It’s a fascinating story of cybersquatting, lawsuits, disgruntled students, and an upstanding Christian institution.
Peter Gage was a student at Pensacola Christian College in ’96 when purchased the domain PenscolaChristianCollege.com.
Gage, who declined to comment when reached by FoxNews.com on Tuesday, last updated the website in 2003 and bills it as “The Student Voice,” or the “unofficial” informational website for the Florida college. In a frequently asked questions section of the website, Gage details his “main problem” with PCC.
Although it appears as though he stopped maintaining the site in ’03, he kept renewing the domain so the university filed a lawsuit.
“The fact is, an institution trying to follow God (more or less) is going to have problems, hurt people, and make mistakes,” the website reads. “Many of us have probably seen churches try to enact biblical discipline only to have it end up in courts or with hurt families or misunderstandings, etc. We can’t expect PCC to be perfect. Unfortunately, PCC throttles the hearts, minds, and spirits of their students and makes no apology for the mess they make in the long run. They won’t even own up to it.”
In 2001, PCC officials filed a complaint against Gage with the National Arbitration Forum, which oversees disputes regarding websites. Its decision, however, sided with Gage and dismissed PCC’s complaint, finding that the Washington state man clearly identified the site as an unofficial information portal and included a link to the school’s official website. Gage’s site also utilized a .com suffix rather than .edu, thus avoiding confusion that it was officially affiliated with PCC.
I Googled Gage’s link and it appears as though Pensacola Christian College has ownership of the domain.
