Tag Archives: legal

Thu 13th November 2008
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
WhoCanISue.com? Maybe This Guy - Driving back to Florida last week,  I couldn’t help notice a couple of billboards for the domain WhoCanISue.com. Then a few days ago I saw some bus stops and benches for the same domain around town. So I did what any good domainer would do, ran to see if the dom ain, CanISue.com was registered. Not surprisingly the domain was registered and of course, not to the same company paying all that money for the billboards and bus stop advertising. I was also not shocked to see, when I visited CanISue.com, ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Will .Com Domain Name Fees Soar? - Hidden bomb in new gTLD agreement could introduce tiered pricing to .com domains. Upset about VeriSign (NASDAQ: VRSN) increasing your .com registration fees 7% a year? Imagine if they could raise them by whatever they want. There’s a little time bomb in the new draft gTLD registry agreement, part of the new top level domain rollout process, that could make this happen. Essentially, the new registry agreement wouldn’t place any pricing restrictions on registries ... read more ...
Wed 12th November 2008
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
ICANN: The Importance of IDN Compliance - ICANN’s Director of IDN discusses the importance of technical compliance for international domain names. ICANN Director of the IDN Program Tina Dam wrote about the importance of compliance with IDN technical requirements on the ICANN blog today. It’s a must read for anyone who has invested in international domain names (domains that use non-roman/latin characters) or considering them as new IDN TLDs are introduced. Dam stresses that technical compliance is required ... read more ...
Mon 10th November 2008
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Rock Group Wants ThirdEyeBlind.net - Alternative rock group files UDRP to get domain name ahead of new album release. Rock group Third Eye Blind has filed a UDRP claim to get the domain name ThirdEyeBlind.net. The claim was filed by lead vocalist Stephan Jenkins’ production company. Third Eye Blind’s official web site is the short and simple 3eb.com. So why just get around to filing the UDRP now, and why only the .net version instead of .com? I have a couple hunches. For the timing, Third Eye ... read more ...
Thu 6th November 2008
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Porsche.me: Money Down a Drain - Man who shelled out big bucks in .me auction kicking himself now. Pity poor Georg Kohler of Brazil. In August I wrote about how he snapped up car company names in the .me launch auctions. He even paid $90,025 for Toyota.me. Apparently he hadn’t gotten the memo from ten years ago about the dangers of owning trademarked domain names. In a recent World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) decision, he lost Porsche.me to the car company. Could his $90,000 investment ... read more ...
Wed 5th November 2008
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Wall Street Journal Covers New Top Level Domains - Wall Street Journal writes about trademark issues for major corporations. Today in The Wall Street Journal, Emily Steel writes about the forthcoming top level domain explosion. It’s a well written article discussing the challenges to brand owners that may have to protect their brands across hundreds of top level domain names. However, Fairwinds (a key group behind Coalition Against Domain Name Abuse) seems to exaggerate how much protecting a brand through preemptive ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Gregory Ricks Loses LTI.com; Doesn’t Respond to Complaint - Rewe Touristik Hotels Investment GmbH picks up domain at arbitration. Here’s an interesting UDRP in which the respondent didn’t file his response on a three character domain. Domainer Gregory Ricks just lost the three character domain name LTI.com to a hotel company after failing to respond the the UDRP at World Intellectual Property Association (WIPO). Something is certainly fishy here, since Ricks has gone out of his way to protect three character domain ... read more ...
Mon 3rd November 2008
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
DomainFight Searches UDRP Arbitration Cases - Search tool scans both NAF and WIPO cases. One of the frustrations I encounter when researching UDRP arbitration cases is that there are two primary databases to search. Most decisions that matter are handled by National Arbitration Forum (NAF) and World Intellectual Property Organizations (WIPO). If I want to look for cases involving a particular person, I have to navigate between both sites to search. This also annoyed the guys at USpeakWeType Technologies, LLC, ... read more ...
