Tag Archives: legal

Wed 21st December 2011
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
ICANN’s devise for needy new gTLD field is really, unequivocally bad - Want to watch another aspect of the new TLD process explode? I just finished reviewing ICANN’s draft plan to assist “needy” applicants wishing to apply for a new top level domain name. I know the title to this post is lame, but I really can’t come up with anything better to describe this new program. It’s really, really bad. And it will blow up in ICANN’s face. The program is funded to allow 14 applicants for new TLDs to pay $47,000 in evaluation fees ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
ICANN’s at-large cabinet debating recommendation to stifle new TLD release - Would throttling release of new TLDs benefit the internet? The At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC), which represents the interests of internet users, is the latest group to consider asking ICANN to do a phased release of its new TLD program. Although there’s still disagreement amongst the group, a third draft of a document titled “Updated ALAC advice on gTLDs” says that there are “deep concern about the possible harmful effect on Internet end-users of a single ... read more ...
Tue 20th December 2011
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Senators Asks The FTC To Investigate Google For Possible AntiTrust Violations - Two Senators, Herb Kohl, the Chairman of Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights along with Mike Lee, the ranking member of Subcommittee on AntiTrust sent a letter to the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission today asking the FTC to investigate Google as to whether they are violating Antitrust Laws and the FTC Act. In their letter to the FTC they write in relevant part: “””We are writing to you regarding our examination of competition  concerns arising from the ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Two Congressmen ask Commerce Department for check to new TLDs - Representatives ask for a delay or pilot program launch. Bob Goodlatte, Chairman, House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition and the Internet, and Howard Berman, Ranking Member, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, have sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Commerce asking for a delay to the new top level domain rollout. The pair ask the Department of Commerce to answer five questions before January 5. To summarize: 1. Has the ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Texas justice claims office over ICANN and says ICANN can stay a UDRP proceeding - An interesting case from a Texas court. The United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas has issued a ruling stating that it has jurisdiction over ICANN in a bankruptcy case and that ICANN must stay a UDRP proceeding. The case involves FunnyGames.com, which is in control of a receiver in a bankruptcy case. The receiver says the domain name has been appraised for $400,000. FunnyGames.com was hit with a UDRP last month. The receiver in the case asked ... read more ...
Mon 19th December 2011
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Vertical Axis Wins Two UDRP’s & Gets A Reverse Hijacking Finding On 1: Planate.com & Trucco.com - Vertical Axis, Inc.  represented by ESQwire.com, just won a Reverse Domain Hijacking UDRP against Planate Management Group LLC of Alexandria, Virginia, who bought a UDRP on the domain name Planate.com Also in a separate ruling issued today,  Vertical Axis, Inc beat back a UDRP on the domain name Trucco.com despite a trademark citing in part the doctrine of Latches where the complainant waited more than 10 years to bring the UDRP. So we have a rare day where the same domain holder won two UDRP’s ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Facebook Can Be Sued For Like Ads & Allows A Class Action Suit To Move Forward - The ads typically display the friend’s name, photo, and a caption asserting that the person likes a certain advertiser. The ads are generated when a Facebook member clicks on the “Like” button for a particular page, product, or company. The plaintiffs claimed that sponsored stories violate California’s Right of Publicity Statute, which prevents the use of a person’s name or photo in a paid advertisement without that person’s consent. They also allege that they were unaware that the act ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Ari Goldberger gets retreat domain hijacking win for Kevin Ham - Planate Management Group guilty of attempting reverse domain name hijacking. Ari Goldberger’s lawfirm ESQwire has won a reverse domain name hijacking claim on behalf of client Vertical Axis, which is Kevin Ham’s company. The guilty party is Planate Management Group LLC of Alexandria, Virginia. The company owns Planate.net but wanted to get its hands on Planate.com in this dispute. Yet Planate didn’t start using the name “planate” until 2008 according to ... read more ...
