Apple Computer's the last company we'd even expect to live by the saying "there's no such thing as bad publicity," given that bad publicity practically killed them a couple of years back. And yet, we can't think of any other reason why they'd choose to use legal scare tactics on a couple of sixteen-year-old Canadian kids, just to get ownership of a domain name that they really don't need and isn't particularly hurting anyone. We're talking, of course, about the current wrestling match over the "appleimac.com" domain name, which is currently registered to two teens in Calgary, but which Apple wants signed over to the Cupertino Mothership, posthaste. CNET has more on this brewing PR disaster.

This is obviously not a case where a corporation is suing over the use of a domain name that is generic enough not to refer to a specific product, like when Archie Comics overreacted and sued some guy for registering "veronica.org" for his daughter Veronica's web site. After all, to what else could "appleimac.com" refer? At the same time, the site to which "appleimac.com" was pointing apparently contains absolutely zero information about Apple or the iMac, and the kids who registered it freely admit that they did so in order to "generate traffic" to their servers and to try to sell the domain name to Apple. In other words, yes, they're cybersquatters-- and what's worse, they're cybersquatters exploiting the success of the iMac by using the name to divert traffic to an unrelated site. Fundamentally, what these guys are doing is the same kind of sleazy practice that might lead to, say, "vwbeetle.com" loading up the International Elbow Fetishists' Page. On top of that, these kids are claiming that they deserve financial compensation from Apple since they've spent "$500 a month" on hosting the domain name-- which, even after accounting for the currency conversion rate, is patently absurd.

On the other hand, we're not at all sure that Apple took the right tack when they sicced their lawyers on two sixteen-year-olds trying to promote their web hosting company. In particular, sending a nasty letter that demands the immediate transfer of the domain name (without even an offer of payment for the original registration costs) is just begging for bad press. While we consider Apple well within their rights on this one, we're willing to bet they're going to pay a lot more in legal and public relations fees to get it all hammered out than if they had simply called the kids up, offered them a pair of iMacs in the colors of their choice, and settled it all quickly and amicably. By kicking off a firestorm of debate (and yes, there seem to be plenty of people fiercely backing both sides of the issue), all Apple's done is give the kids the benefit of public opinion, enough bargaining leverage to ask for a whole lot more than just a couple of iMacs, and exactly what they wanted in the first place-- a whole lot of web traffic. The "appleimac.com" domain name may not have seen much action since they registered it last year, but once this story broke, the kids have seen a pipe-bursting amount of activity from curious onlookers. Chalk it all up to a tactical error on Apple's part, yes?