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Related Story Click here for an earlier report on this domain dispute

August 8, 2002: Minneapolis, MN On July 19, Federal Judge Ann Montgomery ordered a New York man, John Barry, to stop using the www.minneapolispublicschools.com domain name or any variations of it. Barry, who did not appear at the hearing, essentially forfeited rights to the domain because of his failure to respond to the court by an August 7 deadline set by the judge. School officials learned about the site on June 30, when a resident looking for school information stumbled upon the site and complained to a school board member. Soon after, the district began to take legal action against Barry. The domain, which had been forwarding visitors to the anti-abortion site www.abortionismurder.org, (which features graphic depictions of abortions), now forwards to the Minneapolis Public Schools' official site, www.mpls.k12.mn.us.

This case is just one of many recent conflicts where anti-abortion activists have purchased domains containing the names of businesses or government agencies and using them to drive traffic to graphic anti-abortion web sites. William S. Purdy Sr., of South Saint Paul, MN, is currently involved in several disputes over domains he registered, which include the names of large corporations such as McDonald's, Coke and Pepsi. Purdy, who uses these domains to drive traffic to various anti-abortion sites, feels that considering the large revenue streams these corporations have, they should be taking a stand on abortion. The companies say they are suffering irreparable harm every day that these sites continue to forward surfers to anti-abortion sites. The sites that are currently being disputed were launched July 4, 2002, for symbolic reasons, though this is not Purdy's first domain conflict. He apparently has engaged in this type of activity for years, and has recieved cease-and-desist orders from many news organizations whose names appeared in his domains. And Purdy isn't alone. Owners of prominent anti-abortion websites routinely encourage supporters to buy domains to direct visitors to their sites--and many visitors are happy to oblige, which virtually guarantees that this area of the law will remain in constant dispute.

This story also raises some visitor questions here at SouthHighSucks.com. Many people who learned about the suspension fiascos that took place in spring of 2002 (in which the founders of this site were unfairly disciplined for criticizing the school), were concerned that this site could be taken by the district in a lawsuit. Fortunately, that is not probable, as current case law says that sites with the word "sucks" at the end clearly would not be thought of as the official sites of the organization mentioned in the domain, and so, not subject to the same forfeiture precedent that the minneapolispublicschools.com domain has been subject to. Still, we'd bet that the district would be happy to own the site and shut us down--but we're not selling. Don't forget to sound off on this and other topics in our Visitor Forum (No sign-up is required; simply make up a username and leave the password space blank).--The Doc, Staff Writer

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