Tag Archives: legal

Wed 21st October 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
ICANN Web Site Overhaul Moves Forward - ICANN.org redesign moves forward. For an organization that’s at the center of the internet, ICANN’s web site is outdated and difficult to use. Over the summer it asked for feedback on the current web site and is working through the process of redesigning its web site. An outside consultancy compiled survey results and interviewed users of the web site to put together a new web site structure. First images of what the web site might look like are promising, highlighting ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Sony picks adult Walkman.net. But will it do anything with it? - Sony wins a Walkman domain name, but don’t count on a new web site any time soon. Sony Corporation has been awarded the domain name Walkman.net in a domain arbitration case at World Intellectual Property Organization. Sony invented the iconic Walkman in the late 70s. Walkman became somewhat of a generic term for portable music devices (similar to Scotch Tape for clear tape) until MP3 players went mainstream this decade. Sony still uses the brand for its portable ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
AAA Auto Club Gets AAA.net Domain Name…and Porn Names - AAA gets hands on AAA.net. But it is overstepping its bounds. American Automobile Association (AAA) has been awarded the domain name AAA.net after filing a lawsuit against its owners. AAA had lost a UDRP arbitration at National Arbitration Forum for the domain name, and then sued the owners of the domain in U.S. District Court, Western District of Pennsylvania. The National Arbitration Forum got it right — but in this case the defendants’ behavior with other ... read more ...
Tue 20th October 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Eco Spat: Live Earth Charged with Reverse Domain Name Hijacking - Environmental awareness company busted for “glaring example” of reverse domain name hijacking. A for profit eco awareness and fundraising company that associates itself with Al Gore has lost a domain name dispute and been charged with reverse domain name hijacking. Live Earth, LLC, which organizes concerts, runs, and other events to raise money and awareness for environmental issues, filed an arbitration case with National Arbitration Forum to get the domain name ... read more ...
Mon 19th October 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Verizon Files Another Cybersquatting Lawsuit - Verizon files cybersquatting lawsuit for Verizon.com typos. Verizon is suing 2Cool Guys.LLC (sic), Warren Weitzman, Arnold Trebach, and several John Does for trademark infringement. In the lawsuit, Verizon alleges that the defendants registered domain names that infringe on Verizon’s trademarks and set up various companies to hide their activities. It alleges that the parties use Lead Networks Private Domains Limited as their registrar, which allegedly works with ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Advertise.com Scores First Victory in Lawsuit with AOL - Judge forces AOL to change venue. Advertise.com 1, AOL 0. Online advertising company Advertise.com has scored its first victory in its legal battles with AOL: a judge has ruled against AOL’s favored jurisdiction of the Eastern District Court of Virginia. AOL was forced to refile the case in California Central District Court, where Advertise.com is based. Both companies sued each other back in August, after AOL blamed Advertise.com of trademark infringement of AOL’s ... read more ...
Fri 16th October 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Yahoo Wins Yahoo.tel Domain Name in Arbitration - Yahoo picks up .tel domain name. An arbitrator with National Arbitration Forum has awarded Yahoo! the Yahoo.tel domain name. Yahoo was the first major tech company to file arbitration for a .tel domain when it filed its case back in August. The respondent in the case did not file an official response. Instead, he challenged the authority of UDRP proceedings in Spain. Through correspondence dated September 23, 2009, the Attorney of Respondent submitted a written ... read more ...
Thu 15th October 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
VeriSign Supports New TLDs? Of Course it Does. - VeriSign says it supports new top level domains, which shouldn’t come as a surprise. Chuck Gomes, VP of Policy and Compliance, Naming and Directory Services at VeriSign, wrote a post at CircleID about his company’s support of new top level domain names. This really shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone in the industry for many reasons: 1. New top level domains won’t erode demand for .com, which VeriSign manages. .Com will remain king. 2. VeriSign will make ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
The New Top Level Domain Software Problem - New TLDs may create software headaches. I’ve written before about how new top level domain names might not work in software programs such as browsers and e-mail applications. But admittedly, I have little first hand knowledge of the problem. So it was good to see this post from Patrick Vande Walle, who works for one of the groups vying for .sport. Vande Walle explains how lists of acceptable top level domains are hard coded into many applications, and how an ... read more ...
