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| Canton woman caught in web of cyber just |
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- Wednesday, October 22 2003, 23:39:51 (EDT) from 69.14.23.37 - d14-69-37-23.try.wideopenwest.com  Commercial -  Windows XP -  NetscapeWebsite: Website title: |
Canton woman caught in web of cyber justice October 21, 2003 BY JEFF BENNETT FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER Michelle Grosse of Canton has stumbled into a legal mess over how far companies can go to protect their name in cyberspace. She hired a longtime Canton business, Lucas Nursery and Landscaping Inc., to fix a dip in her backyard, lay some sod and build a retaining wall. What she claims she got for her $8,100 was shoddy work that left her backyard a mess, the runaround from Lucas Nursery and a $5,400 bill from another company that fixed the problems. Angry, Grosse, a technical worker for a computer company, decided to vent on the Internet. She bought a Web address, www.lucasnursery.com, posted pictures of her yard and warned about what happened to her. Now after three years of legal fights, the 42-year-old is facing a $50,000 lawsuit and $15,000 in attorney fees. The case, say Internet experts, could play an important role in the national debate over how far companies can go to protect their name and products and whether they have the right to silence such critical sites as www.kmartsucks.com and www.fordreallysucks.com. Within the last few years, businesses have begun using more legal tactics to sidestep First Amendment rights of free speech to pursue both employees and consumers who set up Web sites and use message boards and chat rooms to bad-mouth a company. Lucas Nursery is accusing Grosse of hurting its name and reputation through her Web site. It says consumers are confused into thinking hers is the company's official site. Lucas also accused her of being a cyber pirate -- an individual who uses someone else's name or brand to market merchandise on the Internet. Although a U.S. District Court judge ruled in Grosse's favor last year in the civil case, Lucas Nursery has appealed the decision. The case is scheduled for Oct. 31 in the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, said Southfield attorney Jeff Wilson, Grosse's attorney. The appeals court is the final step before the U.S. Supreme Court. Grosse, a first-time home buyer, said she probably will have to sell her house if she loses the case. "I love this house," she said. "I just wanted to be able to take pride in this house both inside and out, and that's why I decided to go all out and have my front and backyards fully landscaped." A foundation of freedom Paul Levy of the Public Citizen group, based in Washington, D.C., said businesses want to protect the commercial value of the Internet so they can advertise. "But the Internet's founding was not commercial," he said. "The original purpose was to allow people to communicate. The vast majority of the Internet sites are hobby pages and chat rooms so people can talk about artists they like or companies they don't like." With the explosion of so-called suck sites in the late 1990s, Levy said businesses sued to have the sites shut down outright. After running into First Amendment issues and losing many of the cases, many corporations are now suing based on trademark infringement and cybersquatting. "There has to be a balance struck between companies protecting their trademarks and the public's right to free speech," said Wendy Seltzer, an attorney with the San Francisco-based consumer rights organization Electronic Frontier Foundation. Grosse's saga Grosse's situation started in March 2000 when she hired Lucas Nursery to fix a swale in her backyard, according to court documents. After about a two-month delay, five loads of top soil were dumped at Grosse's house. Rain washed some of the top soil away before workers arrived to spread the dirt, she said. As a result, Grosse claims her backyard was "drastically uneven" and the retaining walls sank. Documents say her problems were exacerbated when workers laid some of her sod during a rainstorm. The next day, she said, there were numerous holes in her yard. "I called them repeatedly but they said they would not come out and take a look," Grosse said. Bob Lucas, owner of Lucas Nursery and Landscaping, blamed Grosse for the problems with her yard. "There was nothing wrong with the work," Lucas said, adding that the lawn problems occurred because Grosse chased her dogs around the yard before the sod was set. Lucas would not comment further. In August 2000, three months after Lucas Nursery had finished her yard, Grosse decided to vent her anger on the Internet. She bought the Web address for $35. The company did not then and still does not have its own Web site. "I didn't want other people to go through what I went through," Grosse said. She posted a few pictures of Lucas' work on the yard and warned people about the company. Lucas Nursery sent a letter in late September 2000 asking that the Web site be taken down. Grosse complied a few days later. She then called the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office to see if Lucas Nursery was a registered trademark. After being told it wasn't, she put the site back up. "Since it wasn't a trademark, how could they keep me from a forum to voice my opinion," she said. Lucas Nursery sued based on trademark infringement and cybersquatting. The first ruling In April 2002, U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman dismissed Lucas Nursery's suit, saying that Grosse did not violate the law because she was not acting in bad faith or trying to generate a profit from the Web site. "She felt she got the short end of the stick and decided to do something," according to court transcripts of Friedman's ruling obtained by the Free Press. "However, I don't think there was any bad faith or intent to profit by it. If anything it was good faith, to protect . . . Lucas should have been in there taking care of business." Lucas appealed. Plymouth attorney Kevin Bennett, who represents Lucas Nursery, would not comment because the appeal is pending. Attorney Wilson said, "I think Lucas Nursery is appealing this case for one reason and one reason only: to harass my client and punish her for publicizing her dispute." Grosse said she now regrets posting the site and wouldn't do it again. In fact, she has taken the site down and does not plan on starting it up again. Contact JEFF BENNETT at 313-222-8769 or jbennett@freepress.com. IF YOU'RE AN ONLINE CRITIC... Some ways to protect a Web site that is critical of a company or product: # Include a disclaimer at the top or bottom of the home page that states that the site is not the authorized company Web page. # Set up a link on the page to a company's real Web site. # Do not use the site to sell products or raise money. # Do not include advertisers on the site. # Do not register for a domain name with the intent of selling it for a profit. # Try to limit your site's use of the company's trademark or product. # Choose a Web site address that clearly distinguishes the site from the company's own. Addresses that include the word "sucks" have proven, in some cases, to be effective. # Stay clear of reproducing the likeness of company officials on the site. # If you receive a letter asking you to remove your Web site, contact the Chilling Effects Clearing House at www.chillingeffect.org for help. The site, a collaboration between law school clinics and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, can help you make informed decisions about your next step. Source: Free Press research --------------------- -- Jeff |
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