Ford claimed that 2600’s action would lead the public to believe
that the derogatory domain name in some way reflected its views on
General Motors.
2600 argued that, since it is clearly identified as the
registered owner of the domain name, there can be no confusion over
any connection between the opinion expressed in the domain name and
that of Ford.
In December, 2001, Judge Robert Cleland of the Eastern District
of Michigan, dismissed Ford’s lawsuit in its entirety for "failure
to state a claim upon which relief may be granted” – i.e. Ford had
no legal ground for prohibiting 2600 from pointing the domain name
at its homepage. In January, Ford appealed this ruling to the Sixth
Circuit US Court of Appeals.
2600 announced that on Thursday, Ford dismissed its appeal. In a
statement the following day, 2600 said:
“Now that the lawsuit has been won, 2600
will be soliciting suggestions during the H2K2 conference, for the
best place to point the domain name. Ultimately, this just proves
how silly and counterproductive Ford’s litigation strategy always
has been from the beginning.”
