Darlene,

As previously indicated, Virgin Fuels is in the process of launching its own site. Hopefully this will be in the next week or so.

If you were to agree to transfer ownership of virginfuels.org to us for an amount in the region of what we are suggesting then we would ensure that it was pointed at our site.

Regards

Mark James

Then, on Friday, January 12, 2007 this anonymous comment was posted on the Gaia Capitalist blog.  Pretty obvious who posted it:

Darlene,

Whilst I can see both sides of the legal arguement, I suggest you do the honorable thing from a moral and personal perspective, and take the virginfuels.org site down, and gift it to Virgin, or accept the offer of payment.

To pretend that you are simply doing Virgin a favour by using this resource to publicise your own endeavours - when common sense notes that you have gone out of your way to register the doman - and then solicited 'sponsorship' or 'financial support' for your endeavours - is in poor taste - and certainly insults the Virgin brand, in which you have not invested a dime, nor contributed to - you are attempting to profit from the hard work of others in establishing that brand.

I suggest you focus on getting paid work for your skills.

Anon.

Gaia Capitalist response: very weird.  I'm not pretending to do anything.  None of this is about Virgin.  I'm not even going to respond to the personal nature of this comment.  Anonymous posting is not really proper Internet blog etiquette and it doesn't appear respectful to the legitimate discussion.  01.14.07  23:14

Friday, 01-05-07 09:44

"We are prepared to offer you $150 which more than covers the cost of registration of virginfuels.org and the replacement domain name.

Failing that we would probably be better off reserving our rights to take formal action to recover the name at some point in the future." Regards, Mark (Virgin Enterprises Intellectual Property manager).

Gaia Capitalist reponse:

That's fine. I'm on solid ground. This means the legitimate conversation will go back into the public domain for discussion. I have everything documented and these are definitely issues of interest in cyberspace and beyond. I have expressed my admiration for everything Virgin stands for in the world but at this point we'll let the truth stand for itself.

In lieu of $150, I'd rather give the site to the children of the world. The only reason any of this has become a point of contention is because you chose not to publish an official Virgin Fuels website or establish a presence on the Internet. People from countries all over the world took heart and inspiration by what Sir Richard and Virgin Fuels stood for. Big announcements, ad campaigns, free publicity. But, when ordinary folk the world over tried to find out more information on the Internet or how to even contact you - nothing.

They came to me only because they couldn't find you. Kind of like the factory owner saying on TV and in the newspapers how he's going to invest all this money and energy into local projects and employment then sealing all the doors so no one can gain entry to apply. Some of the talk on the blogs is whether the company Virgin Fuels even exists or whether it is a public relations maneuver. I'm not saying this, I'm only repeating what I'm reading in the blogosphere. This is not what I want to do but you have given me no other choice.

I will put the discussion back up on virginfuels.org, make my last post by Sunday 01-07-07 to document our respective positions to date. We can let the lawyers and the courts handle it from there whenever you want. As of now I need to walk away from this and get on with my life and service work.

Regards, Darlene

Following correspondence from Virgin preceded above:

Dated January 3, 2007

Darlene,

We note that you have begun posting our correspondence on the virginfuels.org website. Given that in your email dated 18 December 2006 you agreed to “wait to put it all up” until you heard from us, we are rather disappointed by this. We also note that your Gaia Capitalist site indicates that you registered the virginfuels.org domain name and put together your website in order to showcase your abilities and try and secure a job from Virgin Fuels or the Virgin Group

We wish to clarify that it is the combination of the content of your website, together with the registration and use of the domain name virginfuels.org, which we find problematic. We are therefore pleased to note your decision to move the content of the virginfuels.org website to a new URL which will also be dedicated to World Bio Energy news. We see that this site is now accessible via the domain name worldbioenergynews.com, which was registered by you on 21 December 2006. Although you now appear to be turning your attention to operating this site under the new domain, your current intentions in relation to the virginfuels.org domain are not entirely clear from any of your sites. Needless to say, we still request that the virginfuels.org domain is transferred to Virgin Enterprises Limited.

