The University announced yesterday it is ordering a controversial new website aimed at students to stop using Georgetown trademarks. The site, Hoya Web, came under fire this week after homophobic postings appeared on the site’s message boards.
The site, which is located at www.hoyaweb.com, is not affiliated with the University.
University spokesperson Julie Green Bataille said the site’s use of the word “Hoya” infringes on the University’s trademarks. “[W]e are in the process of notifying the site administrators and owners and asking them to stop their current efforts,” Bataille said in an e-mail.
Gay and lesbian students were upset about postings on a “Rant and Rave” message board. A poster started a thread about same-sex displays of affection on campus. “I dont want to see that stuff when Im walking to class [sic],” the poster wrote. Others responded, “put a blanket over your heads or something” and “gay people disgust me.” The posters’ identities are unknown.
GUPride President Josh Dembe did not respond by press time.
Bataille said the University’s decision to take action against the site was based on “numerous issues,” but declined to specifically mention the homophobic remarks. University Information Services, University Counsel and the athletic department are involved, she said.
Hoya Web is owned by Niche Wave Media LLC, a company based in Secane, Penn., about 10 miles outside of Philadelphia. In addition to Hoya Web, the company, founded by a pair of Drexel University students in 2001, owns a stable of about 15 nearly identical websites aimed at college students.
Jason Kilpatrick, co-founder of Niche Wave, said the company’s sites are maintained by local moderators, or “players.” They are responsible for checking the message boards and other content, he said, but Hoya Web doesn’t have a full-time moderator yet.
The anti-gay messages, Kilpatrick says, violate the site’s posting guidelines and will be removed. “We try and keep it clean,” he said. “That’s not the image we’re trying to give out.”
Kilpatrick said on Tuesday night that Georgetown had not yet contacted his company about the trademark infringement. This is not the first time Niche Wave has run afoul of a university’s trademarks: Kilpatrick said Syracuse University officials asked the company to stop using the term ”’Cuse” for its Cuse Web site last month, he said.
Kilpatrick compared Niche Wave’s sites to popular social-network sites such as Friendster. “It’s like a seed,” he said. “You just watch it grow.”
Over 160 users have registered for Hoya Web since the website was unveiled earlier this month. Anonymous e-mails were sent to Georgetown e-mail accounts this week advertising a “Cool Gtown Website.” The message was sent to addresses available in a public directory, Kilpatrick said.
Niche Wave’s revenue, Kilpatrick said, is based largely on subscriptions for premium services. The company is currently losing money, he said, but hopes to be profitable soon and roll out a national network of college-themed websites.
Despite the controversy, the new site excited students. “I think it’s a great idea,” said Daniel Linker (MSB ‘04). “I’d thought for a long time the University could use a message board.”
But some Hoya Web users were frustrated when they couldn’t access the site after they registered. Pablo Halkyard (SFS ‘04) also said he hoped for more Georgetown-related content. “It didn’t even seem to be Georgetown kids, so it really didn’t catch my attention,” he said.
