Toledo, Ohio – A company that shut down its website because it was overwhelmed by millions of people looking for YouTube has sued the online video-sharing portal.
Universal Tube & Rollform Equipment Corp. said the cost of hosting its website – utube.com – has grown significantly in the past two months.
“We’ve had to move our site five times … to stay ahead of the youtube.com visitors,” said Ralph Girkins, Universal Tube’s president.
The lawsuit, filed this week in U.S. District Court, asks that YouTube Inc. stop using youtube.com or pay Universal Tube’s cost for creating a new domain. It did not specify damages.
Universal Tube, which sells used machines that make tubes, has said it has lost business because customers have had trouble accessing its site.The company, with 17 employees, got 68 million hits on its site in August, making it one of the most popular manufacturing websites.
