Archive for November, 2011
Insidious 2 is in the works according to domain registrations by Sony Pictures
A sequel appears to be in the works for the best cost-to-gross ratio movie of the year “Insidious”.
Horror movie fans may have something to look forward to in 2012 after Sony Pictures hinted that “Insidious 2″ is in production, after the company registered a handful of domains like Insidious2movie.com, Insidious2.net, and Insidious2-movie.net.
All three domain names were registered on November 28, 2011, through the internet brand protection company MarkMonitor.
“Insidious” cost $1.5 million to produce and worldwide grossed $97,009,150.
Last May, rumors of a sequel began swirling around the internet, but nothing definite was ever announced.
At the time of this posting, Sony Pictures has not said anything official, nor do any of the domains resolve to a web page.
[Update 1 on February 2, 2012: Insidious 2 has been announced and is scheduled to be released in 2013, reports Variety.]
Discussion: Bleeding Cool News, Dark Horizons, /Film, Dread Central, ShockTillYouDrop.com, Bloody Disgusting, WorstPreviews.com, Splattercontainer.com and Blairwitch.de
Chicago Tribune web site going local? Company registers over 300 domains
The last time the Chicago Tribune web site underwent a major makeover was in 2008, the same year the Tribune Company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
The Tribune Company still hasn’t emerged from bankruptcy protection after three years, but that doesn’t seem to have stopped it from planning changes to its flagship publication.
It appears the Tribune Company might be investing in a redesign of its Chicago Tribune web site by going more local in towns, villages, and cities within Illinois.
On November 28, Tribune Company registered over 300 Tribune domains.
The list includes names like AuroraTribune.com, BigRockTribune.com, and 332 more domains, none of which resolve to a web site at the time of this story going online.
You can see the full list of domains here, as it’s too big to publish in this post.
Discussion: Poynter.org, @poynter and Gapers Block
(Image of the Chicago Tribune Building via Flickr)
Apple begins redirecting iPhone4S.com to official site in time for Cyber Monday
I first wrote about iPhone4S.com pointing users to adult content back in July 2011 when it was rumored that the iPhone 4 at the time, would get an upgrade to a new smartphone called the iPhone 4S.
But it was nearly four months later, before Apple decided to go after the owner of the domain by filing a complaint (Case No. D2011-1897) at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
Last week the case was terminated before a panel reached a decision, after the owner agreed to turn over iPhone4S.com, as well as several other names that also redirected users to adult content.
The list of domains identified in the complaint (all owned by the same company) included: iphonecamforce.com, iphonecam4s.com, iphoneporn4s.com, iphonesex4s.com, iphonexxxforce.com, iphone4s.com, porn4iphones.com, and sex4iphones.com.
Luckily for holiday shoppers, Apple got control of the web address and started redirecting users to its official website (as shown in the picture above) on Cyber Monday, which is expected to be the biggest day of online spending in 2011.
Samsung files trademark for ‘Samsung Galaxy Sleek’ smart phones and tablets
With the highly anticipated Samsung Galaxy Nexus rumored to be released on December 8 in the United States on Verizon, it appears Samsung is already planning its next device called the ‘Samsung Galaxy Sleek’.
On November 23, Samsung filed a trademark application (Serial Number: 85480030) with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for the ‘Samsung Galaxy Sleek’.
The goods and services covered in the trademark application cover: Telephones, smart phones, mobile phones and tablet computers.
Samsung often uses the word ‘sleek’ to help describe its smooth and polished smartphones and tablets.
So far Samsung has not made any announcement about the Galaxy Sleek.
Discussion: The Next Web, Phandroid, SlashGear, AndroidAppTests, Geeky Gadgets, The Tech Report, LLC, uSwitch.com, Recombu, MovilZona.es, DroidDog, Android Community, Technabob, Le Journal du Geek and VR-Zone
(Photo of Galaxy Nexus at its announcement event in Soho, Hong Kong via Flickr)
SalesForce.com attempts to hijack Forces.com by filing domain dispute
Earlier this month, SalesForce.com filed a complaint (Case No. 1416951) with the National Arbitration Forum against Internet Venture Holdings (IVH) over the domain Forces.com.
