Response to Complaint to ICANN
Over RMO.COM
Domain Name Case:
FA#96949
This document presents my response to the complaint registered with ICANN over the domain name RMO.COM.
Name: Andrew Burbidge
Address: 971 Dressler Lane
Rochester Hills
MI 48307
Phone: (248) 656-5805
Fax: (520) 752-3444
E-mail: Webmaster@rmo.com
Authorized Representative: None.
E-mail to Webmaster@rmo.com.
One member panel is accepted.
Not applicable.
To the best of my knowledge, there are no other legal proceedings pertaining to this domain.
A copy of this response has been submitted to the Complainant.
Prior to May 1996 I was the webmaster for a web site entitled Rocky Mountain Outfitters in Rochester, Michigan. This business was the original owner of RMO.COM, but went out of business late in 1995 or early in 1996. When the renewal of the domain came up, the original owner did not want to retain the site or domain so the registration was changed to me. I took over this domain name for the simple facts that I considered it to be a short, easy to remember domain name that would significantly help not only my friends and family remember my e-mail address and web site on which I intended to present “my life”, but also assist me in a small web design business I ran.
At this time, and until Rocky Mountain Orthodontists recently contacted me, I was not aware of their business, trademark or indeed their very existence. The only reference to RMO I had come across was a Doctor Rock performing a medical outreach who was using RMO.ORG. As a mark of good faith and recognition to his web site I included a link at the bottom of my home page alerting people who may be looking for his site to the correct URL.
The first time I even became aware of Rocky Mountain Orthodontists was when Mr. Don Kamin contacted me on June 29th, 1999 looking to obtain the domain from me. My reply to Mr. Kamin, and indeed to the many further enquiries that he made was that I had a lot invested the name and was not interested in selling. This always was, and still is my position.
Since the start the web site has been used for a combination of purposes from presenting many details and accounts of my life, family and friends to hosting small web pages for friend’s business’, giving me an opportunity to learn about web site design. A lot of time was invested recounting on this site, in word and picture, many events of deep personal meaning to myself and family. Since registration I have also created a large number of e-mail addresses at RMO.COM for friends and family to offer them a simple way to remember and (I hoped) “future-proof” their e-mail address. Amongst my family, friends and co-workers the domain name RMO.COM is synonymous with my family and friends, both as a place to share stories and photographs and as a simple way to remember all our e-mail addresses.
I therefore contend that I have legitimate rights to retain the domain name for continued use and that absolutely no bad faith is intended nor demonstrated towards Rocky Mountain Orthodontists.
Further, I counter-claim that Rocky Mountain Orthodontists are in fact, using these tenuous and unfounded claims, initiating reverse domain hijacking on me. According to ICANN rules for "Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy" (the regulations established to protect against Cybersquatting), defines "Reverse Domain Name Hijacking" as:
"using the Policy in bad faith to attempt to deprive a registered domain-name holder of a domain name."
ICANN Rule 3(b)(ix), The manner in which the domain name is identical
or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark…
The trademark “RMO” was registered for use in connection with dental related subjects, such as equipment, literature, education and other related services. While I do not contend that there is a similarity between the trademark and domain name, the use of RMO.COM has absolutely no relation to the field of dentistry in any way. There is and never has been anything on the site that relates in any way, shape or form to the dental field.
The content, past or present, of the RMO.COM web site has nothing that would lead a visitor to the site to believe that they have arrived at a site for or sponsored by Rocky Mountain Orthodontists.
The text referring to the “Handy dandy RMO address book” takes a visitor to a page of e-mail addresses used by a large list of family and friends. This text was placed on the web site long before I was aware of Rocky Mountain Orthodontists.
The fact that Rocky Mountain Orthodontists is a family owned business is unrelated to the Complaints being made. There has never and is currently nothing on the site that suggests that this in any way could be related to the family who own Rocky Mountain Orthodontists. The suggestion that a potential visitor aged 6-11 may be even more confused is tenuous at best as I find it hard to understand why said child would be looking for the family web site of the owners of Rocky Mountain Orthodontists.