Sun 18th December 2011
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Facebook awarded FacebookLive.com domain in dispute - Company wins dispute over FacebookLive.com domain name A National Arbitration Forum panelist has awarded Facebook the domain name FacebookLive.com. The domain name was originally registered in 2006 but its whois record was protected by a proxy service. The whois proxy was lifted in 2009, revealing Domainstand.com LLC as the owner. After the dispute was filed the registrant’s name was changed to CT nice Homes LLC. The domain owner didn’t respond to Facebook’s ... read more ...
Sat 17th December 2011
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
FTC asks ICANN to run commander new TLD launch - FTC says adding just 22 new TLDs would be “aggressive”. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has sent a letter (pdf) to ICANN asking it to significantly curtail its plans for new top level domain names. The FTC believes the mass introduction of new top level domains will lead to more fraud on the internet including phishing and malware distribution. It is asking ICANN to run a pilot program of new TLDs. How small of a pilot? We strongly believe that ICANN should ... read more ...
Thu 15th December 2011
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
India Court Upholds Order Canceling The Registration Of The Domain Internet.In Based Off Of A Trademark On Internet - The  High Court Of Delhi At New Delhi has just upheld an arbitrators determination that the domain name Internet.in should be taken away from the domain holder, its registration cancelled and ordered the domain to be held at the registry level,  based on an Indian trademark for the term “Internet”. It’s a complicated case but to the extent any of you have any .in domain names you should really read the opinion. .In have become somewhat popular as a Hack outside of India. Also you should keep ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Google doesn’t consider YouTube.ae is a tube trade marketplace - Company files complaint against site that says it’s for “tube trading”. Google has filed a complaint with World Intellectual Property Organization in an attempt to get the domain name YouTube.ae. .Ae is the country code for United Arab Emirates. YouTube.ae is either a legitimate business or a clever scheme to hide the true intentions of the domain’s owner. The site says YouTube (they capitalize it YOUTUBe) is the “leading portal of tube trading”. A copyright ... read more ...
Wed 14th December 2011
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Top 20 web sites now protected in .xxx - Top 20 web sites won’t be “sexsquatted”. The top 20 most visited web sites (according to Quantcast) are now “safe” from cybersquatting/sexsquatting in the new .xxx domain name. Earlier this week I ran an analysis and found that two of the top 20 — HuffingtonPost.xxx and WordPress.xxx — had been registered by people other than those companies. Later that same day I ran the Huffington Post story the domain name HuffingtonPost.xxx was transferred to corporate ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Walden messes adult Apple domain instance in ICANN hearing - Chairman of committee calls out iPad.com as an example of someone buying a domain just to sell it to a big brand. Want to know how to lose credibility in a hurry? Take a look at the statement of Greg Walden Chairman, Subcommittee on Communications and Technology Hearing, for today’s hearing about new top level domains. The representative from Oregon uses Apple as his example for the cost companies incur protecting their brands on the web. Here’s the choice quote: To ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Better Business Bureau thinks it should have initial dibs on BBB.xxx - Group’s IP attorney miffed that it couldn’t get bbb.xxx under ICM Registry sunrise process. In planned testimony for today’s hearing about new TLDs in the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology on new TLDs, Council of Better Business Bureaus IP attorney Anjali Hansen said her group should have had first dibs on the domain name BBB: Even more astounding was the fact that ICM Registry refused to accept CBBB’s registration of its most famous trademark ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
James Brown estate fights for JamesBrown.com - Late singer’s estate files complaint over domain name JamesBrown.com. The estate of the late “Godfather of Soul” James Brown has filed an arbitration case with National Arbitration Forum over the domain name JamesBrown.com. The domain name is registered to Lac Management, Inc., which manages “RJ The James Brown Band”, the group that performed with Brown until his death in 2006. When contacted for comment about the case, Lac Management said it was contacted ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Macy’s sues association perplexing to revive the bequest brands - Company tries to revive old brands such as Bullock’s and The Broadway. File this one under “did you think to ask a lawyer about this first?” Department store company Macy’s has filed a federal lawsuit (pdf) against a company that’s trying to bring back Macy’s legacy brands. The company, Strategic Marks, LLC, has filed trademark applications for some of Macy’s brands such as May Company and Robinson’s, and set up shop on the web at RetroDepartmentStores.com. According ... read more ...
