Eric Robison is a UNIX consultant of long standing whose one-man company, Clue Computing, had the good sense to register clue.com as a domain name in 1995.
Hasbro is a toy company of long standing that makes, among hundreds of other products, a board game called "Clue?".
Like many big old companies, Hasbro was rather clueless about the matter of domain names, until it was too late. When they discovered that Mr. Robison had already registered clue.com, they did what only comes naturally to many big old clueless companies. They sued him.
They also lost. Naturally, they appealed the judgement. So the fight is still on.
When we asked Mr. Robinson for a few words about the case, he framed his response in the manner of the LJ Index (see p. X). With his permission, we reproduce it here:
- Years Clue Computing has been in this fight: 5
- Dollars spent by Clue Computing on the fight: ~100,000
- Highest advertised domain name sale price in 1995: ~$100,000
- Highest advertised domain name sale price in 1999: $7,500,000
- Total number of lawyers in law firms working for Clue Computing: 2
- Total number of lawyers in law firms working for Hasbro: >1,000
- Number of settlement offers made by Clue Computing: >5
- Number of settlement offers made by Hasbro: 0
- Closing stock price for Hasbro (HAS) for the week of 6/2/95: 35 1/4
- Closing stock price for Hasbro (HAS) on 1/31/2000: 15
(the boycott must be working. ;-) )
- Cost of one share of Clue Computing, since founding: $10
(ok, so we're not publically traded...)
- Number of domain names Hasbro had registered in 1995: About 20
- Number today: probably over 100 (whois dies after 50, and they had
over 60 before NSI turned off whois a few months ago. Hasbro also
tends to hide their registrations under false names and 3rd parties)
- Number of domain names Hasbro wishes to register: thousands: one per
product or service they sell.
- Hasbro's mgmt: the stupidest SOB's in the universe
- Clue's mgmt: the stubbornest SOB in the universe