Amy Winehouse's Dad Returning Donations Made to Foundation in Her Honor

5:43 PM PDT 8/22/2011 by Marc Schneider

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Mitch Winehouse tweets that the money is being sent back because someone "stole" the name "The Amy Winehouse Foundation" for an Internet domain.

NEW YORK -- Mitch Winehouse is returning donations to a foundation being set up in his late daughter's honor because someone has secured the Internet domain name for "The Amy Winehouse Foundation."

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•Amy Winehouse

On Twitter over the weekend, Winehouse explained that because they don't have the bank account in that chosen name, donations will have to be sent back. He doesn't explain why the domain's unavailability limits him from setting up a bank account in the name.

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"We all have to bombard the tabloids websites [sic] to put pressure on this d*ck head who stole our foundation name," he said. It's not clear who the name-swiping person is. AmyWinehouseFoundation.com is currently under construction.

In comments relayed by the BBC last week, Winehouse said he was putting the foundation on hold until the naming issue was resolved.

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"Somebody else pinched it off of us before we could get it registered," he said. "All these donations which are coming in -- we don't know what to do with them at the moment."

Little is known about the foundation, but Mitch has insisted they "want to make a positive difference" with causes Amy cared about. The charity had planned to unveil its official mission statement Sept. 14, which would have been Winehouse's 28th birthday. The soul diva was found dead in the home July 23 of undetermined causes.

Various reports hint that the headquarters will be the singer's North London home.

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To help fund the Winehouse Foundation, jazz vocal legend Tony Bennett has offered all the royalties to "Body and Soul," his forthcoming duet with the singer. Bennett told Billboard.com that he had provided some counsel to Winehouse prior to the recording sessions. "I was convinced I would be able to help her and talk her out of ... taking drugs," he notes, adding that the foundation is "a great way to turn something positive out of this."