Telkom drops Hellkom suit

By Paul Vecchiatto, ITWeb Cape Town correspondent

Cape Town, 01 Sept 2005

Telkom has dropped its threatened R5 million lawsuit against Web site Hellkom.co.za with costs and without conditions, allowing the satirical site to continue its basting of the telecommunications giant.

In August last year Telkom declared war against Hellkom, owned by Greg Stirton, 26, and accused it of trademark infringement, harming its business and "encouraging hate speech".

Telkom`s legal representative Adams & Adams sent Stirton a cease and desist letter threatening legal action if he did not.

Stirton was defended in the litigation by specialist ICT legal firm Michalsons Attorneys. The response used by Stirton was that of "fair comment" and he filed a 280-page answering affidavit setting out the facts on which he based his criticisms of the company, including devilish adaptations of the Telkom logo with pay-off lines like "prices that`ll make you sweat".

A Telkom spokesman says the withdrawal "was due to strategic reasons".

Lance Michalson of Michalsons Attorneys says a recent Constitutional Court ruling, the case of T-shirt-maker Laugh It Off vs SA Breweries, upheld the right of fair comment over company trademarks.

"If Telkom had continued with this action, they would have had to overcome a significant hurdle in terms of that precedent," Michalson says.

Brendan Hughes, the Michalsons Attorneys` lawyer who handled the case, says: "The right to freedom of expression doesn`t mean that it`s open season on Telkom, or any other company. Critics who decide to take on a large corporate still need to check their facts and make sure their criticism is fair and reasonably expressed."

Hughes says Telkom`s unconditional notice of withdrawal was received earlier this week, effectively eliminating the need for a court hearing to resolve the dispute.

Stirton says the aim of his Hellkom.co.za Web site was to raise awareness of an issue in the hope that something might eventually be done about it.

"Telkom makes almost R20 million profit every day because of its monopolistic position but its high prices mean that many South Africans can`t afford the most basic Internet or telephone services," he says.

Stirton says while he is happy the issue is over with, "there`ll be no celebrating until Telkom`s prices come right down".