The suggestion that there are pornographic pictures on the web site is excessive and severely out of context. Even when viewed out of the context on the web site and accompanying story, there is no suggestion of pornography in them. They are innocent photographs of mature adults engaging in innocent fun. The Longman Family Dictionary defines “pornography” as “the depiction of erotic behavior intended to cause sexual excitement”. The suggestion that these photographs are of erotic behavior, or were intended to cause sexual excitement is frankly ludicrous. Indeed, my wife and her friend were the subject of one of the photographs in question, the two of them standing innocently in sports bras in public, on a hot day at a friend’s cottage. My wife is so distraught at the suggestion the she is involved in pornographic photographs that she is considering seeking counseling, and this in turn has caused much stress and anguish in the house, which my young son – although not knowing the reason – has picked up on and we are having to lie to him as to the reason his mother is so distressed!
Addressing the photographs listed in the schedule of exhibits:
Exhibit B: This photo is of nobody we know, and was the photo on the front page of the “bachelor night” section of our best friend’s sub-web. Even reaching these photos would take somebody several clicks including a drop down list selection – not something somebody could easily do “by accident” or in confusion.
Exhibit C: This is a still from the movie “The Full Monty”, and was used in humor on the front page of the “batchelorette night” section of our best friend’s sub-web.
Exhibit D: This is the photo of one of the ladies attending the batchelorette evening holding an inflatable doll (with no anatomical details). Carrying dolls of this sort is common for batchelorette parties.
Exhibit E: Two people “play wrestling” on the couch in our living room, fully clothed.
Exhibit F: My wife and best friend standing on a hot day by a lake in sports bras.
Exhibit G: Two friends bending down to look in front of an unknown car in a parking lot which was exhibiting a comical license plate (illegible in photo).
As a balance to these exhibits taken grossly out of context, I direct you to the plethora of photographs all over the site of family activities, including:
ICANN Rule 3(b)(ix), Why Burbidge should be considered as having no
rights or legitimate interest in the domain name…
While RMO does not bear any direct parallel to my name, I contend that I am indeed commonly known by RMO.COM by an extremely large circle of family, friends, acquaintances and co-workers all over the world, who know that this is my domain, that I use it for publishing stories and information and hosting a large number of e-mail addresses used by a significant number of people around the world.
I respectfully draw your attention to the letters in the schedule of exhibits that give a taste of the use of the domain name by people around the world, the emotional investment and attachment, and the impact if I were to lose the domain.
I challenge the claim that RMO is famous, and suggest that outside the very limited orthodontics world RMO is not known of or associated with Rocky Mountain Orthodontics – or orthodontics in general, and especially in household or commonly known terms. Indeed, I have been approached by people in other parts of the world who legitimately requested to acquire the domain name because of a similarity with their business. They accepted my claim to justified ownership and having no desire to sell, so pursued it no further. The text “Who is RMO. We are not quite sure really” was placed on the page in innocence a long time before I was even aware of Rocky Mountain Orthodontics’ existence and as a light hearted invitation for friends, family and other visitors to suggest how I might alternatively name the site. Now that I am aware of Rocky Mountain Orthodontics, I concede that this wording could cause confusion and have already replaced it with Rochester Michigan Odyssey.
I refer you to the ICANN Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy, section 4.c.(ii), stating that I need to prove the following:
(ii) you (as an individual, business or other organization) have been commonly known by the domain name, even if you have acquired no trade mark or service mark rights.
I suggest to you that the above reasons prove without doubt my claim to be commonly known by RMO.COM.
