PHILIPPINES (Manila Bulletin) - To the public eye, it's just like the latest movie to hit the big screen. On one end, there is the growing controversy over the DotPH registry and on the other, over the long-running pldt.com saga. Interestingly and on both occasions, Gerardo "Gerry" B. Kaimo, a staunch consumer rights advocate and webmaster of pldt.com make top billing.
In an interview after the recent court hearing, Kaimo told the Manila Bulletin he doesn't have any intentions of quitting. The monthly hearings at the Quezon City regional trial court (RTC) branch 90 have been running for a year and a half now.
He said, (Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company's Manny) "Pangilinan wants Gerry Kaimo to run out of money." He added, "I will beg and borrow if I have to." "I will be in court for the rest of my life," adding, "this is a part of life in the Philippines."
Telecommunications giant PLDT filed a civil case against Kaimo on September 23, 1999 for alleged unlawful use of PLDT's trade name in "pldt.com," unfair competition, and damages worth P1.35 million.
Kaimo said PLDT never made any attempt to contact him about the domain name from July 1998, the time he registered pldt.com with USbased domain name registry Network Solutions, Inc.
The lawsuit, which also named consumer organization Philippine League for Democratic Telecommunications, Inc. (PLDTi) as co-defendant, is the first Internet domain name case in the country.
Kaimo said he started the pldt.com website as a "guerrilla type of operation" to oppose the metering of local calls which he believes will increase the cost of Internet access. The site attracted a following of Filipino Internet users which then expanded its coverage to social, political and consumer issues.
The pldt.com webmaster and part-owner of philmusic.com said his website is a "parody site" and could never be mistaken for PLDT's corporate home page at www.pldt.com.ph which was launched in 1996.
"PLDT's web presence was years ahead of mine," Kaimo said in an earlier interview. But he admitted there were some instances when visitors "strayed" to his site and requested for telephone area codes through e-mail. He said he always referred them to the www.pldt.com.ph site.
At the recent court hearing, Kaimo told the Manila Bulletin, "PLDT's Internet rule for the day was systems administrator Emmanuel Bausa, Jr.'s insistence that all trade name holders are the rightful owners over the domain name." Bausa has been the third witness since the 72-year-old company's September 1999 lawsuit against Kaimo for the "unauthorized use of trademark."
The next court hearing, where Bausa is set to be cross-examined, is scheduled for May 22 at 2:00 p.m. at Quezon City RTC branch 90.
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