Stephen P. Frayne takes his domain issue to court

CHICAGO, Sep. 17, 2008 — A local citizen has taken legal action in response to an arbitration filed against him by the Chicago 2016 Olympic Bid Committee.  On Wednesday, Stephen P. Frayne, Jr. responded by filing a nine count lawsuit against the Bid Committee and other defendants in federal court in order to keep control of his Website - chicago2016.com -and to seek relief for other damages that Frayne has suffered in his legal battle with the Bid Committee.  Frayne is represented by Robert S. Grabemann and Timothy M. Schaum of Daspin & Aument, LLP. At the heart of the dispute is a battle over the name of the Internet site that has been owned by Frayne since 2004…

The 29-year-old graduate student has always been interested in the Olympics and created a Website to host an informed and open debate about the issues surrounding Chicago’s 2016 Olympic bid.  Common concerns cited by city residents are the cost and inconvenience of the games coupled with the impact on marginalized groups within the city.  Apparently unhappy with the idea of an open debate on the issues, on July 15, 2008 the Bid Committee filed an international arbitration in an attempt to forcefully transfer the Website — chicago2016.com — from its rightful owner, Frayne, to the Bid Committee. 

Frayne has long shown an interest in civic government, including his run for a seat on the city council in Mountain View, CA.  Frayne currently attends Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and gave up a lucrative internship opportunity in order to further develop his Website effort this past summer.  To date, his level of commitment to the Olympic debate can be measured by the costly legal battle that he has self-funded. This week in an attempt to offset the burden somewhat, a legal defense fund was created in Frayne’s name. 

In a recent interview, Frayne commented that his vision was to build an open forum, accessible by anyone with an internet connection, where citizens and professional economists alike could openly voice their concerns about hosting the games.  “It is clear that ordinary citizens will have their lives considerably impacted by the bid and the games before, during, and long after the event.  Chicago2016.com is a moderated forum for citizens to voice reasoned opinions on the games and the impact to their personal lives, families, and neighborhoods.  Plus it serves as an open forum for professional economists to discuss the larger economic issues and share their unbiased research on the subject.”

To lead the discussion Frayne engaged with University of Chicago sports economist Allen Sanderson who agreed to aid in the development of the Website. Sanderson has written editorials on the Olympic bid for the Chicago Tribune and said, “Economists who study the impact of Super Bowls, World Cups, NCAA basketball tournaments and Olympic Games come to the same conclusion:  Neither the immediate revenue nor the long-term spillover benefits ever come close to meeting expectations. These one-time big-ticket events constitute very poor public investments.” 

Since bringing Sanderson onboard, five other professional sports economists have contributed to the discussion on the site.  Frayne commented, “In speaking with these sports economists I found that bid committees pursue economists’ support until they are presented with the harsh reality of the economic impact of the games.  At that point bid committees totally cease to involve these economists.”  With a judgment in his favor in this case, Frayne said he hopes the economists’ opinions will be heard and their economic issues taken seriously.

Despite legal requirements that prevent Frayne from full development of the site, he has pushed forward with site construction.  Visitors to the chicago2016.com site today will find an active forum for Olympic debate where they are encouraged to participate. The Chicago 2016 Bid Committee now owns and operates chicago2016.org, a domain name which Frayne says he intentionally left available at the time he registered his Website. The Bid Committee’s site does not presently have a forum that considers citizens’ opinions about hosting the games. Instead it prominently features a section titled — Voice Your Support — and tallies those numbers in the upper right corner of the site.

Frayne says he will continue to fight for the right to build the site into a neutral, centralized venue for the public to discuss economic and security concerns regarding hosting the Olympics in Chicago. The International Olympic Committee determines the host city on October 2, 2009. Donations to Frayne’s legal defense fund can be made at www.chicago2016.com/fund/. 

Media Contact:
Tim Schaum 
(312) 258-3792
tschaum@daspinaument.com This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it