10,000 payout ends domain name row

WEB ADDRESS: Law Society of Scotland settles dispute

The Law Society of Scotland has paid 10,000 to retrieve a domain name it claimed had confused the public.

The society said last week that it had taken a 'pragmatic approach' in settling the dispute with Tommy Butler, who owned the www.lawscot.co.uk domain name; the society uses www.lawscot.org.uk.

Mr Butler registered the domain name in November 1999 with the reported intention of launching a law firm referral site, but the Law Society of Scotland obtained a court order to suspend the domain name in April 2002 and began action against him to claim the name.

The society claimed that it owned the domain name, which it said it registered before the UK domain name registry, Nominet, began to keep records in August 1996.

The society has also registered 'lawscot' as a trademark.

In a statement released last week, the society said it had taken a 'principled approach' to the dispute because it was in the public interest for the society to hold a domain name that was frequently confused with its own.

The statement continued: 'The society originally discussed a payment of 500 to a charity of Mr Butler's choice in return for the domain name but the dispute developed to the point where Mr Butler was seeking substantially more from the society than the amount for which the society has now agreed to settle the dispute.

'While the society continues to believe it was necessary to take the action it has to protect the interests of the public, it has worked to reach a pragmatic approach to settling the dispute.

The action has now settled for less than it could have cost to run the court action.'

Mr Butler's Web development company - Local Web Sites - owns several law-related domain names, including legalaid.org.uk and locallawyers.co.uk.

Mr Butler said he had not been interested in money, and was the one who suggested the 500 donation to charity.

His chief concern was the society's use of the .co.uk name while he owned it, he said.

A Law Society of Scotland spokeswoman said the charity payment could not be agreed because of several conditions which were attached to the offer.

Any mention of the .co.uk site in the society's literature in previous years was down to typographical error, she maintained.

Neil Rose