From "This Is London", 19 January 2000

A website without the Papal blessing

by MICHAEL LEIDIG in Vienna

The Vatican has found out the hard way that there are some places where nothing is sacred after it become the latest big-name victim of sharp operators who use the Internet. Two Italian businessmen have registered Internet sites using the Vatican name, despite the fact they have nothing to do with the Papal State. Businessman Gincarlo DeMennaa has created the site www.vaticano.org which will provide an overview of the Vatican's museums and, he hopes, attract substantial revenues from advertising.

DeMennaa says he has suffered no twinges of conscience over using the Vatican's name, especially as surfers can find the real Vatican site via a link from his page. The other unofficial Vatican site - www.vaticano.com - will also provide information about where to stay and what to visit around the Holy See.

The Vatican itself has been taken by surprise by the developments. The office responsible for the Vatican's media affairs registered the name www.vatican.va in 1996, even though it had no plans to launch its own site at the time. Archbishop John Foley, the head of the media office, says: 'I thought that by registering the name www.vatican.va we had every angle covered. But, unfortunately, that is not the case.'

The Vatican has since launched an official site under that address providing information and news about the Catholic Church, including the full text of the Pope's sermons in six languages. The unofficial use of the Vatican name has been made possible by the way Internet website addresses are provided. Names ending with .org, .com or .net are released by US-based company Net- work Solutions on a first-come, first-served basis.

For about £50 any name can be registered and no checks on authenticity are carried out. Buying web names that sound as though they may belong to well-known organisations and then selling them to the 'real thing' has become big business.

Network Solutions spokeswoman Nancy Huddleston says however that complaints can be made about the use of unofficial names and the company is willing to take action. But so far, she says, no complaints have been received.