A DISGRUNTLED PASSENGER has been ordered to give the domain name for his website, I Hate Ryanair, to the airline.

Robert Tyler, from Walthamstow, London, set up the site in February 2007 and called the budget airline the “world’s most hated airline”.

The Guardian reports that Tyler also described Ryanair as “a bunch of filthy thieving bastards”, and had posted highly critical posts on his website.

An adjudicator at Nominet, responsible for managing web addresses in Britain, said in their judgment that the case hinged on the financial benefits brought to Tyler through the site.

The ads featured on the site netted Tyler £322, according to the Daily Mail.

The website in question appears to have simply moved, however, from IHateRyanair.co.uk to IHateRyanair.org.

A post on the site bearing the title “Ryanair attempt to shut this website down fails” says that the site will “continue to provide you with all the latest on how this pathetic excuse for an airline will attempt to extract cash from you”.

Judgment

Ryanair had argued that the site took unfair advantage of its name and was host to defamatory articles about the airline.

Adjudicator Jane Seager said that it was clear from the domain name that the site was not connected to the airline and “that criticism websites are essential in a democratic society”.

However, referring to the income generated, she ruled that if a site drew users by including a company’s name in their domain name, that site must be dedicated to honest criticism rather than being tainted by commercial concerns.

Responding to the decision, Tyler said he doubted his site had much impact in smearing Ryanair because it had become “synomymous with treating customers in an appalling manner”.