Having grown up in the UK and moved here some 11 years ago, I have always considered the RMO in RMO.COM to stand for “Rochester, Michigan Odyssey” – my odyssey across the world to take up residence and build a new life in a new land. My friends, family and co-workers around the world know I live in Rochester Michigan, so this gives them an invaluable memory hook to remember the web site and e-mail domain name. The title on the front page “Welcome to the RMO.COM web server” welcomes people to the RMO.COM web server, not to any facet of RMO Inc. The title is factual, as the user has arrived at the RMO.COM web server. The “Handy dandy RMO address book is intended exactly as that, a listing of all the people who have e-mail addresses at RMO.COM. Over the years I have provided a very large number of friends and family members with RMO.COM e-mail addresses in order to “future protect” their e-mail address. With the amount of people using RMO.COM addresses through my site, and the significant number of web and non-web related services they have registered these addresses with, I would suggest that the number of places they are using RMO.COM addresses runs into the thousands. For them to try to update these registrations if I were to lose RMO.COM, even if they could remember all the places they have registered, would be a monumental and unachievable task. This address book page was constructed so that my friends and relatives could easily find each other’s e-mail addresses, all of them having RMO.COM addresses. This site has been in existence, and has been active since day one of registration.
I refer you to the ICANN Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy, section 4.c.(ii), stating that I need to prove the following:
(ii) you are making a legitimate, noncommercial or fair use of the domain name, without intent for commercial gain to misleadingly divert consumers or to tarnish the trademark or service mark at issue.
I have registered in total a very small number of domains, all but two for use by people who I have built web sites for. I contest that there is no indication in this that I register domains for the purpose of speculation or resale, and indeed I have never resold or leased a domain in my life. I also operate a small web design business using RMO.COM as the advertised e-mail address, source for portfolio listing and test bed for trying out new ideas for my customers. When posting a link advertising the author of a site or an e-mail contact I have used RMO.COM, and considering the very large number of people who frequent some of these sites, the loss of communication with these people would be very detrimental to my fledgling business.
As to the suggestion that people coming across my web site while looking for the Rocky Mountain Orthodontics web site would be confused, I find this unjustified and unrealistic. I believe it is clear to any of these people who arrive at my site that this is the site of an individual and not a dental company.
I contest the suggestion that I registered the domain name in order to divert or confuse customers of Rocky Mountain Orthodontics. As already stated, I acquired the domain name through legitimate means and for honest and valid reasons. For three years I was not even aware of Rocky Mountain Orthodontics, had nothing to do with and no interest in the orthodontics field, and thus would have no reason to divert or confuse anybody, let alone tarnish anybody’s name. Rocky Mountain Orthodontics, it since transpires, saw the change of ownership back in 1996, but it took them three years to even make contact with me! I find offensive the suggestion that the site is a “makeshift” site providing random family information and such. I have strived to create several sub webs about my family and life, including a lot of long hours researching and coding my family tree.
My use of the web site falls into two very important areas in terms of providing bona fide services: the invaluable service of global family unity and cohesion from the family sections and the anchor for my web site design business.
I believe that the above reasons prove without doubt the integrity and honesty of this web site, the tremendous value it provides a large number of people around the world, and the incalculable damage that would be caused to a large number of family and friends if I were to lose this domain. For these reasons I challenge that I have an absolutely justified and proven right to continue to own and operate the RMO.COM domain, having a heavily invested interest in it specifically, above and beyond the services it provides.
ICANN Rule 3(b)(ix), Why the domain name should be considered as having
been registered and used in bad faith…
There is absolutely no truth behind the suggestion that I had any knowledge of the existence of Rocky Mountain Orthodontics or their registration of RMO as a trade mark when I took over the ownership of RMO.COM. I would suggest that the circumstances of my acquisition of the domain would demonstrate unequivocally the reason I chose this domain. I did not choose it at random, or with a hidden agenda, more over it “fell into my lap”. I am not aware of any requirements to perform exhaustive searches for possible claimants to a domain name when registering it, especially when that registration is in good, honest faith. The letters R M O are not instantly recognizable as anything, as would be IBM or CBS, so there was no reason for me to suspect that anybody would have such a strong claim to the domain name. Had I, at the time and with no investment in the domain name, known about Rocky Mountain Orthodontics or their trademark, I would have been happy to have entertained discussions with them about it’s transfer, and moved on to find an alternative domain. That, however, is water long under the bridge. For this reason, that I was “presented” with the opportunity of acquiring this domain and that I did not know of Rocky Mountain Orthodontics, I challenge the suggestion that I registered it in bad faith.
