- Impact
- 3,991
Ex-eBay chief seeks to reclaim name in cyberspace
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jI61IitcGlp8ga6ENsr2T5qJrFJQD95J9JI80
Hall, a Democrat who described himself as a paid political writer and media consultant, said he registered the domain names for less than $10 apiece.
"All along, I had no idea what I was going to do with these," he said. "I just thought it was kind of funny."
He said Whitman never called him to ask for the Web sites or even offer him money. Instead, he said her Washington, D.C.-based attorneys wrote him a letter calling him a cybersquatter and threatening to sue him for as much as $100,000 if he didn't turn them over.
He noted that he bought the domain names after news articles in which Whitman speculated about her own political future.
"You would think she'd be smart enough to buy the domain before she tells everyone she's thinking about running for governor," he said.
Instead, the former Silicon Valley CEO is likely spending anywhere from $50,000 to $200,000 in her legal quest to gain control of the Whitman Web sites, said Frederick Felman, chief marketing officer of MarkMonitor, a San Francisco-based firm that helps companies and people protect their name online.
Hall, 50, said he might have given the domains to Whitman for free if she had asked.
Henry Gomez, a spokesman for Whitman, said her attorneys initially contacted Hall "to try to work something out," but he never responded to e-mail or telephone messages.
