CALIFORNIA –– Settling a more than two-year battle overthe rights to an Internet domain name, students and administratorsat Claremont McKenna College have agreed to move a student-runWeb site to a new address.
Under the agreement officially announced in May, the collegewill set aside $50,000 in a fund to pay for the new site’s operatingexpenses, as well as award a total of $7,000 in scholarships forstudent entrepreneurs.
The conflict stems from the domain name of the student-runWeb site, "claremontmckenna.com," which administratorssaid conflicted with the school’s trademark and official Web site"claremontmckenna.edu." The student site will be movedto a new location, "cmcstudent.com."
David Enrich, one of the site’s founders, said it was importantto get the matter settled, especially because he and the site’sother four creators graduated this spring.
"We didn’t want to be involved in litigation upon graduating,"Enrich said. "We also felt very strongly that the site continue,even if under a different name."
The site, founded in 1998, includes a behind-the-scenes lookat the college, including problems with cafeterias and clips ofpornographic movies that feature the school’s suburban Los Angelescampus. Administrators, however, insist they were not trying toquiet bad publicity of the college.
"There may be things that are said from time to time aboutthe college by anyone that might concern us," said Dean ofStudents Torrey Sun. "But people are entitled to say whatthey think — and believe."
College President Pamela Gann said the aim of the settlementwas primarily to protect the college’s intellectual property.She said the college has since trademarked its name as well asthe abbreviation "CMC" and has reserved other similardomain names.
Gann said she chose to settle the dispute rather than undertakea costly lawsuit against her own students.
"I certainly didn’t want to spend tens of thousands ofdollars in a lawsuit," Gann said.
The college has also agreed to include a link to the new siteand send mailings to students and alumni publicizing the namechange.