In response to the itemized suggestions as to registering the domain in bad faith, I respond as follows:
1. The suggestion that I registered the domain for the prime purpose of selling, renting or otherwise transferring it is totally unsupportable. At no time before or since being contacted by Rocky Mountain Orthodontics have I ever suggested that I would want any money or compensation for the domain, and indeed I have at no time indicated that I would part with it under any circumstances. From day one I have maintained that I want to keep this domain, and no suggestion of transfer has occurred on my part. Rocky Mountain Orthodontics did offer me up to $1,000 for it but I politely refused stating that it wasn’t for sale. My refusal to transfer the domain – for any price – was based solely on the fact that I did not want to give it up. I find it tenuous to say the least that one could extrapolate my desire to get more money for the domain from my unwillingness to release the domain name. Their conclusion drawn from my unwillingness to release the domain name is flat out wrong. There is no foundation for the accusation that I intend to use and eventually sell or rent the domain. Indeed, I have been approached by other individuals and companies from around the world who have expressed an interest in the domain name. My answer to them has been the same, thanks for asking, but I wish to keep it due to the immense amount of personal investment I have in it. At no point did I suggest to any of these people that I would transfer it, especially for any financial gain.
2. The suggestion that I registered the domain in order to prevent Rocky Mountain Orthodontics from reflecting their trade mark in a domain name is unfounded. My initial registration was innocent and without knowledge of Rocky Mountain Orthodontics or their trade mark, and the subsequent re-registrations have been merely because I now have an investment in the domain name and want to keep it indefinitely.
3. The suggestion that I registered the domain name purely for the purpose of disrupting the business of Rocky Mountain Orthodontics is absurd. As indicated above, at time of registration and for three years afterwards, I was unaware even of their existence, and even if I had been, have never had any reason to want to disrupt their business. The suggestions that my web site is makeshift and containing pornographic pictures is unfounded and demonstrates an excessive creativeness with the truth. I can’t imagine to whom my actions or the history of this domain would suggest purposeful or disruptive activity.
4. There is no proof or foundation in the claim that I attempted to attract Internet users who would be looking for the Rocky Mountain Orthodontics web site. Other than incidental or automated registrations, I am not registered actively in any search engines, I do not advertise my site or address other than when using the e-mail address, I have no connection with the orthodontics field, and there is nothing on my web site, beyond the name RMO that could have any link or association whatsoever with Rocky Mountain Orthodontics. I challenge the suggestion that once connected to my web site, a user would become disoriented, let alone led to believe that there was any chance that they have reached a web site in any way connected with Rocky Mountain Orthodontics. My use of the web site as a vehicle to share information, stories and the like is innocent and above board, and in no way suggests any links with the family who own Rocky Mountain Orthodontics. Again, I would challenge anybody to find one shred of evidence on my web site, beyond the name itself and a couple of innocent referrals to the domain name, that would suggest any association with Rocky Mountain Orthodontics or the family that owns it.
I contest that the above information not only refutes categorically the claims made, but indeed proves beyond a shadow of a doubt my legitimate right to retain ownership and use of RMO.COM. I also suggest that their claims demonstrate their attempt to reverse hijack the domain name. I bear no malice to the company, nor the family, and want merely to continue to be able to share with my family and friends my own corner of the world.
I respectfully submit that the Complainant has fallen significantly short in proving any of the requirements set forth by ICANN Rule 3(b)(ix). As such, I hereby request that the arbitrator find in favour of myself, the Respondent, and dismiss the Complaint.
Respondent certifies that the information contained in this Response is to the best of Respondent’s knowledge complete and accurate, that this Response is not being presented for any improper purpose, such as to harass, and that the assertions in this Response are warranted under the Rules and under applicable law, as it now exists or as it may be extended by a good-faith and reasonable argument.
Respondent: Andrew Burbidge Signature: ____________________________
Below are a selection of letters I have received from friends, family and customers in support of my legitimate claim to and use of RMO.COM.
Exhibit A – Letter of support from an individual who uses RMO.COM for both pleasure and as a location for his family run business e-mail.
