UK Charities are being conned out of much needed funds

PRLog (Press Release) – Apr 30, 2008 – UK Charities are being conned out of much needed funds by web hosters and providers which are diverting traffic from their websites to major corporate companies such as HP, Dell, PCWorld and Tesco.

Airedale Computer Recycling is a not-for-profit Social Enterprise that has won numerous awards for its environmental work and services to the community. It keeps redundant IT equipment out of landfill by using it to retrain long term unemployed people and then making it available free of charge to local good causes or at low cost to the local community. All the profits go the Chrysalis Youth & Community Project, a registered charity working with disadvantaged young people in Yorkshire.

Airedale Computers who own and have for over six years registered their website http://www.airedalecomputers.com have found that two days after they started a regional TV advertising campaign, a company in Florida registered a website called http://www.airdalecomputers.com which is simply used as a directory to divert traffic to other companies that provide similar sales and services. They have sponsored links by well known UK and US Companies.

Domain Investments Llc a limited company in Florida, registers domain names which are often a misspelling of other companies names and then profits through their popularity. In 2007 Domain Investments have twice been in front of the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organisation) Arbitration and Mediation Service for the misrepresentation of the T-Mobile name and for the purpose of taking advantage of a well known brand, it also concluded that it attempted to attract internet users to its websites by creating a likelihood of confusion with T-Mobiles brands with the adoption of a misspelling or typing error-formed domain names.

T-Mobile won their case and the Domain names were transferred to Deutche-Telecom (T-mobiles owners).
(Source http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/decisions/html/2007/d ... )

Keith Sorrell, Development Manager for Airedale Computers said – “Being a small local charity, it’s nice to be noticed as a world brand leader, but that someone should manipulate our website customers is beyond belief. This could easily happen to other charities and smaller organisations that survive on the revenue from their sales.

What is more disappointing is that major companies have sponsored links on these sites but they are probably unaware of what’s happening. In reality, they are taking much needed funding away from UK charities in order to achieve huge profits for themselves. Obviously we don’t have the resources to challenge Domain Investments, unlike Deutche-Telecom, but we are writing to and talking to the companies of these sponsored links to make them aware of just what is happening”.