TheBuzz
TheBuzz
Among the WorldPoint Interactive Inc. assets up for auction July 28 is the Internet domain name www.alamoana.com, the Web address where you'll currently find a guide to Ala Moana Shopping Center. Shopping for
Ala Moana
-- dot-comThe bottom of the page indicates the site is "Produced and Hosted by WorldPoint." However, neither the appearance of such words at the bottom of a Web site, nor being named as the registrant of the domain name necessarily indicates ownership of the domain. Web development and public relations companies as well as advertising agencies often register domains on behalf of clients with the understanding that the client retains ownership of the domain. Not so in this case.
WorldPoint registered AlaMoana.com in 1995, and owns the domain outright, according to WorldPoint President and Chief Executive Massimo Fuchs.
He said that registration of the domain did not represent cybersquatting.
"We don't like that either," saying it was tantamount to blackmail. "In this particular case Ala Moana is not a trademark, it is a common word in the Hawaiian language, not trademarkable, anybody can register it at any time."
"We have offered it to them but they're not willing to buy it," Fuchs said, without disclosing the asking price. He has reserved the right to reject the winning auction bid, if it is not up to his expectations.
Dwight Yoshimura, general manager of General Growth Properties, which owns Ala Moana Center, also declined to disclose Fuchs' price. He said the company is reviewing the value of the domain name.
"We're also having a legal review done." Yoshimura said, "It's hard when you start off with a relationship and then everybody has a different understanding of what was understood."
"We have a number of options that we could go to," he said. Indeed, www.shopalamoana.com has been registered by General Growth Properties.
Meanwhile, www.markglenauctions.com calls the July 28 asset sale "The hottest auction of the year."
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin.
Call 529-4302, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached
at: eengle@starbulletin.com