Dear
Mr. Burbidge,
As an RMO.COM user I would be most disappointed to lose the use of the RMO.COM web address and it would cause great inconvenience and cost to my business as I use the address for my customers and for advertising and I have been using RMO.com for my personal life as I have contacts and friends all over the world who communicate with me. Using the web site we can all keep in touch and inform each other of events happening in our lives posting
pictures
and news. I have registered my E-mail address with numerous web sites, friends and business associates and to change them would cause significant effort, inconvenience and lost E-mail,
and possibly lose me income. I would suggest that it is indeed impossible to
track down all the places that I have registered, and losing access to this
would mean losing a lot of information and contacts.
I
hope to carry on using My RMO.COM addresses for a long time
les@rmo.com
plumbing@rmo.com
bush-and-beaver-plumbing@rmo.com
bush-son-and-sons-plumbing@rmo.com
24hrplumbers@rmo.com
Exhibit B – Letter of support from the leader of a Boy Scout Troop for whom I run – for no profit and indeed at cost to myself – their web site.
Andy
I
understand that you may have to relinquish your ownership of the
"rmo" domain name. You are the main person responsible for setting up
and maintaining the 7th Malden Scout Group web-site over the past several years.
The
Scout Group has a pool of some two hundred members who use the site to keep up
to date with our programme of events and to publish our activities.
All
these people potentially have cause to contact you at the "rmo.com"
domain name, given that you are the site "webmaster", in order to get
you to process updates etc. If you were
to lose that domain name it would be a significant problem for all those people
to have to modify their personal address books to route mail to a new address.
Thus there is a great deal of invested "value" in keeping the domain
name the same. Not only that but there will obviously be an unquantifiable
number of people who may have noted the address as they browsed through the
site who may later have cause to want to contact you. As you know we are a
charitable organisation and are constantly looking to try and find sponsors.
I'd hate to think that we might lose a potential source of revenue just because
an organisation 'lost' your email address when they later to came to make
enquiries to you.
In
summary then, I'd say that the "rmo" domain name not only has
significant value to yourself but also to a large group of people here in the
UK and to our Scout Group in general.
Best
Regards
Rob
Moore
Venture
Scout Leader, 7th Malden (St James VSU)
email:
rob@rmo.com
website:
www.7thMalden.org
Exhibit C – Letter of support from my first web site customer.
Andy,
We feel it is
imperative that you retain the RMO.com domain name and will fight with and for
you however we can. Being very
successful in the adventure travel business, Doug and I have always had dreams
of expanding the Zoo-De-Mackinac, Inc. concept into the Rocky Mountain
States. You have extensive travel
business knowledge (having worked in the industry for many years) and have put
forth incredible amounts of time and intensity into our business over the
years. If it weren't for you talking us
into a web site, then designing it, and leading us by the hand into the age of
new technology, we wouldn't be half as successsful as we are now. We have always appreciated your efforts, and
have always considered you to be a key business partner. When the time is right for us to franchise
our successful and time tested business plan across the country, we have always
thought of you to lead the Rocky Mountain States expansion. As we have talked about numerous times in
the past, the RMO.com domain name would
be invaluable to the success of our future plans. Please keep me posted as things develop.
Gregory
J. Drawbaugh
President
Zoo-De-Mackinac, Inc.
Exhibit D – A letter of support from a friend overseas.
Andy,
A couple of years ago you were kind enough to allocate me an rmo address. I use this extensively at work. If I subscribe to something ie., a travel company I really do not want to give out my work address. Of course the argument could be that I could use my home address, the trouble is with that is I want a reply nearly straight away, rather than having to wait until I get home. I have subscribed to countless things, I cannot possibly remember all. But I get notified of special offers, competitions etc.
I
also suggest that you have the domain name as something to remember. When Anthony and Steph got married a couple
of years back it was absolutely brilliant being able to access all the wedding
photos just after they got married.
Having a web site with a name that is easy to remember meant that I
could pass on the news of the site to Lorraine, Julie etc.
