Victory
for Etoy Is At Hand
by
Steve Kettmann
3:00
a.m. 26.Jan.2000 PST
The
domain-name battle between etoy and eToys has finally lurched to a conclusive
end.
The
Santa Monica-based toy company eToys agreed Wednesday to pay up to $40,000
in legal fees and expenses that the Internet artists of etoy accrued in
the legal battle, and also to drop its copyright-infringement lawsuit against
etoy. For its part, etoy dropped its counterclaim against eToys.
Etoy
Heads for New York City
Etoy:
'This Means War'
Both
sides dropped the claims "without prejudice," meaning that neither forfeited
the right to future legal action. "We decided to drop our request for an
apology, because we felt an apology from a corporation would be meaningless,"
said Chris Traux, etoy's attorney. "A corporation might be able to learn
from its mistakes, but not be sorry for them."
Now
it's only a matter of days, and final paperwork, before the www.etoy.com
Web site is reactivated -- and life goes back to how it was before eToys
sued and won a temporary injunction in Los Angeles Superior Court in late
November.
The
struggle between the online toy seller and the Internet artists brought
in some high-profile figures, such as former Grateful
Dead lyricist John Perry Barlow. He joined etoy's crisis board and
called on people to join the cause.
"This
is the point where people begin to realize there is a difference between
the Internet industry and the Internet community, and the Internet community
needs to bind itself together and find a common voice," he said.
Whether
or not many in the outside world would characterize eToys' retreat from
legal action as a defeat, the company sounded a note of relief yesterday
and a desire to put this controversy behind it.
"We
have agreed to pay up to $40,000," spokesman Jonathan Cutler said. "We're
pleased with the outcome."
Many
others might be pleased that the matter has finally been resolved. Etoy
mobilized a wide following on the Internet in its support, and assembled
what it liked to call an "army" of etoy agents through its www.toywar.com
game.
It
was prepared to keep encouraging these followers to barrage eToys with
email and generally make electronic noise. Now the standoff is over, and
etoy will be able to go back to making Internet art at its site, just as
it did before.
"It's
not a settlement, because it doesn't settle anything," Truax said. "All
it does is terminate this lawsuit. Etoys is going to immediately contact
[Network Solutions] and request that the hold that was put on etoy.com
be removed as quickly as possible.
"It
really is a great victory for the Internet community and for etoy."
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Related
Wired Links:
Etoy:
'This Means toywar.com!'
17.Jan.2000
Etoy:
Don't Forgive, Don't Forget
15.Jan.2000
Etoy
Balks at Olive Branch
30.Dec.1999
Etoy:
'The Fight Isn't Over'
30.Dec.1999
EToys
Relents, Won't Press Suit
29.Dec.1999
Major
Toy Site, Um, Er, Sucks
21.Dec.1999
'Be
Grateful for Etoy'
17.Dec.1999
E-Riots
Threaten EToys.com
15.Dec.1999
Toying
with Domain Names
11.Dec.1999
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