Why is everything missing?

On Wednesday 9th August I receieved a letter from the AFL's solicitors.
This letter is reproduced in full below:

Browne & Co.
Solicitors & Consultants

Our Ref: JPI:956033

8th August, 1995

Mr. Darryl Harvey
7 Crows Lane
Glen Waverley Vic 3150

Dear Sir,

AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE

We act for the Australian Football League ("AFL") which conducts an Australian Rules football competition throughout Australia.

Our Client has advised us that you are offering on the internet a football product using the 1995 AFL season Fixture, AFL logos and photographs.

The AFL is the registered proprietor of an extensive range of trade marks including without limitation the AFL shield logos and the shield logos used and adopted by all Clubs competing in the AFL competition. The AFL holds copyright in respect of other logos, insignias, itmes of plyaing uniform and other images associated with the AFL competition and also its fixture of matches.

The AFL recerves its right to take action against any person, corporation or any entity who or which in any way engages in false or misleading conduct, passes off that its products or services are connected with the AFL or acts in a way so as to imply sponsorship, approval or affilation which has not been granted by the AFL.

The AFL licenses certain parties to exercise the right to exploit the intellectual property and other rights of the AFL principally through various Commodity Licence Agreements.

Save and except as provided in such Agreements or otherwise as may be specifically agreed by the AFL, no person, corporation or entity has any right to utilise any property of the AFL or to act in any false or misleading manner or to pass off that its goods or servcies are those of the AFL or to represent a sponsorship, approval or affilation of or with the AFL.

Our client proposes to issue proceedings against you unless you agree and undertake to:-

1/. Immediatley and permanently withdraw any products from the Internet which depicts any AFL logo, contains the AFL's fixture or matches for 1995 or connotes any direct or indirect association with the AFL or the AFL competition.
2/. Immediatley provide in a form satisfactory to the AFL a binding and written assurance and undertaking executed and addressed to the AFL and delivered to us, to the following effect:-
- (a) That you warrant to the AFL that you have accepted and complied with and will will promptly comply with all of the conditions of this letter;
- (b) that you undertake that you will not directly or indirectly use without authorisation in writing from the AFL any intellectual property of the AFL including without limitation logos or any marks of the AFL or any logos or marks which are substantially identical with or confusingly similar to any of those logos or marks and that you will not directly or indirectly connote any sponsorship, approval or affiliation with the AFL or the AFL competition; and
- (c) that you will not, without authorisation in writing from the AFL, reproduce the AFL's fixture of matches.

As this matter is extremely important to the AFL we request your written acknowledgment and full response to this letter by no later than 4:00pm on 11 August, 1995 failing which we are instructed to take further action and legal proceedings as are required to protect our client's interests.

Yours Faithfully
BROWNE & CO.

What can I say? I was only trying to help promote the game by supplying public information, without financial gain. I admit I was wrongly using the Logo and have ceased to do so, but still believe that the information I provided was for the benifit of the AFL and the game and in no way ever tried to make monetary gains, or act in any fase or misleading manner to pass off that this was in any way connected with, approved, sponsored by or afiliated with the AFL.

Of course some of you will be dissapointed that this information is no longer available, especially the fixture, how are you to know who is even playing each week. If anyone feels like they would like to have a say in this matter, here are some numbers that may help you to direct your complaints, letters, suggestions:

AFL Phone number; (03) 9654 1244
AFL Fax Number: (03) 9654 1143
Browne & Co. (Solicitors) Phone Number: (03) 9602 5999
Browne & Co. (Solicitors) Fax Number: (03) 9670 4776
to dial these numbers from an international location, the country code is 61, city code is 3 (Drop the zero) EG: +61 3 9654 1244 to dial the AFL.
I will continue to post the information that I am allowed to without endorsement or restrictions, I believe that am allowed to post the game results, the ladder and the goalkickers. These sections are not mentioned in the letter and until I hear otherwise I will continue along these lines. Again, I stress, I am NOT fighting the AFL, am not affiliated with, approved, endorsed or sponsored by the AFL. I just want to promote the game and help those that want to hear about the game and keep in touch with it.