We obviously wish to resolve this matter swiftly and amicably and look forward to receiving any reasonable proposal (excerpt from DC proposal) from you relating to the transfer of the domain name virginfuels.org to ourselves.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely

Mark James

 
Darlene, 

In response to your email below:

- Just because a domain name is available does not mean that registration and/or use of it will not infringe someone else's rights;

- We cannot be expected to register every permutation of every possible domain name and should be entitled to rely on our trade mark rights instead;

- Virgin Fuels is in the process of setting up its own website;

- You registered this name after Virgin Fuels was launched and made its first investment;

- Your site has its own value and any value attributable to the name is due to our rights and your reliance on them;

- You could have, and should have launched, this site under another name;

- I have offered to reimburse your official registration costs ($25) and asking for sponsorship or paid work for transfer of this name is wholly disproportionate in the circumstances;

- I can't speak on behalf of Virgin Fuels, or Virgin Unite, but I think it is unlikely they would want to sponsor your site or give you paid work in any case;

Regards,

Mark James 

Dear Darlene, 

Thank you for this and your email of 18 December.

Our real concern is your choice of domain name. We accept your assertion that you do not to intend to infringe our rights and we appreciate that you agree with and are supporting a cause that is very important to us. However, the domain name you are using to do this is confusing and misleading and that is problematic for both of us. Indeed, your letter of 12 December (sic - letter sent November 12, 2006) provides evidence of such confusion in that you state you have received employment applications and investment proposals presumably intended for Virgin Fuels. As your site is about a whole lot more than just Virgin Fuels it is also in your interests to use a name which reflects that.

In the circumstances, if you agree to transfer legal ownership of virginfuels.org to us we would be prepared to reimburse the official costs you incurred in registering this domain name. You could then use this money to purchase a new domain name which does not contain the VIRGIN trade mark. The transfer can be done electronically and should be free.

 I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours Sincerely,

Mark James 

Subject: virginfuels.org

Dear Ms Brice

I am writing on behalf of Virgin Enterprises Limited, the company which manages trade mark and other intellectual property matters on behalf of the various Virgin Group companies and businesses.

It has come to our attention that you have registered and are using the domain name www.virginfuels.org (the “Domain Name”) . In particular, the Domain Name resolves to an active website, the aim of which is to examine global bio energy issues with a special focus on green technology and investment. We note that t he website focuses on numerous fuel technologies, policies, news and investments of which the Virgin Group’s Virgin Fuels business is only one.

Indeed, y our registration and use of the Domain Name is of particular concern given Sir Richard Branson’s recent and high profile launch of our Virgin Fuels business. On the site you state that "we launched the site September 29, 2006, the day after Sir Richard Branson announced his new bioenergy investment company, Virgin Fuels".

In light of the fame of the VIRGIN name and of Virgin Fuels’ current activities, it is inevitable that the public will be confused or misled by your registration and use of the Domain Name. Such confusion is likely to make the public believe that you are, in some way, associated with the Virgin group of companies or somehow endorsed or sponsored by it . Please note that the disclaimer on your website does not remove the possibility or likelihood of this confusion and only serves to illustrate our concerns . Your registration and use of the Domain Name may also give rise to certain other trade mark issues.

We appreciate your interest in and support of Sir Richard’s new venture into renewable energy. However, we cannot allow you to continue operating under the Domain Name. As your site deals with our issues and other parties active in this area then it would also be in your interests to use a name which is not aligned to one particular business.

We therefore request your confirmation that you will transfer the registration of the Domain Name to Virgin Enterprises Limited and refrain from registering or using in the future any further domain names, trading names or trade marks which include the name VIRGIN or anything similar to it.

We are confident that we will be able resolve this matter amicably with you. We look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible, and in any event, by 3 January 2007. In the meantime, we must reserve all of our rights.

Yours Sincerely,

Mark James

Intellectual Property Manager

Virgin Enterprises Limited