Cape Town, 16 Aug 2004
Telkom says it will go ahead with legal action against the owners of the hellkom.co.za and telkomsucks.0catch.co.za sites, saying they have not responded "adequately" to demands that the sites be shut down.
Last week, Telkom sent a letter threatening legal action against the owners of the two sites, accusing them of infringing Telkom`s trademark protection on the corporate logos. In a separate media statement, Telkom also implied that Hellkom.co.za encouraged hate speech.
If the Telkom action succeeds, it will be the largest trademark case in South African Internet history as the company says it will claim R5 million in damages.
Telkom had given the owners until Friday 13 August to reply and a letter was sent by a Johannesburg advocate, Michael Alachouzos, replying to the initial demands by Telkom`s legal advisers, Adams & Adams.
Alachouzos` letter was critical of the Adams & Adams` letter and pointed out, among other mistakes, grammatical errors and citations of the wrong laws.
Late last week Telkom appointed e-law firm Buys Inc to advise it in the matter.
Telkom media liaison specialist Ravin Maharaj told ITWeb over the weekend that while one of the owners had been granted more time to respond to Telkom`s letter, the site operator, Gregg Stirton, had not. In addition, a letter sent on his behalf by Alachouzos had not addressed the matter at hand, said Maharaj.
Stirton currently has no official legal representation, although he is due to meet with e-law firm Michalson Attorneys later this afternoon.
The issue has also attracted the attention of members of Parliament. Vincent Gore of the Independent Democratic Party says he is trying to adopt a mediation role to try get both parties to a win-win situation.
"It is rather sad that Telkom has decided to go with the litigation route directly rather than to engage with the individual [Stirton]," Gore says.
He says the issue is part of a wider debate concerning Telkom`s tariffs and the telecommunications regulatory environment.
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