Wed 14th October 2009
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
New Ruling Today Sheds Light On When Is A “Famous” Persons’ Name Is Proected By WIPO - Most domainers are pretty confused on the question of when is a person name, domain name fair game and when is the domain protected by WIPO/UDRP rulings. Thomas Pritzker filed a WIPO for the domain tpritzker.com Although you may have never heard of Thomas Pritzker, he is a pretty successful guy, to say the least,  described in the ruling as “a prominent businessman, the Chairman and CEO of The Pritzker Organization LLC, Chairman of Global Hyatt Corporation, Chairman of Marmon Holdings, Inc. and ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Click Fraud? Don’t Forget about Impression Fraud - Impression fraud is alive and well. While most media outlets have shouted the alarm bells about click fraud over recent years, we shouldn’t forget that the old stalwart of online advertising fraud still exists: impression fraud. The Wall Street Journal recently reported about recent examples where web sites would show “invisible ads”, inflating the number of banner ad impressions for companies such as Kraft Foods, Greyhound Lines and Capital One Financial. In ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
ICANN Asks GNSO to Weigh-in on Domain Trademark Issues by December - GNSO given two months to weigh-in on intellectual property issues for new top level domain names. ICANN President CEO Rod Beckstrom and Chairman of the Board Peter Dengate-Thrush have sent a letter to Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO), asking it to weigh-in on intellectual property issues related to new top level domain names by December 14. The letter (pdf) explains proposals put forth for protecting the rights of intellectual property owners during and ... read more ...
Tue 13th October 2009
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
UDRP’s Turns 10 and Holds A Conference To Celebrate - The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) marked the 1oth anniversary  of the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) yesterday with a conference that “brought together over 200 stakeholders from around the world”. I was not invited. I guess I’m not a “stakeholder”. I wonder if anyone from the domainer community got an invite to this conference, although I’m pretty sure the answer is no. Domain holders are appearently not stakeholders. According to WIPO, the conference ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Why The Yahoo Class Action Settlement Is Bad News For Domainers - DirectNavigation.com wrote today about a notice that went out to anyone who advertised with Yahoo or the its prior service GoTo.com, on its PPC program(s) anytime from May 1, 2000 until September 22, 2009. That’s a lot of advertisers. The class action arose out of a suit by advertisers against Yahoo, alleging that Yahoo: “””breached its contract with its customers by allowing Yahoo! ads to be displayed in spyware, domain name parking sites (also known as bulk registration sites), pop-ups, ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Law Firm Fear Mongering Over New TLDs - An example of how a law firm is cashing in on new top level domains. As I’ve said before, I understand why trademark holders are apprehensive about the introduction of new top level domain names. It’s indisputable that the release of hundreds of new top level domain names will be costly and time consuming from a brand protection perspective. But, as I noted, they are also overstating the problem. To peer into the fear mongering undertaken by legal experts, ... read more ...
Mon 12th October 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
DirectNIC Picks adult Red Register Domains, ICANN Notifies Two More Registrars - More registrar transitions thanks to ICANN enforcement. Domain name registrar DirectNIC will take over domain names that were registered at Red Register, which was recently de-accredited by Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). Red Register had approximately 7,000 global top level domain names under management. Billing contact information was not provided by Red Register, so customers should provide billing information to DirectNIC to ensure ... read more ...
Fri 9th October 2009
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
FTC: Were Not Going To Fine Bloggers $11K, At Least Not The First Time - An interesting article appeared at FastCompany.com today talking about the new FTC regulations we blogged about the other day and its planned enforcement of those rules on Blogs and other online marketers. FastCompany posed a bunch of questions to Richard Cleland, assistant director, division of advertising practices at the FTC. While certainly Mr. Cleland statements are not binding on the FTC, it does give some insight on how the FTC is going to enforce the new rules on bloggers. Regarding the $11K ... read more ...
