Virtual Airline sues Real Airline

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.

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