The etoy.LAWSUIT

At the outset of this discussion, let it be said that the battle between California-based toy reseller Etoys and etoy are well documented in press such as the New York Times and WIRED[25], and a complete recount of the suit does not serve the purpose of this discussion. In 1999, the three year old multi-billion dollar Etoys.com corporation filed suit in California for the suspension of the etoy.com site, when the etoy.CORPORATION (etoy frequently refers to aspects of their work in nomenclature borrowed from various programming syntaxes) predated the toy company by over three years, and held similar claims for the etoy.WEBSITE. Etoys' claim for the pursuit of the suit centered on alleged complaints that potential customers were accidentally entering the etoy.com website and thus the Eurpoean art group had been inadvertently jamming their brand recognition. The Christmas buying season was fast approaching, and the potential of brand dilution caused the Etoys legal department to consider the legal action. After refusal of a several hundred dollar offer to buy out the etoy.com domain name, Etoys pursued and obtained an injunction restraining the etoy.com name. The result was the freezing of the Austrian based art corporation's domain name in the databases of Network Solutions, Inc., an American - based corporation, although the injunction was issued from the US. Etoy could not operate the etoy.com website or even receive E-mail whatsoever though that domain name, even though the injunction stated for the closure of the Web address. Thus heralded the start of the TOYWAR.