Telecoms giant BT has taken legal action against a Belfast man over the first case of alleged "cyber squatting" in Northern Ireland. In the High Court yesterday, BT applied for an order to compel Mr Paddy O'Donnell, of Suffolk Road, to transfer to it the domain name btcellnet.com. Mr O'Donnell, who paid £45 to register the name in February, 1999, is resisting the application and maintains he is lawfully entitled to retain it. In the meantime he has given an undertaking not to sell or use the name until after the trial or further order of the court.

A BT executive told Mr Justice Girvan her investigations led her to conclude that Mr O'Donnell was involved in the selling of domain names but she could not say that money had changed hands.

Ms Francesca Nwagbe, trade mark attorney in BT group legal services, said the reason for her belief was that Mr O'Donnell had registered three domain names in his own name and six in the name of OPEL (Oliver Plunkett Employment and Leisure Scheme) where he was the billing and administrative contact.

She said when BT decided to register the domain name btcellnet.com, it discovered Mr O'Donnell had done so six weeks previously. Ms Nwawgbe said her experience was that anyone registering a domain name other than their own did so with the intention of selling it or causing obstruction in such a way that the named company had to obtain it.

She said Mr O'Donnell's registration of the name reduced BT's ability to advertise goods on the Internet.

Mr Alexander Roy, senior regulatory adviser with BTCellnet, said the public was increasingly buying services and goods over the Internet. "If BTCellnet does not have access to btcellnet.com, it will have an adverse effect on business." Mr Justice Girvan adjourned the hearing until June 9th.