The operation of Internet Web sites as the sole contact with residents of the forum is not sufficient to support personal jurisdiction, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit held Jan. 11, remanding the issues to the district court for further proceedings, including additional discovery (GTE New Media v. BellSouth, D.C. Cir., No. 99-7097, 1/11/00).
GTE New Media Services Inc. brought suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against various defendants, including five regional BellSouth Corp. subsidiaries for alleged violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act. GTE claimed that the defendants conspired to capture, control, and dominate the Internet business directories’ market by causing Internet users to be diverted away from its Internet links and instead be routed to the defendants’ Web sites GTE claimed this diversion resulted in additional advertising revenue for the defendants.