Fri 31st October 2008
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Forbes Covers New Top Level Domain Names - Forbes Magazine covers new TLD launch, but has a few inaccuracies. The maintstream media has paid cursory attention to ICANN’s opening of the top level domain name landscape. A new article in the November 17 issue of Forbes (available now online) covers the topic. A couple observations: First, the article has many inaccuracies. Second, there’s common ground between domainers and Coalition Against Domain Name Abuse. Inaccuracies I find many of the statements ... read more ...
Thu 30th October 2008
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
EstDomains Challenges ICANN De-Accreditation - Registrar says convicted president resigned in July. Domain registrar EstDomains might remain an accredited domain registrar after all. Yesterday Domain Name Wire reported that EstDomains received a notice of termination from Internet Corporation For Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). ICANN cited the conviction of EstDomains’ president Vladimir Tsastsin for credit card fraud, money laundering and document forgery in February as the reason for the termination. The ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Going Offshore? Watch Out for Australia, Too. - Moving domain names out of the United States may not be safer. Last week I wrote about a growing movement for transferring domain names away from United States registrars to other countries. I argued that: -Even if you move your domains to a non-U.S. registrar, U.S. courts could still claim jurisdiction through Verisign (NASDAQ: VRSN) or ICANN -Other countries also make silly decisions that could jeopardize your domains I gave the suggestion of an Australian court ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
BoycottKentucky.com Calls for Halloween Phone Zap - Site urges people to call Kentucky Governor on Halloween to express disappointment over domain seizure. BoycottKentucky.com, a site inspired in part by a Domain Name Wire article, is asking people to call Kentucky Governor Beshear on Halloween to help persuade the governor to end his seizure of domain names: Governor Beshear’s actions are downright scary!!! Call his office on 10/31/2008 and tell his staff that you oppose the Governor’s actions and urge him to ... read more ...
Wed 29th October 2008
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Texas Domainer Wins Case Against California Agency - Attorney and domain investor wins case brought by California train service. Texas attorney, lobbyist, and domain investor Ramiro Canales has successfully defended an attack on one of his company’s domain names, CapitolCorridor.com. Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority, which manages a Northern California train service, filed the complaint under UDRP. The train service has a web presence at CapitolCorridor.org. “California is in a financial mess, but it somehow ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Trademark Holders Shouldn’t Rush to Get New TLDs - .eBay probably not worth it. One of the examples the mass media has given for the potential of new TLDs is .ebay . “Imagine eBay (NADSAQ: EBAY) being able to create cars.ebay and electronics.ebay”, is the general line of thought. I’m imagining, and I’m not imagining much. Why not just ebay.com/cars? In general, I don’t think trademark holders should plop down the $185,000 to get their own top level domain. Combined with preparing the application and ... read more ...
Tue 28th October 2008
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
ICANN to Charge $185,000 for New TLD Applications - Fees estimated to cover actual costs of new TLD process. Want to offer .anything? Prepare to write a hefty check. Internet Corporation For Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) estimates that total application fees for entities wishing to offer new top level domain names, such as .nyc or .money, will be about $185,000. Despite the high price tag, ICANN expects 500 applications in the first round. The application fee is expected to cover the historical costs of implementing ... read more ...
Thu 23rd October 2008
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Yale Wants Its Mobile Web - Yale University goes after Yale.mobi. Ivy League institution Yale University believes in the mobile web. Or at least it believes in protecting its name. The university has filed a UDRP arbitration at World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) for the domain Yale.mobi. Of course just because the first thing that may come to mind is the prestigious university doesn’t mean that this domain is cybersquatting. It could be registered for someone with the last ... read more ...
