HW: Domain Issues (Note to Andy)

[Rik Rx]

Hi Andy...

Just a few words to hopefully put things in better perspective.....

Having spoken at length to Dave & co.over the last week or so, the last
thing they wanted was to shut you down ! However, it's clear they have
felt for some time that their views have been misrepresented to the
casual site visitor when confronted with the banner "The Official
Hawkwind Website". This instantly gives the unqualified impression that
everything contained on the site is provided by, or at the very least
sanctioned by the band. You obviously know this is not the case.

Imagine for a moment that someone had set up andygilham.com before you'd
bought it, and stated on the home page that it was the "Official Site of
Andy Gilham" before filling the site with views, opinions and material
that you did not provide, agree with, or have any control over. You'd be
pissed off surely?  But wait... there may be several other andy gilhams
out there who have just as much claim to the name and the site may be
valid.  However, the name 'Hawkwind' is not a suchlike 'generic' name
that could be confused with others, as everyone is aware, it's a
universally recognised brand name; and that is a major difference.

As you know, we do Mission Control for the band, and all of the stuff
that goes onto the site is in most cases is directly provided by them.
If not, it is ALWAYS sanctioned by, commissioned by, or at the very
least vetted by the band themselves. The band have full FTP access to
the domain's webspace (which is theirs anyway) and can modify any files
and data by themselves at any time. This means that FULL CONTROL of what
is represented is held at all times with the band. Additionally, despite
designing and administering the Website for the band, we claim no
ownership of any of the content of Mission Control in any way, and the
band can, at any time, with our full sanction, freely chose to take
control of the site and without restrictions use any graphics and date
we have created for the site. Hawkwind also hold all the registration
certificates for Hawkwind.org.uk (even though a domain search will show
that we pay the renewal fees). All this allows the band to have the
knowledge of having their views, opinions and interests honestly
represented.

And this is the key problem.  On the .com site, there have been growing
references to various things that are contrary to the band's personal
and financial interests. There was certainly material that would have
detrimental effects on ongoing court cases; i.e. there were references
to muc 'bootleg' material without any form of disclaimer stating that
the band did not support the releases etc. etc. Imagine how damaging it
would be to a court case against a bootlegger if the defence produced a
printed copyof a page from your site that was headed "The Official
Hawkwind Website", that quite happily listed such material without a
disclaimer?
This is just one of many examples of why the band wanted action.

If the site, as it stands, was on another domain, set up as a fan-based
site, and did not claim to "officially" represent the band, I really
don't think that they would have a major problem with it. There are
certainly many other HW based fan sites online that contain much of the
material mentioned above. The difference is though, none of them have
ever claimed to be the "official" voice of Hawkwind.

On a personal level, I have always found the .com site to be an
excellent port of call for fans, and as a webmaster can appreciate the
amount of hard work that has gone in to creating such a large portal. I
have never met you, the band have never met you, but it's honestly true
to say that nobody has any animosity towards you personally.  All that
is known of you from HW's perspective is what has appeared on the .com
pages, which in the main has been of really high quality, and very
informative. However, it is clear that there are some major issues that
needed addressing before the impact on the band's interests became too
great.

Having spoken to the band at length, it is clear that there was no
intention to close down your site. Can I suggest that you contact the
band over the next few days, and at least discuss an amicable way
forward. I am sure that there must be several options open to resolve
this issue that will be in the best interests of all parties involved,
and this includes the fanbase. Dave has already stated that if the site
were to appear as a fan-based site any support or promotion and linkages
would be given where appropriate.

I know you are in a bit of a 'piggy in the middle' situation, but
somebody needs to start the mediation.

This note is deliberately in the public domain to avoid the 'chinese
whispers' that we have seen on the lists lately.


Rx