While complainants in disputes filed with the National Arbitration Forum aren’t revealed until a panel delivers a decision, I contacted IVH to see if my suspicions were correct “that Salesforce.com was behind the complaint” and an IVH representative confirmed via e-mail that, indeed, Salesforce.com was the complainant.
What’s interesting about this case – and this isn’t unheard of – is that Salesforce.com not only has a good chance of losing the dispute, but it may face a claim of “reverse domain hijacking”.
If the software giant loses the dispute and IVH contends that Salesforce.com engaged in ‘reverse domain hijacking’, Salesforce.com could be labeled a “reverse hijacker” by the presiding panel. “Reverse domain hijacking” is found if the company knew or should have known at the time that it filed the complaint, that it could not prove that forces.com was registered in bad faith.
Though Salesforce.com has publicly acquired domain names in the past for large sums of money such as the purchase of Data.com for over $1.5 million, it doesn’t mean the company won’t bully smaller companies into giving up their domains if it doesn’t feel like paying the seller’s asking price.
Unfortunately, a finding of reverse domain hijacking likely won’t mean much punishment in terms of the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP).
According to sources online:
The Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act does not expressly recognize reverse domain name hijacking and often only limits defendants’ recovery to retention or transference of the domain name. It also fails to provide any remedies for victims of attempted reverse cybersquatting. However, the statute permits some monetary relief where bad faith, reckless disregard or the willful violation of a court order are involved.
However, if Salesforce.com decides it still wants to acquire the domain after being labeled a “reverse hijacker”, the ball will definitely be in IVH’s court, who own hundreds of other prized, generic domains like Coast.com and Turquoise.com.
Even if Salesforce.com loses the dispute (which it should) and somehow avoids the hijacking label, I don’t see this ending well for Salesforce.com.
(Photo of Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce.com via Flickr)
Neither Sony, Nintendo, nor Microsoft own the domains for their next consoles
The console wars are heating up, but there’s just one problem: the three major companies don’t own the matching domains to their next-generation consoles.
Nintendo doesn’t own WiiU.com, Sony doesn’t own Playstation4.com, and Microsoft doesn’t own Xbox720.com.
Will the companies submit a domain dispute, file an anti-cybersquatting lawsuit, or pay a large sum of cash to get the domains? Well, it’s unknown whether Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo are considering any of these options, but what is known is that owning the domain names couldn’t their hurt online marketing efforts as the console wars heat up.
That being said, how are the domain names being used today?
Today, Playstation4.com re-directs to PSX Extreme, a video game website that has been covering Sony Playstation news for years. PSXExtreme.com and Playstation4.com are both owned by Poise Media Inc., according to WHOIS records. The domain was first registered in 1998, but Poise Media didn’t acquire the name until late 2008.
Xbox720.com is registered to a Jeremiah Germany of New York, who monetizes the domain using Google Adsense for Domains. Over the years, the domain has been host to a number of different sites ranging from a Les Paul guitars site in 2006 to a Google Custom Search page in 2008. However, since 2009 it appears the owner of Xbox720.com has been earning money using Google Adsense for Domains.
The owner of WiiU.com, who remains hidden behind WHOIS privacy, has the site set up as a Shopping.com affiliate web page. I wrote about WiiU.com back in June, after Nintendo announced the console at E3 without owning the domain. In August, Nintendo filed nearly 20 trademark applications (several including images) with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for the word Wii U.
All three console companies have used a variety of methods in the past to reclaim trademarked names, and in recent years, they have often filed complaints under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP).
In nearly all the complaints, the domain names have been ordered transferred. So given the track record to date, it’s likely when the trademark lawyers finally get around to going after these domains, they’ll use the UDRP.
Recently, Nintendo gained the rights to SuperMario.com, over 25 years since it had released Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. The company filed a complaint with WIPO which it won in late September.
Microsoft has filed and won dozens of Xbox-related domain disputes going back to 2003.
And though Sony Computer Entertainment has only filed a handful of disputes, it has won all 4 that it did submit. Those cases involved: playstationx.com, sonyplaystation2.com, sonyps2.com, psone.com, pspcn.com, and pspmovie.net.