Tue 13th December 2011
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Head Of House Committee Proposes To Change SOPA To Only Apply To Sites Operating Outside Of The US - According to Variety.com, (I do think its the 1st time we cited this source)  the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Lamar Smith (R-Texas) is going to propose changes to the Stop Online Piracy Act, (SOPA) to make it applicable to only to sites located outside of the US Under the change it would require that foreign sites be blocked by preventing them from resolving to that Web address. “The new text of the bill removes provisions that would prevent courts from issuing orders that would ... read more ...
Mon 12th December 2011
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Huffington Post Gets Sexsquatted - California man registers HuffingtonPost.xxx. [Update 5 PM CST 12/12/11: That was quick. AOL is now the owner of the domain. Now the only one of the top 20 web sites on the web that may be sexsquatted is WordPress.xxx.] .XXX domain names opened up for registration last week, but it looks like one big brand may have missed the message. HuffingtonPost.xxx was registered by a California man shortly after the registry opened for business. I can’t find anything that ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Company manages to get .secure trademark - Company going after .bank and .secure domain names gets a (weak) trademark. A company hoping to offer .bank and .secure domain names has managed to get a trademark for .secure from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office — albeit on the supplement register. How did it do this, since the USPTO won’t grant trademarks on top level domains? First, Asif LLC didn’t tell the USPTO the trademark was for a top level domain name. Instead, it says it’s for “Domain name ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Want to be ICANN’s subsequent CEO? - Non-profit publishes profile of desired CEO. Want to be the CEO of an organization launching a highly controversial expansion of the internet namespace and seeing its budget double or triple your first year on the job? ICANN has a job for you. Today ICANN announced it has selected search firm Odgers Berndtson of Brussels to help it find a new CEO to replace Rod Beckstrom. ICANN has used the same firm previously. It also published a candidate profile (pdf). Among the ... read more ...
Fri 9th December 2011
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
8 probable headlines for yesterday’s New TLD hearing - How do you describe an uneventful congressional hearing? Yesterday the Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing about the introduction of new top level domains. The session, lightly attended by senators, was a bit bland. But here are 8 possible headlines I could think of after watching yesterday. Cybersquatters: they’re like pedophiles Disney sues Congress over use of Mickey Mouse image in congressional hearing New TLD hearing confused with whois policy discussion ICANN ... read more ...
Thu 8th December 2011
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
ICA Letter To The House Against SOPA: “”Potentially Devastating For ICANN Registrars & Others in Domain Name Industry - Phil Corwin on behalf of The Internet Commerce Association sent a letter to today to the senior members of the House Judiciary Committee “regarding the likely unintended but potentially devastating impact of H.R. 3261 (”SOPA”) as introduced upon ICANN-accredited registrars and other participants in the broad domain name industry”, as well as upon the domain registrants who use those services.” Below is what Phil had to say about this law and we have reprinted the letter he sent to the House ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
What a infamous UDRP decision - UDRP makes it hard for entrepreneur to start his consulting business. UDRP mostly gets it right. It sometimes gets it wrong. Other times it gets it absolutely, disgracefully wrong. Consider the case of a Minnesota man who wants to set up a consulting firm. He comes up with the reasonable name Fresh Look Consulting, LLC. So he files for his company name with the state on October 3 of this year. Then he registers the domain name FreshLookConsultingLLC.net on October ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
New program will bond dots between “rogue web sites” - Company says it will help legal efforts against counterfeit goods sales. As congress debates the Stop Online Piracy Act (STOP) and companies file dozens of lawsuits against counterfeiters, a New York company claims to be developing software to aid in the fight. RogueFinder, LLC is a new company, having just registered its domain name RogueFinder.com a week ago and filing a trademark application around the same time. But its software looks interesting if it achieves ... read more ...