I
hope you get to keep your site and domain name. I do think that situation is incredibly unfair so good luck.
Simone
Exhibit E - :Letter of support from friend overseas.
Andy,
Please
do not take this the wrong way but as a member of the rmo.com community I feel
that the organisation trying to hijack this domain from you is stealing from
all the rmo members. If ICANN knew how important this was, keeping people in
contact all around the world, then as a responsible organisation they could
only find in your (or should I say our) favour.
As
a domain owner I feel strongly about this as hijacking works both ways.
Purchasing domain names for profit seems to hit the industry press headlines
all the time, but the reverse is also just as immoral. Big organisations trying
to pressure the individual into relinquishing what is theirs is nothing more
than thuggery. I hope that if you have to spend any money to sucessfully defend
this complaint, you are at least awarded costs. As I recall you did not
register the domain name, you purchased it from a company that no longer
required it. You have then gone on to use this domain for many services,
including Personal web site, an ever expanding e-mail community for family and
friends living thousands of miles apart, and also keeping all those scouting
memories alive before the introduction of http://www.7thmalden.org/. This
really doesn't look like the work of a carpetbagger! I really can't believe
that you are being victimised for spending your own hard earned money to create
an on-line community. Having an e-mail address is fairly standard nowadays but
being a member of 'Rochester, Michigan Odyssey' gives us
all a community spirit. Do you remember when Barry's son Daniel was going
through a rough patch and I was going round to his grandparents to help him on
his new PC. You offered to set him up with an rmo mail account and it was a
godsend. Can you imagine Daniel trying to explain to his friends that his
e-mail address was daniel1233@wilson4040.freeserve.co.uk (or something very
similar).
Laurence Ferrara
Exhibit F – Letter of support from friend overseas.
Andy,
I was very surprised to hear that somebody was making a claim against your domain name and hope that common sense prevails and their claim is dismissed.
I
have heard of cases where individuals have lost domain names where they have
registered names belonging to others or designed mislead users.However RMO is a
three letter acronym (TLA) which could have many claims on the basis of the
initials. TLAs are not just to abbreviate organisations, e.g. DOA, URL, and RMO
is often used to mean Resident Medical Officer. There are only 17576 possible TLAs, just excluding six letters
(e.g.X,Y) reduces this to 8000 and the number of likely ones is significantly
less. Few organisations are named with
a TLA but many use it as an abbreviation (e.g. WHO, IRS, NRA) but cannot lay
sole claim to the TLA and in few cases do they have the website. I think that
this is because they cannot lay claim to it and the ones that do have them got
them first or bought them. I am sure that many organisations would like to own
them, not just commercial but also not for profit (NFP) and non government
organisations (NGO) however they have no greater claim.
Rocky
Mountain Orthodontists can have no claim that the TLA RMO is exclusive to them
or that anyone else using it would confuse people, particularly as they are a
local organisation that would have no national let alone global significance.
Note that Rocky Mountain Orthodontists is not registered with popular internet
search engines (ISE) as RMO. Just because they would like to own it does not
mean they should and I think that their approach is unethical which is
surprising for a medical organisation.
RMO.COM
is significant to me and my partner as community web site which allows us to
keep in contact with friends and events despite the great distances between us.
We much appreciate the effort you put in to maintain it and think that it is a
great example of non commercial internet use. RMO.COM represents this community
to us and we have become very familiar with the name. We also use RMO.COM mail
addresses which are easy for us to remember and allow us to change our personal
addresses without having to inform people, also our RMO mail addresses are
registered with many organisations.
We
hope that this claim is seen by the arbitrators as purely opportunistic and
without substance. We thank you for defending this claim on behalf of all the
RMO.COM users around the world. Please let us know if there is anything we can
do to assist you in this case.
Regards,
Neill
& Trish
Neill@RMO.COM
Trish@RMO.COM
Neill&Trish@RMO.COM
Exhibit G – Letter from close family member testifying to the use and value of RMO.COM.