Sometimes, however when companies want a domain and don’t want to risk losing a dispute or are impatient for the time it takes time for proceedings to complete, they will pay cash — as Microsoft likely did with Halo4.com.
I’ve reached out to the owner of each domain name to see if they’ve been contacted by the respective console company, and will update this post if I hear back.
(Concept design of Microsoft’s next-generation console ‘Xbox 720′ by Tai Chiem)
New Pinocchio film? Domains secretly registered by brand protection company
It’s only speculation, but according to several new domain registrations made through the internet brand protection company MarkMonitor, it appears a new Pinocchio film could be in the works.
On November 22, pinocchio-the-movie.com, pinocchiofilm.com, pinocchiothefilm.com, and thepinocchiomovie.com, were all privately registered to DNstination Inc, the WHOIS privacy service provided by MarkMonitor.
Currently, none of the domain names resolve to a web page.
While the company behind the names is not officially known, MarkMonitor is well-known for providing brand protection services to more than half the Fortune 100 companies in the world. And considering Disney Enterprises, Inc. owns several “Pinocchio” trademarks, it’s nearly certain that Disney is the registrant.
Though nothing has been officially announced by Disney, the new domain registrations hint at a new movie in the making.
At the same time the Pinocchio domains were registered, another batch of names were privately registered with MarkMonitor, alluding to another film called “The Gold Mist”. Here’s a look at those domain registrations:
gold-mist-movie.com
goldmist-movie.com
goldmist-themovie.com
goldmistfilm.com
goldmistmovie.com
goldmistthemovie.com
thegoldmistmovie.com
(Photo of of Pinocchio from the trailer for the film Pinocchio – 1940 via Disney)
Defendant in Lanham Act lawsuit turns over dozens of domains to Facebook
Back in July, Facebook filed a lawsuit in United States District Court seeking the cancelling of typosquatter domains that infringed on its trademarks, as well as damages and other relief against a number of defendants.
In the case of Facebook, Inc. v. Cyber2Media, Inc. et al, Facebook alleged violations of the Lanham Act, which among other things, prohibits trademark infringement.
One of the defendants identified in the lawsuit (read here), Ryan Johnson of Minnesota, has now transferred nearly 75 domain names to Facebook.
The domain names were transferred to Facebook, Inc. this week.
Here’s a look at the full list of domain names that Ryan Johnson handed over.
acebookfans.com
acebookfriends.com
advertisingfacebooknow.com
bestfacebookcash.com
bestfacebookemail.com
bestfacebookfans.com
bestfacebookmarketing.com
bestfacebooksearch.com
bestfacebookstock.com
buyfacebookfansonline.com
buyfacebookfanssite.com
buyfbfansnow.com
buyfbfansonline.com
cheapfacebook.com
coloradofacebook.com
facebookbase.com
facebookbff.com
facebookbulletins.com
facebookcashsite.com
facebookcashworld.com
facebookeffects.com
facebookemailsite.com
facebookemailworld.com
facebookenthusiasts.com
facebookfindsite.com
facebookhuntworld.com
facebookmaildirect.com
facebookmailonline.com
facebookmessagesite.com
facebookmoneydirect.com
facebookmoneyworld.com
facebookpublicity.com
facebookresultsnow.com
facebooksearchsite.com
facebooksearchworld.com
facebookseek.com
facebookseekguide.com
facebookstocksite.com
facebookstockworld.com
fbadvertisingresults.com
fbadvertisingresultsnow.com
fbemailsite.com
fbemailworld.com
fbresultstoday.com
fbstockdirect.com
fbstockmarkets.com
fbstockonline.com
fbstocksite.com
fbstocktrader.com
fbstockworld.com
findfbfriends.com
freefbfans.com
freefblikes.com
getfblikesnow.com
greatfacebookgames.com
iowafacebook.com
myfacebookbff.com
newfacebookmarketing.com
statefacebook.com
superfacebookcash.com
superfacebookemail.com
superfacebookstock.com
thefacebookcash.com
thefacebookemail.com
thefacebookmarketing.com
thefacebooksearch.com
thefacebookstock.com
thefbgamecheats.com
thefbstock.com
unionfacebook.com
yourfacebookcash.com
yourfacebookemail.com
yourfacebooksearch.com
yourfacebookstock.com
I’ve reached out to Ryan for comment and will update this story if I hear back.
