Goldman Settles Dispute With Blogger

Blogger Michael Morgan has won his battle to continue publishing the gripe site GoldmanSachs666.com.

Goldman Sachs had demanded in April that Morgan take down his site, which ran posts like "Breakup Goldman Sachs -- Too Big To Fail Means Too Much Power."

Morgan responded by filing a preemptive lawsuit against Goldman Sachs. He argued that he owned the domain name GoldmanSachs666.com and that Goldman's complaints were unjustified.

The case was quietly resolved last month, with Morgan agreeing to withdraw his lawsuit and the investment bank promising not to sue, provided that Morgan continues to run a disclaimer on the site.

Currently, the site states in prominent red letters that it has not been approved by the bank. The disclaimer also states that the site was "designed to provide information about Goldman Sachs to demonstrate how destructive this company is to our lives and the hopes and dreams of our children."

Goldman Sachs originally complained that the site infringed its trademark because it used the company's name in the domain name.

Courts typically determine trademark disputes by evaluating whether a particular use of a trademark is likely to confuse people. For that reason, some courts have rebuffed other companies that have attempted to shut down gripe sites. For example, last year a court rejected Wal-Mart's attempt to take down the sites walocaust.com and walqaeda.com.