Sir
I write with reference to rmo.com the domain run by my brother-in-law Andrew Burbidge. I am familiar with this web site and visit it regularly. I enjoy using it to keep up to date with Andrew, Ami and my God son Matthew. As a member of the Burbidge family I use it to browse family pictures, events and in particular enjoy viewing the Burbidge Family Tree.
Andrew and Ami have kept this site updated regularly
over the many years of its existance. It has displayed interests of all
the family from Andrew's soccer, Ami's friends, Matthew's birthday parties (I
believe all of his six years have been featured on this site) as well as
the Burbidge family holidays. The site has always been of good family
content.
I know in particular that Andrew
has shared this domain with his many friends and family. The short
three letter domain name is especially easy to remember. I know many of
Andrews friends us it for business purposes so I would asume have business
stationary using the domain name. Its use is in both America and
Europe. To remove this domain from control of Andrew would cause great
disruption and finaincial loss to those he shares it with.
Both Andrew and Myself are ex-pats and the site is
particularly useful to help keep our family and friends in the UK up to date
with happenings in the USA.
In view of the fact that Andrew has been the owner
of this domain for some six plus years ( I used to view it five years ago when
I lived in the UK), I feel that Rocky Mountain Orthodontists
have attempted to get this domain far too late. Andrew is not using the
domain for financial gain and for this corporations to come walking in and
asuming control just because their initials match would be a grave
injustice.
Regards
Paul Johnson
285 Slade Court
Rochester Hills
Michigan - 48307
Exhibit H – Letter of support from family member testifying to the value of the RMO.COM domain to the family.
Dear Andrew
I find it difficult to believe that this orthodontic company really believe that they have more right to use the domain name rmo.com than you, or indeed anyone else. They surely must realize that there are hundreds, if not thousands of companies and organizations out there on the Internet who have the same initials. Many of them refer to themselves as RMO. I'll give you a few examples that I have found in just a few minutes through the search engines.
1. Rattlesnake Mountain
Observatory call themselves simply RMO
2. Risk Management
Operations is a global newsletter for risk management professionals. They also refer to themselves as RMO.
3. RMOnline is the website
for a magazine called Resort Management & Operations.
4. Rex M. Owens has a
website
5. A web site based in
Vermont describes their content this way: "A Regional Marketing
Organization (RMO) is a marketing partnership or organization made up of one or
more chamber of commerce for the benefit of all businesses and organizations in
a region who want to market themselves. There are 12 RMOs
throughout the
state."
6. Another site who call
themselves RMO describer their work this way "The GRC Risk Management
Office contributes to the success of NASA's vision by providing leadership and
expert knowledge in Safety, Mission Assurance and Risk Management. We are the source for innovation in quality
assurance and process improvement, providing guidance and knowledge.
7. Stork RMO is a company
that makes components for rail vehicles.
8. An RMO is the accepted
term for a Resident Medical Officer.
Cape Medical Services' web site provides extensive information and jobs
for RMO's
These are just a few that
came up when I typed "RMO" into 3 different search engines. I don't believe any of them have approached
you to buy rmo.com from you or indeed to fight you for it! I should mention that Rocky Mountain
Orthodontics were not listed in any of the search engines until after all of
these!
From a purely selfish
point of view as your sister, this web site and all the email addresses were
set up so that, initially our family, and then all our mutual friends, could
keep in touch with us from all corners of the world and us with them. You and I both live in Rochester, Michigan
now (one of the reasons you were attracted to the name RMO as the first two
initials indicate that!!) and have left behind in England my two daughters
(your nieces), our father, mother (recently deceased), older brother (recently deceased)
and his wife and five children, various aunts and cousins, not to mention
friends we have known for many years.
We also have family and friends in Australia, Japan, the Middle East and
Europe.
With all the time
differences between us, it is the best way for any news, whether bad or good,
to reach everyone concerned in the fastest and surest possible way. For instance, yesterday I received an email
informing me of the unexpected and very sad death of our sister-in-law's
father. I was able to immediately
forward it to anyone who needed to know without his family having to make all
the calls. We were then able to get in
touch with them straight away to offer our condolences.
