Alitalia v. Porta

Trademark suit in federal court in New York by airline seeking to suppress a web site posted at “www.alitaliasucks.com” by an unhappy customer whose luggage was lost. The company moved for a preliminary injunction claiming that the domain name violated the new anti-cybersquatting law; the defendant argued that this law was not violated and that, in any event, the First Amendment protects his speech.

In response to Public Citizen’s brief, the district judge ordered Alitalia to bring an executive to court to explain the basis for its request for a preliminary injunction. Alitalia then dismissed its lawsuit.