Ryanair your favourite airline?

It's not the favourite of Robert Tyler, who was so hacked off with the way that he was treated that he set up http://www.ihateryanair.co.uk/ where he lambasted the budget airline in the most strident terms.  Finally, it all got too much for Ryanair and its combative boss, Michael O'Leary (pictured below), and they complained to Nominet, the organisation that manages all web addresses in the UK. 



The upshot was that the site was closed, not because it was disaparaging about Ryanair, but because it had links to other sites selling travel insurance and currency exchange, and had earned the princely sum of £322 from those activities.  The site was ordered to be handed over to Ryanair because it took unfair advantage of the company's name, which is part of its trade mark.  The judgement from Nominet must have been greeted with mixed feelings in Dublin, and it seems to epitomise a pyhrric victory: the company now has managed to close the .co.uk site, but in the process many, many more people now know of Mr Tyler's activities.  In addition, whilst the .co.uk site has gone, everything has simply moved across to http://www.ihateryanair.org/
minus the paid links.  Furthermore, Nominet's judgement is that 'criticism websites are essential in a democratic society', and that 'in a free and open society internet users should generally be able to post comments on their recent experiences or on current events, as long as such postings do not fall foul of the law' - in other words, if a company lets you down, feel free to tell the world about it in factual terms, and as long as you stop short of defamation, or make money through using that company's name, you'll be OK. (In fact, had it been a .com site, the fact that £322 was earned probably wouldn't have resulted in the site being closed, because the rules are different there).

Tyler is not a man who pulls his punches, and in bemoaning the fact that he had lost on a 'technicality' he said  'Never fear, we have already moved the site to it’s new home on www.ihateryanair.org and will continue to provide you with all the latest on how this pathetic excuse for an airline will attempt to extract cash from you through sneaky hidden charges, fly you to places that are not where you actually want to go and leave you stranded when the cr*p hits the fan,"!  Remind me never to get on the wrong side of Robert Tyler.

This judgement is a vindication of an individual's right to use the internet to disseminate information and facts about issues and complaints to the widest possible audience.  It also clarifies what can and can't be done - whilst Nominet's judgements aren't part of the legal system, this one sets a precedent that will give guidance to other website owners.   

As is so often the case in libel actions in the courts, one wonders whether, with the benefit of hindsight, Ryanair might not have done better to let this particular sleeping dog lie?  Tyler's site was largely preaching to the converted up until now, but chunky stories in all of the broadsheets have given him a wider and much more credible forum.