Mr Karjieker had registered the Internet address - absa.freemail.co.za that the bank was planning to use - in his personal capacity in what he insisted is a "prank" to expose how major companies often neglect to register their brand names and find others holding the rights to them. There have been many cases internationally of companies and even countries being held to ransom with demands for huge payments to get their names back. Mr Karjiekar said he did not intend to follow this route and was prepared to hand the address back to ABSA Bank for a "finder's fee" and a donation to his abseiling club. The bank did not take this lightly and its lawyers have asked Mr Karjieker to hand over the address or face serious legal action. Mr Tasso Tsoukalas, ABSA's general manager for marketing, said cyber squatting had become a big issue internationally and it was standard legal practice to act against such people.

Mr Karjieker's actions would not jeopardize the proposed launch of the free service, as the bank now has registered the address as freemail.absa.co.za, Mr Tsoukalas said, adding that the name registered by Mr Karjiekar could inconvenience clients by creating confusion among them.

ABSA Bank has been running an intensive advertising campaign over the past few weeks to promote its free Internet scheme under which anyone, even if they are not the bank's customers, will be able to pick up a compact disc from one of its branches and get free access and e-mail with it. But in the process, someone at the bank forgot to register the Internet address it would have used for the purpose. According to reports, the matter has been resolved amicably.