FC: MetsOnline.net reportedly thwacked with trademark threats

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

http://www.metsonline.net/metsonline-ceaseanddesist.html

   MetsOnline.net Ordered To Cease & Desist

   MetsOnline.net site administrator Bryan Hoch -- a 20-year-old college
   student at the State University of New York at Rockland -- received a
   cease-and-desist order via electronic mail from Major League Baseball
   Properties dated July 25, 2002. The e-mail ordered Hoch to deactivate
   MetsOnline.net and transfer its domain name, as well as all
   information regarding its operations, to MLBP effective 5 p.m. July
   30.

   The order also threatened Hoch with further legal action to recover
   appropriate compensation for use of the Mets marks.

   Note: When Hoch placed a call to a Mets official, he was told that not
   only that the Mets were unaware of MLBP's actions, but that: "We
   really appreciate our fan sites, because they promote the game and our
   product. We hope you'll be able to keep on doing what you've been
   doing, and that's creating a great resource for Mets fans."

   The grounds of the order from MLBP are as follows:
     * "Your registration of www.metsonline.net violates the
       Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act ("ACPA") (15 U.S.C. §
       1125(d)), a federal statute which provides a cause of action to
       eliminate the practice of those who, with a bad faith intent to
       profit, register and use the marks of others as domain names.
       Given that (1) you have no trademark right in the Mets' Marks; (2)
       your intent in registering www.metsonline.net was to divert
       consumers from the online location of the Mets to your own; (3)
       you have intentionally failed to maintain accurate contact
       information for www.metsonline.net; and (4) the famous nature of
       the Mets' Marks, it is clear that you have registered and used
       www.metsonline.net with a bad faith intent to profit. Therefore,
       your registration and use of www.metsonline.net establishes a
       violation of the ACPA and other federal and state laws."

   The truth of the matter, however, is far different.

   MetsOnline.net does not profit in any way from the service we provide
   to over 100,000 New York Mets fans who visit the site each week. In
   fact, any revenue received from advertising goes directly to
   CIHost.com, our web provider, who charges us a substantial fee for Web
   hosting and excessive traffic.

   While we respect the rights of both Major League Baseball and the Mets
   as trademark owners and profit centers, we do not view MetsOnline.net
   as a competitor to Mets.com. Rather, we fancy ourselves as a
   complement. MetsOnline.net offers original editorial content and
   fan-friendly multimedia extras, the vast majority of which have been
   submitted by passionate fans interested in advancing popular interest
   in the Mets. Furthermore, MetsOnline.net has provided links to
   official MLB Web sites as an additional service to its users (and a
   potential stream of profits for MLB).

   Its also curious why Major League Baseball would find such fault with
   MetsOnline.net when it has been indirectly supporting the site for
   several years. Hoch, in fact, was afforded a job opportunity with the
   Mets during the 2000 season as a direct result of his efforts with
   MetsOnline.net. He spent that summer working as an unpaid volunteer to
   help upgrade and maintain Mets.com (prior to MLB's takeover of all 30
   Major League sites before the 2001 season) all the while openly
   administering the competing MetsOnline.net.

   Additionally, he has since received numerous press credentials to
   represent MetsOnline.net at New York Mets home games and other events,
   signifying not only the Mets' acceptance of the site as a legitimate
   media outlet but also their support for it.

   A main sticking point of the order is the since-discontinued line of
   products (including t-shirts, sweatshirts, etc.) that were offered for
   a brief period on this site, produced by CafePress.com and featuring
   the MetsOnline.net name but not the logo or writings of the New York
   Mets or Major League Baseball. While we recognize that this legal
   claim may have some independent legal merit, it is notable that
   revenues from such merchandise sales totaled just $16.00 (four
   orders), $12.00 of which was to Hoch's girlfriend.

   At the end of the calendar year, Hoch intends to use all remaining
   proceeds from the site (if any are available) to the Twin Towers Fund
   (www.twintowersfund.org). Unfortunately, such previous intent would be
   impossible to prove in a court of law, as it was not stated in print
   on the site.

   MLB Properties' demands are as follows:
     * 1. "Cease and desist from all use of the domain name
       www.metsonline.net and transfer that domain name to MLBP."
     * 2. "Cease and desist from all unlawful use of the Mets' Marks and
       any other indicia that creates the impression that there is an
       association between your company and the Mets and/or MLBP and
       confirm to MLBP, in a writing signed by an officer of your
       company, that it has done so."
     * 3. "Cease and desist from the sale of unauthorized merchandise
       featuring the Mets' Marks and fully disclose in writing the extent
       of your company's sales of this infringing merchandise, including
       the number of goods sold and the prices at which they were sold,
       the remaining inventory of the infringing merchandise, as well as
       the names, addresses and telephone numbers of the supplier(s) of
       such merchandise."
     * We intend to collect appropriate compensation for your company's
       unauthorized use of the Mets' Marks. The exact amount of our
       demand will depend on the information you provide to us,
       information we gather from other sources and the extent of your
       cooperation.

   Put simply, we believe that Major League Baseballs insistence that
   MetsOnline.net violates ACPA simply holds no water simply because we
   have never, in six years of operation, held an intent to profit (much
   less a bad intent to profit!).

   With the state of the game's affairs as they currently stand, Hoch
   (and hundreds of fans who have voiced their opinion to him via e-mail)
   feel that it is unfortunate that Major League Baseball feels that it
   must go after fan sites that provide nothing more than promotion and
   love for the game of baseball.

   MetsOnline.net is prepared to make whatever legal adjustments may be
   necessary to continue our service and mission statement of providing
   baseball fans with timely and entertaining reports concerning the New
   York Mets National League baseball club. This site has never been
   about making a profit -- it is with the intention of providing a
   service to fans of the Mets that would only increase their interest
   and enjoyment of the team.

     About MetsOnline.net: Since 1996, MetsOnline.net has provided New
   York Mets fans with a constant stream of original editorial and
   multimedia content devoted to their favorite baseball team. The site
   which appeared on the Internet before the Mets official Web site was
   founded by then-14-year-old Bryan Hoch, a native of Sloatsburg, New
   York. Hoch continues to administer the site to this day, but a team of
   unpaid writers who cover every angle of the Mets organization
   (including many that are not covered on mets.com) has since joined
   him. The site averages 10,000-15,000 visits per day and has been
   featured/cited in the Wall Street Journal, Newsday, MSNBC television,
   ESPN.com and the New York Daily News, among other media outlets and
   sources. The site has organized public events including two "Field
   Trip" outings to Shea Stadium in 2001 and 2002, and a well-attended
   "MetsOnline Night" at Mets manager Bobby Valentine's Queens-based
   restaurant earlier in July.

     Further info regarding Bryan Hoch: Hoch, 20, is a resident of
   Sloatsburg, New York, where he resides with his parents and brother,
   Shawn, 16. He is currently a full-time college student at SUNY
   Rockland, majoring in liberal arts, and is also employed as a
   free-lance journalist, appearing regularly as a baseball columnist in
   the Rockaway Wave of Long Island (www.rockawave.com) and as a periodic
   contributor to New York Mets Inside Pitch, the club's official
   newspaper. His past experience includes work as a writer and site
   maintainer for Mets.com. He can be contacted via e-mail at
   bryanhoch () metsonline net.

                                                                   BH/jcm




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