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It's utube vs YouTube.com as users swamp factory website
Last updated at 10:07am on 03.11.06
Runaway success: YouTube's visitors are mistakenly hitting another, similarly-named, website
One website showcases videos and is visited by millions of people every day.
The other is ten years older and sells factory machines. Now they are locked in a David versus Goliath battle.
Universal Tube & Rollform Equipment was briefly forced to shut down its website - utube.com - because it was overwhelmed by millions of people looking for YouTube. It is now suing the online video-sharing portal.
"We've had to move our site five times in an effort to stay ahead of the You Tube.com visitors," said Ralph Girkins, Universal Tube's president.
The case, filed this week in US District Court, asks YouTube to stop using YouTube.com or pay Universal Tube's cost for creating a new domain.
Universal Tube, which sells used machines that make tubes, claims it has lost business because customers have had trouble accessing its site.
The company, which has just 17 employees, had 68 million hits on its site in August, making it one of the most popular manufacturing websites.
The site shut down for several days last month, just before Google announced plans to buy YouTube for £850million.
Universal Tube, based in Perrysburg, has about £6million in annual sales.
