DavyBUK
17th May 2007, 09:18 AM
But have they bought their IDN ? :)
GULF Air had to pay thousands of dinars to get control of its own website name, it emerged yesterday.It follows a nine-year legal battle in which another company attempted to hold the website to ransom for $100,000 (BD37,800).
The Bahrain air-conditioning firm, based in the US, registered the Internet address www.gulfair.com nine years ago. It meant the airline was unable to use the domain name and had to settle for www.gulfairco.com, while it instructed its lawyers to investigate.
However, Gulf Air vice-president of marketing and sales Lee Shave said the airline was finally able to reach an out-of-court agreement following years of negotiations.
He confirmed the national carrier had agreed to pay to take ownership of the website, which the GDN announced had changed yesterday.
Mr Shave would not reveal the final cost, but said it was much less than the original asking price. However, it is understood to have cost the airline several thousands of dinars.
"Gulf Air had nine years of legal wrangling between the owner and the airline to try and come to an agreement," said Mr Shave.
"It was my personal crusade to change this, and with the help of our legal department and a good solicitor in Dubai, we struck up negotiations with the company.
"People had given up hope that we were going to get it back so we are really pleased to have made it happen."
Mr Shave has no doubt that the company knew what it was doing when it took ownership of the gulfair.com website.
"I think they were always looking to sell it at a large price," he told the GDN.
"However, we paid a very small amount in the end. I think they realised if they did not sell now they would not get anything."
Mr Shave said the practice of businesses and individuals buying up website addresses in other companies' names was more common than people realise.
"If someone sits on a site and they are doing nothing on it you can relatively easily get it back," he said.
"But this company was trading on the site and, therefore, it was somewhat difficult. No one wanted gulfairco.com, but it was the nearest we could get to it (gulfair.com) at the time.
"I do not think we lost business, but it was frustrating for our customers and people were quizzical about it. Having our own name gives us confidence to invest in the website.
"We were waiting for the name to be changed before we invested in it."
Mr Shave revealed the airline has arranged to buy a new booking engine for the website, which is set to be up and running within three months.
It will also shortly introduce a live arrival and departure facility as part of improvements to the site.
No one from the Bahrain company was available for comment.
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=182421&Sn=BNEW&IssueID=30058
GULF Air had to pay thousands of dinars to get control of its own website name, it emerged yesterday.It follows a nine-year legal battle in which another company attempted to hold the website to ransom for $100,000 (BD37,800).
The Bahrain air-conditioning firm, based in the US, registered the Internet address www.gulfair.com nine years ago. It meant the airline was unable to use the domain name and had to settle for www.gulfairco.com, while it instructed its lawyers to investigate.
However, Gulf Air vice-president of marketing and sales Lee Shave said the airline was finally able to reach an out-of-court agreement following years of negotiations.
He confirmed the national carrier had agreed to pay to take ownership of the website, which the GDN announced had changed yesterday.
Mr Shave would not reveal the final cost, but said it was much less than the original asking price. However, it is understood to have cost the airline several thousands of dinars.
"Gulf Air had nine years of legal wrangling between the owner and the airline to try and come to an agreement," said Mr Shave.
"It was my personal crusade to change this, and with the help of our legal department and a good solicitor in Dubai, we struck up negotiations with the company.
"People had given up hope that we were going to get it back so we are really pleased to have made it happen."
Mr Shave has no doubt that the company knew what it was doing when it took ownership of the gulfair.com website.
"I think they were always looking to sell it at a large price," he told the GDN.
"However, we paid a very small amount in the end. I think they realised if they did not sell now they would not get anything."
Mr Shave said the practice of businesses and individuals buying up website addresses in other companies' names was more common than people realise.
"If someone sits on a site and they are doing nothing on it you can relatively easily get it back," he said.
"But this company was trading on the site and, therefore, it was somewhat difficult. No one wanted gulfairco.com, but it was the nearest we could get to it (gulfair.com) at the time.
"I do not think we lost business, but it was frustrating for our customers and people were quizzical about it. Having our own name gives us confidence to invest in the website.
"We were waiting for the name to be changed before we invested in it."
Mr Shave revealed the airline has arranged to buy a new booking engine for the website, which is set to be up and running within three months.
It will also shortly introduce a live arrival and departure facility as part of improvements to the site.
No one from the Bahrain company was available for comment.
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=182421&Sn=BNEW&IssueID=30058