You've Got Mail, so Just Do It

The ownership of words is the revenue model for the new millennium

By Brian D. Rossman

Thanks to a federal judge from the Eastern District of Virginia, we can still utter the phrase, "You've got mail," without having to pay AOL a per diem usage fee.

"You've got mail," the ubiquitous clause that has become part of the lexicon, was the subject of an intellectual property lawsuit between AOL and AT&T that was decided this month. AT&T began using certain net-friendly terms such as "You've got mail," "buddy list" and "Steve Case is a Weenie" on its website, much to the chagrin of AOL and its CEO, who insisted the company trademark those phrases. With the help of attorneys on both sides, this battle landed in federal court.

Millions of us who were too busy trying to calculate the number of years that had passed since George W. Bush could satisfy the White House drug policy standards missed this potentially earth-shattering case. (When first confronted with the George W. issue, the typical Silicon Valley response was, "It's none of our business if he smoked pot or used cocaine in his college days. I just don't want another dog named Millie in the White House.")

Should we blame AOL for its vice-grip on the throat of our "netglish" language? Some might suggest empathy is more in order for the world's biggest Internet Service Provider (ISP). This is an industry so competitive that even after years of operation, no company shows a profit. It appears as though even giant AOL is not immune. With advertising revenues decreasing and other ISPs offering to connect consumers for free, the AOL subscription service model is under fire. The battleground for ownership of certain key phrases is a new and potentially lucrative revenue stream.

If AOL wins on appeal, think of the potential income that could be derived from the creation of this exciting new market. Who else stands to make millions in this new economic landscape? McDonalds and Burger King, that's who, every time you ask, "Would you like fries with that?" How about our beloved phone company: "The time is 8:15 and 20 seconds. Beep." Everytime someone repeats those words, ka-ching!

Even our local institutions stand to prosper. Fry's Electronics, a Silicon Valley landmark, will be afforded a potentially huge new revenue source. Remember, the next time you feel like bellowing, "Your best buys are always at Fry's," you just might be infringing on its trademark.

This legal war over words is not the only battle to be decided in the court system rather than cyberspace. The other is "cybersquatting," which does not refer to the stance you assume after the company takes the seat from your cubicle, but rather to the act of registering a domain mane- which is identical to an established company's trademark. Cybersquatting occurs, for example, if an individual registers pepsi.com as his domain name, even though TriCon Inc. (the parent company of Pepsi) rightfully owns the Pepsi trademark. Courts have recently held that a company has the right to the domain name of its established trademark, even though a cybersquatter may have it.

For those readers who have the surnames Ford, Shell or Coke, you still have the right to freely speak your name, but just as in Silicon Valley, the price for your prime real estate in cyberspace has gone up.

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