Wed 22nd October 2008
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Web Designers Holding Domain Names Hostage - Small businesses make a key mistake when selecting web design firms. Here’s a common mistake small businesses make. They know they need a web site, so they contact a couple web design firms in town. The web designers pitch them on a project that includes site design, web hosting, and registering the domain name. The small business signs on the dotted line and everyone is happy. So what’s the problem? The domain is registered in the web design firms’ name. I ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
ICANN Releases Four Updates for New gTLDs - ICANN releases draft “Explanatory Memoranda Papers” for review. Internet Corporation For Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) today published four draft papers about the introduction of new global top level domains (gTLD). (For a primer on these new TLDs, see New Top Level Domain Names: Challenges and Opportunities.) The papers cover: 1. Resolving “string contention” when more the one entity applies for similar TLDs 2. Proposed process for geographic TLD ... read more ...
Tue 21st October 2008
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
New Top Level Domain Names: Challenges and Opportunities - A look at the coming launch of new top level domain names and what it means for trademark holders, domainers, and the internet community. The overview of the new TLD (top level domain) process below is based on my research and a discussion last week with ICANN’s gTLD Program Director Karla Valente. Opinions are my own and not those of Valente or ICANN. Why new TLDs? There are already many top level domain names — from .com to .org to .info to .mobi. Many of ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Fleeing U.S. Registrars? Not so Fast. - Kentucky ruling brings up old debate about switching to offshore registrars. A blog post over at Wall Street Journal today titled “Online Businesses Subject to Local Laws…Everywhere” discusses the Kentucky gambling domain seizure. It mentions that the businesses who have had domains seized don’t have any presence in Kentucky. One commentor wrote “…just time to quit using US-based Registrars” I don’t think this is the solution. It may cause more ... read more ...
Mon 20th October 2008
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
10 Ways You Can “Boycott” Kentucky - Don’t get mad. Get even. Here are ten ways to pressure Kentucky to drop its assault on the internet. Kentucky: “We control the internet” Upset that Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear thinks he owns the internet? Mad as hell that he thinks he can strong arm a global community for the benefit of his local industries? Then get even. Here are ten ways you can apply pressure to the governor to get him to drop his crusade against domain names. 1. Block and boycott ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Risks Remain for IDN Investors - New IDN TLDs may pose problems for second level IDN holders. For years, domain names were only available in roman characters. Domain names in these characters don’t make a lot of sense to web users who’s primary languages don’t use these characters. But then so-called International Domain Names (IDNs) using non-roman characters became available. Domainers jumped on board and invested heavily. Many of these domains get solid type-in traffic or have been turned ... read more ...
Sat 18th October 2008
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Now That The Rays Are Winning, Pepsi Wants Tropicanafield.com?: Why Doesn’t Laches Apply To This One - For the past seven years, Chris Dunne has owned the tropicanafield.com domain name. “I’m a huge Rays fan,” he said. “I bought the name because I thought it was cool to be part of a baseball team, you know?” The website is a business directory for places located close to the stadium. “So if some one’s coming from anywhere and they’re going to Tropicana Field, they can look up hotels, they can look up transportation, they can look up accommodations,” he explained. He put a disclaimer ... read more ...
Fri 17th October 2008
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Kentucky Uphold Domain Seizure, Part 2: Our Take: Who is At Risk: What To Do Now - Thursday afternoon Judge Thomas Wingate issued a ruling that he would not dismiss the case brought against domain owners which included seizure of their names. A forfeiture hearing has been scheduled for November 17th. A copy of the decision can be seen here have read the decision in full. The court found it had jurisdiction over the 141 domains seized by the commonwealth. The court found that Domains names by virtue of of “its scarcity and desirability, domain names have economic value. Domain ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
ICA Issues Statement on Kentucky Court Ruling - Internet Commerce Association blasts court decision. If you haven’t already heard, the case brought by Kentucky against owners of domain names related to gambling will proceed. The judge announced today that he will not throw out the case. Think of the ramifications if the governor of Kentucky ultimately prevails. Will a court in China decide that America.com spreads democracy and file an order to seize the domain name? Here is the official statement from Jeremiah ... read more ...