Telkom revives Hellkom complaint

By Paul Vecchiatto for Telkom
Cape Town, 22 Nov 2004

Telkom is making good its threat to take legal action against the owner of parody Web site Hellkom.co.za.

On Friday, Telkom served papers on the owner of Hellkom.co.za, Greg Stirton.

"I met with the Sheriff of the Court, who handed me the 399-page document. It seems that Telkom has a lot of information on me. They must have hired a private detective," Stirton told ITWeb.

Hellkom made headlines in August when Telkom first claimed the site infringed on its trademark, and that this was defamatory and encouraged hate speech. Telkom wanted R5 million in compensation.

This galvanized public support for Helkom from lawyers, members of the public, and even the Freedom of Expression Institute.

A team of lawyers under the direction of Cape Town specialist law firm Michalson Attorneys will represent Stirton.

"After three months of nothing, it seems that Telkom is finally making its intentions clear," Stirton says.

Telkom spokesperson Ravin Maharaj confirmed that papers were served on Stirton, but that the main aim of the action was to stop the defacing of the Telkom logo.

``Telkom does not object to the Web site, nor the postings on these sites. The only objection that Telkom has is to the use of the Telkom trademark, as it manifests in the domain name and the defacing of the Telkom logo," he says.

Maharaj says that Telkom has a responsibility to protect its trademark and logo because of the equity invested. "Our reputation and resultant goodwill is at stake. It is for this reason that we have embarked on legal action."