Google going after YouTube typo domains that lead to survey scams
Google is going after several popular typos of the web address YouTube.com, all owned by the same person.
Each typo domain leads unsuspecting users to a site that looks confusingly similar to the official YouTube site (as shown in the picture above of YouTub.com – minus the ‘e’). Instead of landing on Google’s YouTube, users are taken to a survey scam that asks a series of questions and attempts to gather personal information by promising free gifts like Best Buy gift cards.
Google filed the complaint (Case No. 1416796) with the National Arbitration Forum this past week over the domain names: youtbe.com, youtub.com, youtue.com, youube.com, and yutube.com.
The names are all registered to the same person as seen in WHOIS records, allowing Google to file one complaint that relates to more than one domain name, under UDRP rules.
According to rough traffic estimates provided by Compete.com, visitors number in the thousands to each site every month. In October for example, YouTub.com reported over 6,000 unique visitors.
As with all domain disputes, each panel examines three elements before reaching a decision:
(1) is the domain name identical or confusingly similar to a trademark in which the complainant has rights
(2) the owner has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name and;
(3) the domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith.
If all three elements are satisfied, then the domain names will be ordered transferred to Google.
This will likely be an open-and-shut case for Google. Earlier this month, Twitter Inc. won a similar dispute over the highly trafficked domain Twiter.com after filing a complaint with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
I’ve reached out to the owner of the disputed domain names for comment, and will update this story if I hear back.
Google had its own share of problems with the YouTube web address early on, but it found itself on the other side of a dispute.
Just weeks after acquiring the video site, Universal Tube & Rollform Equipment filed a lawsuit in 2006 after its site (utube.com) continuously crashed because of millions of people looking for YouTube. Universal Tube ended up using utubeonline.com for its business web address, and kept ownership of utube.com – a site that today averages a million visitors per month according to Compete.
Discussion:TechCrunch, Silicon Republic, The Verge, Softpedia, Techmeme, iG Tecnologia and Punto Informatico
Amazon to launch a Santa app in time for the 2011 holiday season [UPDATED]
Updated December 1, 2011 at 5:37am EST: As expected, Amazon announced the launch of its Santa App for the Kindle Fire and iPad. The press release was issued yesterday on November 30. A day before the announcement, Amazon added a bunch of related domains to its portfolio including: amazonsantabooks.com, amazonsantacatalog.com, amazonsantafire.com, amazonsantagames.com, amazonsantagifts.com, amazonsantaholiday.com, amazonsantakids.com, amazonsantakindle.com, amazonsantamovies.com, amazonsantamusic.com, amazonsantatablet.com, amazonsantatoys.com, amazonsantavideo.com, amazonsantawishlist.com and amazonsboot.com.
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Amazon is hinting at the launch of a Santa Claus app with several new domain registrations this week that include names like AmazonSantapp.com, AmazonSantaforFire.com and AmazonSantaforiPad.com.
On November 21, Amazon’s legal department registered a bunch of domains through the internet brand protection company MarkMonitor. The names indicate the Amazon Santa app could be available on a number of different tablet devices, not just the Kindle Fire.
The new domain registrations include:
amazon-santa-app.com
amazonsantaapp.com
amazonsantaclausapp.com
amazonsantaclausmobileapp.com
amazonsantaforfire.com
amazonsantaforipad.com
amazonsantaforkindlefire.com
amazonsantafortablets.com
amazonsantamobileapp.com
amazonsantapp.com
At the time of this story going online this morning at 5am EST, Amazon has not made any official announcements on its Press Releases site nor do any of the domain names above resolve to a web page.
Santa Claus apps and websites have been popular during the holiday season, particularly Santa-tracking apps.
NORAD’s Santa Tracker is one of the most highly trafficked websites each year. According to a rough estimate by Compete, NORADSanta.org (which opens in December) had over 4 million visitors in December 2010.