Thu 8th October 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Arbitrator Hands DKB.com to Deutsche Kreditbank - Three letter domain name awarded to bank. An arbitrator with World Intellectual Property Organization has awarded the domain name DKB.com to Deutsche Kreditbank AG. The owner of DKB.com, DKB Data Services, had invalid contact information and may have been dissolved — which probably explains why it didn’t respond to the complaint. Arbitrator John Swinson found that the domain was registered in bad faith because it has not been used: The Respondent has apparently ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Can a Three Letter Domain Be a Typo? - Dun Bradstreet wins DBN.com domain name. Here’s an interesting UDRP domain arbitration decided by a National Arbitration Forum panelist. Dun Bradstreet Corporation, which operates DNB.com, filed for arbitration against DBN.com. The domain owner didn’t respond to the complaint and lost the case. It didn’t help that his parking page at DBN.com has links for products related to Dun Bradstreet. What’s interesting is that DB claims the respondent is engaging ... read more ...
Wed 7th October 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Domain Owner Wins Expenses in Lawsuit - Company sues UDRP complainant, wins, and judge orders complainant to pay expenses. Neon Network, LLC, has been awarded expenses after winning a default judgment against Aspis Liv Forsakrings in a domain dispute. Aspis filed a UDRP case with World Intellectual Property Organization last year to get the domain name Aspis.com, and it won. Aspis.com is a gripe site complaining about Aspis Liv Forsaking, an insurance company. Neon Network filed a lawsuit in Arizona ... read more ...
Tue 6th October 2009
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
ComScore: Drug Companies “Have Virtually Abandoned Search Advertising” & It’s All Because Of The Government - Maybe here is an reason why some of your PPC revenue is down. According to Adage.com, drug companies, “have virtually abandoned search ad marketing in the wake of the FDA’s online ad crackdown earlier this year.” The Adage.com article cites a study from ComScore, which showed that “paid search ads by pharmaceutical companies dropped 84% between March 26 of this year and the end of June.” Apparently March 26 was the date the FDA’s sent warning letters to 14 drug makers saying that  its ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Yahoo Awarded Patent for Human-Enhanced Search Engine - Yahoo gets patent for human editor enhancements to search results. Yahoo was awarded U.S. patent 7,599,911 today for “Method and apparatus for search ranking using human input and automated ranking”. The patent was filed in 2002. Essentially, this method calculates search rankings based on both automated search algorithms and human editor input. In the patent, Yahoo describes a way that previously-collected input from human editors can be mixed in, or “blended”, ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Deerhake Says He Didn’t Agree to Sign ICANN Letter for New TLDs - GDNS CEO says he didn’t give permission to be listed as signatory on letter to ICANN. One of the signers of a letter to ICANN that urged swift approval of new top level domain names says he didn’t agree to sign the letter. In a letter to ICANN CEO Rod Beckstrom, several other high ranking ICANN employees, and its Board of Directors, Stephen Deerhake of GDNS, Inc says he didn’t explicitly agree to sign the letter. The letter that he is listed as a signatory ... read more ...
Mon 5th October 2009
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
thepiratebay.org New ISP Shuts The Site Down, Again & Google Removes It - Following up on a story we have been following for a while, according to multiple reports ThePirateBay.org was shut down again, today,  after a group representing copyright owners forced the search engine’s new bandwidth provider, NForce to cut off service. At the time of publication the site is inaccessible. Apparently there is a nonstop effort to go after any ISP that provides bandwidth to The Pirate Bay, to shut the down the site, by threatening the ISP with lawsuits and fines. Back In August, ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
FTC Releases New Guidelines For Bloggers, Twitterers and Advertisers & Fines Up to $11K Per - The Federal Trade Commission released guidelines today,  effective December 1, mandating that bloggers,  Tweeters and other “online marketers” will have to tell readers (consumers) when they are paid or given freebies to write positive reviews or online postings. The rules also applies to “word of mouth” campaigns such as those carried out on social networking sites. The FTC said, “the post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement” ... read more ...