Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2000/03/10/nearlylastminute_com_consults_lawyers_over/

Nearlylastminute.com consults lawyers over Sun article

Nothing to do with us, Squire, Lastminute says

By Tim Richardson

Posted in On-Prem, 10th March 2000 11:29 GMT

A Norwich company has denied allegations made in The Sun that it was plotting to redirect traffic away from lastminute.com. In statement issued by nearlylastminute.com the e-outfit said: "Urgent legal advice is being sought regarding the totally false allegations published in todays [sic] UK national press. "A further statement from nearlylastminute.com will be released shortly." Lastminute.com trumped this with its own statement today. It said: "Lastminute.com has made no comment on, or allegation against, Nearlylastminute.com. We are not dealing with any current security issue. "We have not been contacted by any legal representative in relation to this matter." To make matters worse, The Register received an e-mail from nearlylastminute.com last night. It said: "Jemma Whaley-Cohen is at this moment involved in various discussions with all interested parties, both on the possible sale of nearlylastminute and/or regarding the ongoing support of our strategic partners." So let's get this straight. The Sun said there was a plot, lastminute.com said there wasn't a security problem and nearlylastminute.com denies everything, regardless of what it is. Lastminute.com says it hasn't spoken to any legal people but nearlylastminute.com suggests it is holding talks. If it isn't talking with lastminute.com, then to whom is it talking ? The Norwich outfit mentioned the "possible sale of nearlylastminute.com". Is it referring to the business or the domain? If it's the domain, then its actions could be construed as cybersquatting. If it's the business, it would be interesting to see what it has have to sell since the domain was registered a little over a week ago. Does anybody really know what the heck is going on here? No one at lastminute.com was available for any kind of explanatory comment this morning. Jemma Whaley-Cohen promised to call but hasn't done so yet. This whole episode is so riddled with confusion it makes breaking a 40-bit encryption as easy as cracking a one-piece jigsaw puzzle. ® Cybersquatting Full Coverage