Since you are able to
provide a simple email address, such as rmo.com is, to any of these people, we
all know that, even if we have forgotten someone's email address, it is likely
they will have an rmo.com one.
With regard to the web
site itself, I know you have helped many people have a presence on the Internet
that they could not otherwise have managed to do on their own or afforded. You have set up sub webs as sites for small
businesses, to give them help. You do
this for no monetary gain!
The family tree. You have worked so hard on gathering and
inputting all the information for this, and so many people love to keep up to
date with it.
Also all the family
photos. And you are constantly updating
them. I realize you have far more
information and pictures to go onto the site and it is in no way near finished,
indeed, it never will be.
With my future
grandchildren, the family's next generation, being brought up 3,500 miles away
(your great-nieces and great-nephews!) it would be dreadful I fall the family
members who know the URL of this site lost the chance of seeing their photos.
Paul, Michael and I live
closest to you, within a mile, we have watched the strain all this is putting
on you. Not content with letting you
know how they felt by mail and a phone call, the orthodontic company continued
to harass you and make numerous further phone calls until you had to use the
caller ID to keep them at bay.
The serious allegations
that a couple of simple fun photos of our friends having fun were pornographic,
has left your wife Ami in a dreadful state (understandably) and seeking
counseling help. You yourself have
become extremely tense through this business, suffering from the migraines you
are normally able to keep at bay. The
whole thing has put a strain on your marriage and your little son does not
understand what on earth is going on. I
am absolutely disgusted with the way this orthodontic company has treated
you. If you do not make a complaint
when this is over, then I may on your behalf.
Good luck dear
Andrew. My prayers are with you.
Your sister, Heather XXXX
Exhibit H – A letter of support from a very close friend who moved from here overseas and uses the site to share her own family information, photos etc.
Dear Andy,
I was dismayed to hear of your problems with the RMO
domain and hope that by my writing to you I may have some positive affect on
your keeping RMO as your rightful domain.
Having moved from the United States to England two
years ago, I have especially appreciated the bond that RMO has provided me to
connect with my friends and family over the 4000 mile gap. Everyone I
hold near and dear has an email address attached to the RMO domain and I use
this mode of communication more than any other. Likewise, I have many
family members that email me using my address stef@rmo.com
It is an easy address to use and the older family members that have tentatively
dipped their toes in the technology pool appreciate this simple design.
The most compelling argument for keeping RMO may
come in the very form that the opposition has tried to label as improper and
"pornographic."
I was married June 12, 1999 to a British citizen. He, along with about 20 of his friends and family came to the States for the wedding. There was alot of juggling of plans, flights, accommodation, and pre-wedding celebrations. This was all handled with precision using a web-site Andy constructed using the RMO domain. In addition to the daily updated itinerary, there was a gallery of pictures for all of the friends and family in Britain who were not able to attend the wedding. The pictures span the pre-wedding weekend at a friends cottage to the bachelor and bachelorette party to the dress rehearsal dinner to the actual wedding day. these are treasured pictures and so many people have enjoyed them both in the States and in England. The fact that a few pictures have been taken out of context to such a degree as to be referred to as "pornographic" is a total abomination!! It sickens me to think that such a lovely time in all of our lives has been used against Andy and the future of RMO!
Andy is not keeping RMO from the people who want it
out of spite. There is a history here and Andy has recorded as an
archaeologist would record, a legacy of our friends and family in a new and
exciting technological way! Andy's only crime here is that he had the
vision to interpret the needs of the future and to act accordingly. The
people who want this domain have been in business for a very long time and they
could have retained the RMO domain years ago. But they didn't. Why?
Maybe they didn't have the foresight. In the real world, people aren't
allowed to come to your home, point to your car and say, "I want
that" and drive off with your personal possession. This is a
cyber equivalent and frankly I wonder about the honor and morality of someone
capable of such an act.
Maybe I'm being naive but it seems simple. RMO
is owned. You can't have it. You can have something else. If
this simple plan is to come under scrutiny, I shudder to think what the future
of internet law holds for us all.
Sincerely,
Wendy Stevens