au

    A Current Affair
    http://aca.ninemsn.com.au/feedback/default.aspx?formid=228
    David Hurley
    dhurley@nine.com.au

    Sunrise
    http://www.seven.com.au/sunrise/form_contactus

    Today Show
    Mike Dalton
    mdalton@nine.com.au

  3. Write to Dr. Michael J. Spence and WIPO – let them know how you feel about the unjust decision they have made by letting one of the richest corporations destroy Australia’s largest free online blogging community.

Do not be silent - please help save your free online blogging community.

What about my blog?

Your blogs and all the related data can now be accessed via the newly registered www.blognow.com.au. All your “log in” details remain unchanged. In gaining the domain name Telstra Corporation Limited will not get access to any of your blogs or personal data registered with WhitePage.com.au. We will continue to provide free blogging service via www.blognow.com.au regardless of the outcome of this dispute.

The support e-mail address is now also changed to support@blognow.com.au – please address all correspondence related to this matter or the support of your blogs to this address.

We thank you for your continued support.

Best Regards,
AAA Marketing World
WhitePage.com.au



Post Comment
typical telstra - 6:11 PM, 10/30/2006

wants to own everything...


Posted by shakingtheworld
This is just stupid - 7:15 PM, 10/30/2006

Im sure you guys wouldnt of had a problem with just chucking a whitepages logo on the front or somethign but this is just stupid.

Posted by diablo
Telstra all over! - 8:03 AM, 10/31/2006

Greed and lack of concern for anybody - that's Telstra all over.
Probably a lot of us who use WhitePage are Telstra customers - wonder how they'd feel if we all took our phone or internet accounts elsewhere?
For those of us who have gone to the trouble of listing our blogs with directories, it means we have to do all that work over again. Reckon we should all bill Telstra for our time?

Posted by revlynn
Spelling - 9:53 AM, 10/31/2006

It's got nothing to do with greed. Americans are well known for their inability to spell. Poor old Sol must have been tearing his hair out with that pesky "S" on the end of whitepages...

Posted by plonka
Untitled Comment - 10:31 AM, 10/31/2006

Well, congratulations,Telstra. You have scored a minor victory, but at a cost. I will be cancelling my Telstra homephone account in protest, and moving to another carrier.
So enjoy your victory : but also enjoy not getting a freakin' red cent from me in the process.

Posted by watchdoggie1951
BlogOz - 10:36 AM, 10/31/2006

If we can't keep whitepage, how about 'BlogOz'?

Cheers,
Gryphonn


Posted by gryphonn
Blogoz - 11:35 AM, 10/31/2006

I like that one and it is available akthough the .com is registered to a French company.

All the other version of whitepage.?.au and mywhitepage are still available. Surprised Telstra haven't registered them.

Revlynn is right, it is a hassle changing listings and links.

Almost wish I had an account with Telstra so I could cancel it.


Edited by jd on 10/30/2006 at 6:26 PM

Posted by jd
Telstra are nasty and stupid bastards! - 11:35 AM, 10/31/2006

In New Zealand, Telstra were preventing everyone from getting broadband, to protect their wire industry, until the NZ government finally stepped in and forced them to allow broadband, which will still take years to establish.

In Australia, Telecom (an earlier name for the same assholes) had a monopoly and were charging outrageous prices until Optus managed to start up. They changed their name to Telstra and did a lot of public relations work only because everyone had begun to despise Telecom.

And now they're really showing what stupid bastards they can be by crushing anything that might look like an opposition to them (but isn't).

I searched the internet for a blogging website that was easy to understand and easy to use and whitepage was the *only* one I could find that was perfect in those two respects! Whitepage, you're heroes, all of you!

It was obvious to me from the beginning that the name White Page referred to the fact that all the blogs are on a white page. It was always completely clear to me, and I'm sure to everyone else, that it had nothing to do with Telstra or with *their* Whitepages! They're just a bunch of bullies, throwing their weight around and using their money, or rather "our" money to beat courageous little guys like you into the ground. They have no intelligence or understanding, and not a shred of moral decency!

Posted by smokinggun
Why Telstra ONLY? - 12:53 PM, 10/31/2006

Why should blame Telstra for a monopoly factually ruling not telecommunication industry somewhere only?

Telstra just takes an advantage from situation as someone ruled that “White Pages” and “White Page” is the same.

However, even the brief web browsing allows finding www.cartoon.co.uk, www.cartoon.com, www.cartoon.net and too many similar stuff worldwide.

Should Disney or any other studio be offended with or contributed for?


Posted by mkwrk
DONT STAND FOR TELSTRAS BULLSH*T - 1:04 PM, 10/31/2006

I urge everyone to do as I have done and lobby all the above email addresses tell them how you feel and threaten to take any Telstra accounts you may have elsewhere. Yes we can change the web site name, but why should we? Telstra are bang out of line here!

THE MORE WE LET CORPORATE ORGANIZATIONS LIKE TELSTRA GET AWAY WITH, THE MORE LIBERTIES THEY WILL TAKE, DONT STAND FOR IT!

Posted by surfpunk
Gee golly gosh! - 1:07 PM, 10/31/2006

Is anyone really surprised? The choice of a domain name similar to Telstra's was surely deliberate, presumably with the "clever" marketing idea of picking up unearned visitors -- the same reason domains like microsfot.com have been taken. And you guys at whitepage must have been fully aware of the risks as well as the benefits of the choice. It was all predictable, whatever the rights and wrongs of Telstra's stance. But now you cry foul, while announcing business as usual at a new domain, complete with ugly banners inserted in users' pages.

