The answer is simple, really. Virtual Jetstar only has to have one of
their pilots pile it in with a spectacular crash killings hundreds of
virtual passengers, then they can scramble to change their name to avoid
losing business by association with it. Just like every other airline.

;-)

But in all seriousness, I agree with you. I understand the VA's
problems and sympathize with them, but there are countless solutions to
this all. One of the simplest is to offer Qantas' JetStar a good rate for a
banner ad on the VA site, with a *simple change to the homepage* explaining
that no, this is a simulation site only, if you're looking to book a
flight, please use this link.

This actually brings revenue into the VA pocket, and if priced
accordingly covers all bandwidth issues, real or imagined. No domain
issues, no losses, and increased traffic to everybody. What's to lose?

There's also no reason for a lawsuit. The VA can simply reply to all
mail with any number of fun messages, basically telling the potential
customer (for the real airline) that they've been screwed over by an
elaborate hoax. Or they can put in a script requesting credit card info.
The real airline will lose no time whatsoever in seeing useful ways to
remedy the situation. And even better, the attornies go suck wind ;-).

Just gotta be creative,,,


- Al.

--
To reply, insert dash in address to separate G and I in the domain



"Joseph Brown" wrote in
s.com:

Let me start by saying that I have no affiliation nor with Jetstar
INTERNATIONAL nor with Jetstar AIRWAYS. I don't live in Australia nor
in the USA. I'm in Canada. And I like to see things subjectively, not
single sided. I always liked the truth - even when sometimes it
wasn't for my personal advantage. Many times I've but the public
interest in favor of my own personal interest. Having said this, I
would like to make my observations on this issue, which I first read
on FlightSim.com.

To my understanding, 2 parties are in conflict because of the name
"Jetstar". However, one is a Simulator Virtual Airline based in the
USA and the other is a real discount transport carrier operating in
Australia. One's name is Jetstar International and the other is
Jetstar Airways.

As we all know, there are many Virtual Airlines operating under the
name of real airlines, with their respective logos and colors. This
is what makes our simulation world realistic and more enjoyable.

The last thing that we want is for the real airlines to see the
virtual airlines as a threat. Remember what happened a couple of
years ago with American Airlines who threatened us of using their
colors, name and logo for the VA world? Then, when they saw that
there was no threat, they calmed down. We don't want to open up such
conflict doors between real airlines and VA.

This lawsuit between Jetstar International and Jetstar Airways will do
more damage than good to the VA community. If the lawsuit is valid,
then hundreds of REAL airlines should start suing VIRTUAL airlines for
name and logo Infringement. i.e. American Airlines Vs American Virtual
Airlines OR Northwest Airlines Vs Northwest Virtual Airlines. And shut
everybody down. And Guess what - if Jetstar International Wins the
lawsuit (highly unlikely) I can't imagine what the real airlines point
of view would be towards Virtual Airlines using their name....
Basically we would be considered as a threat.

One more thing: The Chief Executive Officer of Jetstar International
Virtual Airlines wrote to us - to the sim community the following
statement: "The unprecedented traffic to our site nearly crashed it.
This continues even today increasing our bandwidth costs"

By going to www.Alexa.com in order to check www.jetstarairlines.com
traffic, I was pretty disappointed. It ranks 2,280,796 the on the web!
AND DECREASING. Which basically means the site doesn't get more than
50-60 users a day. And getting lower - as per the trend. I can't see
how site can crash under this tiny load. Is it running on a home
server with a dialup connection under windows 3.0? Don't know but,
But there's a say that says: "Too much talk is like no talk"....

Anyways, my opinion is that Jetstar International should put the
general interest in front of personal interest-for-gain. This is what
I think. VA is no threat to Airlines and Airlines are no threat to VA.
I forgot that we are in America and anybody has the right to sue
anybody for anything. Fortunately, the justice system is just. The
sad part is that lawyers are SO hungry for money that many times they
mislead their customers into believing that they will win the case.

We soon find out that the only winners are the lawyers and the losers
are we - the general public - because some people decided to put their
personal interest in front of the public interest. Call it democracy
- capitalism - where everything is about an individual - egocentric -
Confined in attitude or interest to one's own needs or affairs. Sad.

Here is the Original "Press Release" as issued by the Virtual Airline:

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JetStar International Airlines Sues Qantas Airways Ltd.
for Copyright and Trademark Infringement

April 20, 2004
On Dec 1, 2003 Qantas Airways Ltd announced the launch of their new
low cost carrier named "Jetstar." http://Jetstar.com/ and
http://Jetstar.com.au/ Unfortunately for Qantas, the name JetStar used
in conjunction with the airline industry was an already legally
trademarked brand by JetStar International Airlines, at
http://www.jetstarairlines.com/.

Beginning at least four years ago, JetStar International Airlines, was
the first and only company ever to use the trademark "JetStar" in
conjunction with an airline or air carrier of any kind, and have
enjoyed a peaceful and productive time with their superior trademark
and domain. Quoting JetStar's CEO Gene Bordelon, "When I formed this
virtual airline four years ago, I went to great lengths naming and
branding it so uniquely that the odds would be remote in the extreme
that it would ever be exactly copied, unintentionally or
coincidentally to avoid any copyright problems." He continued by
stating "It's unbelievable that Qantas could come up with the same
name, essentially the same logo design, and substantially the same
silver livery as ours by chance. Even our domain name clearly states
who and what we are. I knew when I named the airline 'JetStar' it
along with our signature livery would be a very powerful and
recognizable trademark brand. Qantas and their ad agency obviously
also recognized this.

The website operated by JetStar International Airlines caters to the
airline simulation industry. JetStar Airlines has received many
accolades for their unique fleet and website design, and prior to the
December 1 decision by Qantas, JetStar's website was the highest and
only return for 'JetStar Airlines' on every general search engines
such as Google.com, among others for three years running.

Today, things are different. JetStar Airlines has been sidetracked by
the recent onslaught of thousands of unwanted requests for plane
tickets from the Qantas/Jetstar.au promotions. "It's really all about
confusion in the marketplace of which there is plenty." Recently
Qantas offered 100,000 seats for $29 each causing a stampede of
millions of customers to their website. Virgin Blue also joined in
causing a price war. On the same day, JetStar International received
more than 100,000 unwanted visits to their website and were flooded
with email requests, including requests for the cheap tickets from
confused customers, resumes from potential employees, aircraft and
aircraft parts suppliers and even car rental agencies requests for
business. The unprecedented traffic to our site nearly crashed it.
This continues even today increasing our bandwidth costs. The
confusion continues with several virtual Jetstar copies now online and
one even officially sanctioned by Qantas!

"We tried to call their attention to this problem several times, but
their response is nothing short of reckless because they don't seem to
mind trampling on other's intellectual property rights even though
Qantas asks you to respect their rights on their terms of use pages
located on their websites. Qantas' cavalier attitude left us no choice
but to take the matter to court to protect our intellectual property,"
says Bordelon.

The lawsuit filed in United States District Court lists causes of
actions as, Copyright Infringement, Trademark Infringement, Illegal
Cybersquatting, Conversion and Lanham Act Unfair Competition.

Qantas operates several routes to the United States and has
significant involvement in the United States travel and transportation
industry, offering a wide range of services to both American citizens
and other citizens worldwide.

# # #

cc:
rec.aviation.simulators newsgroup
Quantas
Jetstar Airways
Jetstar International