Public statement regarding FoE injunction of 'Building Virtual Networks'

Paul Mobbs (mobile) mobbsey at gn.apc.org
Wed Jan 29 22:44:42 GMT 2003 

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Paul Mobbs
3 Grosvenor Road,
Banbury OX16 5HN.
Tel./fax 01295 261864
Email mobbsey at gn.apc.org

29th January 2003
No restriction on circulation (forward freely)


The text of this statement is attached to this email in PDf and HTML formats for 
re-distribution.


Statement regarding the cancellation of the "Building Virtual Networks" tour

This statement may seem to be a little vague. That is because I am apparently 
prohibited from using the names of two organisations, let's call them 'The 
Company' and 'The Committee', in public or private. This is because I am the 
technical director of 'The Company', and as such I'm injuncted by Friends of the 
Earth Limited. Although this statement is being issued in a personal capacity, as 
a consultant and administrator of the www.fraw.org.uk web site, for safety I am 
not going to relay either of these names.


The background

In early 2002, Friends of the Earth Limited ejected people from its organisation 
that were part of its Welsh campaigning network by closing the Newtwork down. 
Many of those involved went to to set up a new organisation, 'The Committee'. The 
object of The Committee was to set up a new campaigning network in Wales, and to 
work to increase the networking capacity of all grassroots groups in Wales, by 
whatever means, to improve the common interests of all.

In mid-2002, two of the people involved with 'The Committee' decided to set up 
'The Company'. The idea was that at a future date it could take on some of the 
more legally complicated aspects of campaigns in Wales, working together with The 
Committee and other grassroots organisations in Wales, as a vehicle to get things 
done (but not to lead campaigns).

In late September 2002, at a meeting of The Committee, it was agreed that we'd 
start planning a tour of Wales in late January to raise awareness of the 
opportunities for virtual networking. In early November 2002, as part of a report 
I wrote for The Committee, I outlined the possibilities for allowing people to 
work online across Wales if The Committee worked to develop an online system to 
allow this to happen.

In August 2002, The Company received notice from Friends of the Earth Limited that 
it was launching a legal action against it because the name of The Company 
infringed their trademark rights. I became a director of The Company in September 
2002 in order to donate my knowledge of online organising. In November 2002, The 
Company received the formal legal claim from Friends of the Earth Limited. Since 
then, myself and the other two individuals involved with The Company have been 
contesting Friends of the Earth's action for trademark infringement on the basis 
that they have no rights to The Company's name.

At no time, since the threat of legal action in August 2002, has the issue of the 
name of The Committee been raised as part of the legal proceedings. In fact, 
certain staff in Friends of the Earth Limited, when questioned in 2002, had 
stated that the name of the Committee would be acceptable to them. This issue was 
only raised on the day the Building Virtual Networks tour was due to start. 


The Injunction

What has changed is that this month the solicitors for Friends of the Earth 
Limited have advised Friends of the Earth Limited that the name of The Committee 
breaches their trademark. This is because it is 'colorably similar'. This despite 
the fact that Friends of the Earth Limited's trademark, company name and articles 
do not contain the Welsh word for Wales (I'm not saying it to be on the safe 
side).

When Friends of the Earth learnt of the Building Virtual Networks tour they asked 
their solicitors to give them advice. This resulted in a warning letter to the 
members of the committee organising the tour. In our view, there was no 
similarity between the name of Friends of the Earth Limited and The Committee. We 
also knew that certain FoE staff had accepted the name previously. We therefore 
declined to sign the undertakings from FoE's solicitors, and stated our desire to 
continue with the tour.

On Monday 27th January we proceeded with our Pontypridd workshop as planned. On 
the afternoon of Tuesday 28th we received a phone call from Friends of the 
Earth's lawyers stating that they were applying for an injunction at that moment 
(we inferred they didn't want us to set out to Narberth and so be out of 
communication). They later phoned to confirm that the order had been granted. At 
that stage we decided it was necessary to abandon the workshop in Narberth. Later 
that evening we received a copy of the injunction.

According to the documentation submitted by Friends of the Earth's solicitors, 
they state that The Committee is a new online organisation being established as 
part of the 'Building Virtual Networks' tour. Other parts of their evidence to 
the court are also factually incorrect, and do not relate to the contents of 
documentation they already had copies of which outlined the relationship between 
The Committee and The Company. In fact, from August 2002 onward, they have 
continually refused to meet and have a dialogue with those involved on this 
issue. We believe they refused these offers of meeting because they would have to 
address the factual inaccuracies of their case as part of such a meeting.

To continue with the tour would not only endanger those involved with The Company 
- - - to whom the injunction is addressed. It would also endanger the well-being of 
members of The Committee who, by implication, are considered to be bound by the 
injunction. Given this situation, we feel we can do nothing else but call-off the 
tour.

In their evidence Friends of the Earth state that they have 'no wish to stop the 
tour'. However the whole organisation of the tour is inextricably bound up within 
the name of The Committee. Everything is in The Committee's name. The people 
providing the main support for the tour (because they have the skills or time to 
make the tour happen) are involved with The Company, further complicating the 
application of the injunction. We feel there is no other option but to call-off 
the tour because the factual inaccuracies of their claim make it difficult to 
fully comprehend the scope of the injunction.


What's next

Those involved with the legal action launched by Friends of the Earth in November 
2002 have not sought to publicise it in any way. However, this injunction is 
clearly prejudicial to campaigners in Wales completely un-associated with The 
Company. Tim Shaw and Ron Whitehead, as they are being sued as individuals, 
cannot do anything further. The Committee also has a problem formally calling for 
action because the individuals involved may be liable for using its name. 
Therefore, I personally am calling for support to defend the rights of the 
members of The Committee, and compensation from FoE for the cancellation of the 
tour.

Over the next week or so I hope to consult with others to produce a strategy for 
how we take forward a campaign to counter the actions of Friends of the Earth in 
Wales. In the mean time, I suggest that those offended by Friends of the Earth's 
actions - seeking to gag The Committee and blocking the Building Virtual Networks 
tour - contact Friends of the Earth personally:

Address: Sam Clarke, Chair of the Board, Friends of the Earth,
             26-28 Underwood Street, London N1 7JQ. Tel. 0207 490 1555.

Email: Friends of the Earth staff involved, philm at foe.co.uk, 
             charless at foe.co.uk, julianr at foe.co.uk


If you have any further queries please contact me by email: mobbsey at gn.apc.org. I 
will also post further information as issues progress at  
http://www.fraw.org.uk/mobbsey/


P.

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