The Economist magazine loses bizarre domain-name case

Here's a quirky story: The Economist sued Jason Rose, who owns the domain name theeconomist.com, for infringing on its trade name (the magazine is housed at economist.com). The centerpiece of Rose's site is a picture of Alan Greenspan below the title, "The Economist." Below the photograph is this text:

Alan Greenspan, Ex-Chairman of Federal Reserve Board is The Economist of the Century
President Reagan called Alan Greenspan "the most powerful man in the world."
Other Notable Economists.
Submit your candidate for The Economist of the Century.

Other than some legal language, that's pretty much it. Rose insists he had never heard of the magazine when he registered his site in 1996, a claim grudgingly accepted by the World Intellectual Property Organisation panel that adjudicated the case. The panel ruled that Rose can keep the site because it could not determine that he had obtained it in bad faith.

What's particularly odd is that Rose appears to make no money from theeconomist.com. There are none of the usual ads or misleading links typical of domain-name squatters. It would appear Rose either really likes Alan Greenspan or really hates The Economist and wants to lead its readers astray.