I'd be more sympathetic if your service had been better. I gave up after about three unanswered support requests.


Posted by pbloxsom
White PAGE shut down! - 3:03 PM, 10/31/2006

I never associated 'WhitePage' with Telstras 'white pages'.
Just one more reason not to deal with Telstra EVER!.
What a lot of c..p!
...very upsetting!

Posted by ben
Corporate thuggery - 4:20 PM, 10/31/2006

This is corporate dictatorship at its very worst. Surely Sol and his amigos have more pressing matters to deal with than our family of bloggers who mostly couldn't give a stuff about Telstra and its money-making White Pages.

Posted by Bromo
Telstra - 5:40 PM, 10/31/2006

Telstra has had a name for poor service, for years, adding to it's name is bad sportsmanship, bad faith, can only be the result of bad management.
As long as soulless Cooperation such as Telstra exist who are only profit minded, and don't want to give you anything more than the bear minimum you will have such problems.


Posted by Theoden
confused citizen - 5:43 PM, 10/31/2006

i thought that white page was actually associated with white pageS but i fully support this website and the people on it

Posted by anjel22
Jealous are they? - 5:55 PM, 10/31/2006

I think the only reason Telstra has taken this action, is they are jealous that the whitepage.com.au blog, is more of a successful then whitepages.com.au will ever be.

And with The WIPO any deals going on Telstra?

Posted by kwv
Enough is Enough - 6:04 PM, 10/31/2006

Why would Telstra need to register all the domain names close to theirs? They just wait until somebody else does it & then send their legal team in (which is, by the way, massive as they have most of the larger law firms on retainer, so that decent counsel is almost impossible to find when one has to defend one's own interests - conflict of interests & all that). There is one law firm in Sydney who has REFUSED to be "bought" - details can be provided if needed.

I don't for a second think that "WhitePage" was created without the preconceived notion of "spill off" from mispelling of the other site, but good luck to you - you saw an opportunity, you created an all Australian product with a legitimate tie to the name you have chosen, and one which bears no resemblance to the business interests of Telstra. You could have set up one of those directory pages full of adsense - but you did something constructive with it.

Their arrogance and misuse of money pursuing frivolous legal pursuits, and the money needed to defend them is what peevs me the most. "White" and "Page" ARE generic, common EVERY DAY words, as is "yellow" what gives them the right to call them their own.

By the way, I believe www.f*#kwhitepages.com.au is available ;-)


Posted by dinkidi
Big business bully - 9:01 PM, 10/31/2006

Well well well. Even if Telstra pay my meal, I would still say it. It is just not fair. On the other hand, I need come across this site because I typed the wrong address.

Anyhow, why can't they just politely ask for a reference of a link to their whitepage, rather than getting rid of it.

Simply unfair.

I will name myself Telstra Takahashi from tomorrow. Suck me!

Posted by taka
Boycotted!! - 9:50 AM, 11/1/2006

These @*^@$*! have been boycotted from our household a looooong time ago! We don't want anything to do with these cartel bullies. They think they have all the power in the world, but as the recent statistics are showing, they're popularity is going downhill FAST!! Choice is power, people!! A big fat "nyuck nyuck nyuck" to Telstra.

Posted by blackrose
Happy Halloween from Telstra - 2:11 PM, 11/1/2006

A perfect Halloween present actually, from the satanic cult called Telstra!

Posted by yiyeeew
Tassie Precedent - 3:19 PM, 11/1/2006

No surprise the big company won on this case. In Tassie, we had a similar case where the shoe was on the other foot and the big company still won through.

A small local family clothes business had been trading for many decades as Targets. They fought to prevent Target moving in with a similar name. Targets lost and Target was allowed to move in. Legal eagles decided the extra S made the names sufficiently different!

Perhaps someone at the Whitepage legal team (yeah right!) could use this precedent as leverage to at least get Telstra to put up a splash screen allowing whitepage visitors a choice between the phone directory and blognow.

Posted by tastrekker
Perhaps BigBlog is the Culprit - 4:13 PM, 11/1/2006

A few comments have suggested Telstra are protecting their WhitePages brand name and product. I do not believe this is the case.

Surely this is a tactic to protect their BigBlog product which is a newish feature on BigPond. What better way to get yourself into the market than by cutting your biggest competitor off at the knees? Sure, WhitePagers will soon tell their adoring fans about the new URLs but it will be a pain in the bum and you can only notify the fans you know about. This will be a major setback for BigBlog's biggest competitor.

On the subject of BigPond, I just became aware that BigPond does not meter BigPond content when it is accessed by BigPond customers. (I.e. It does not count towards your traffic volume if you are on a BigPond ADSL plan.) For this reason, BigPond would love to attract the best bloggers to BigBlog so it can use unmetered access to 'great blogs' as another selling point when flogging it's Internet plans.

Posted by tastrekker
Telstra has used bullying tactics for a long time ... - 10:48 AM, 11/5/2006

Which is why they have become the least popular supplier of ANYTHING in Australia.

Well done guys for fighting back, this will be a good lesson for an organisation that needs to take a good hard look at why their attitude is their biggest downfall.

You've developed a great product and Ozzies will use you no matter what you're called!

Remember this Consfucious Saying "If you are intent on revenge, dig two graves!"

Ma'm

Posted by madamsplash
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