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Microsoft takes ownership of XboxGold.org domain as rumored reveal date nears

Xbox Gold Concept Art

In no surprise, Microsoft has taken ownership of the domain XboxGold.org, weeks after filing a complaint (Case Number: 1483759) with the National Arbitration Forum.

While no official ruling has been announced online, the name was transferred to Microsoft this week, according to WHOIS records.

There is now only one more active case involving an ‘Xbox Gold’ name, though it may be decided soon.  The dispute over Xbox-Gold.com (Case Number: 1484502) was submitted a day after the XboxGold.org case.

The name of the next-generation Xbox has been the subject of much speculation, with reports of possible names like the Xbox 720, Xbox Infinity, Xbox 8, Xbox Durango, Xbox Next and others.

In February, Microsoft quietly acquired Xbox Gold domain names (including XboxGold.com) and registered even more.

The Xbox name debate may finally be settled in April, when it’s rumored that the next-generation console will officially be unveiled.

UPDATE:  Seeing as the domain’s previous owner handed over the name to Microsoft before a ruling was made, the complaint was officially withdrawn.

Talking about this story:  NowGamer and This is Xbox

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Disputes Featured News WIPO

Take-Two going after more Grand Theft Auto V beta scammers, additional complaints filed

Grand Theft Auto V Beta

In February, Take-Two Interactive won a dispute over the domain getgtavbeta.com, which was followed by a win over betagtav.com, a phony website that claimed to have beta keys to the game.  Now, Take-Two has a total of four open cases over Grand Theft Auto V related domains.

This week, complaints were filed with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) over gta5betacode.com (Case Number: D2013-0490) and grandtheftauto5beta.com (Case Number: D2013-0489).

While grandtheftauto5beta.com does not resolve to a web page at the moment, gta5betacode.com (screenshot above) is a full-fledged website, complete with a Facebook page that has over 1,000 likes and a YouTube account.

How does the scam work?

People who visit the website are first instructed to help unwittingly spread the scam through Facebook.  If you scroll to the bottom of the page, you can see the steps.

GTA V Beta scam

If you click the “Get Your Key!” button, you’re taken to another page that has you pick a console.

After you select a console, the final page is shown that tries tricking you into downloading a file to your computer.

If you don’t think people still fall for these absurd and obvious scams, take a look at the website’s related Facebook page.  At the time of this story, it has over 1,300 likes.

GTA 5 Beta Facebook page

This case will be another slam-dunk for Take-Two.

Gta5betacode.com is owned by a resident of Pennsylvania, who first registered the domain in January 2013.

Talking about this story: VG247, playNATION.de, Eurogamer.net, Digital Trends, Attack of the Fanboy, Explosion, Menly, Product Reviews, In Entertainment, MCV, GameSpot, PSX Extreme, MegaGames, GamePro, Xbox Way, games.reveur.de, PIXEL ENEMY and Examiner.com

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Featured News Technology

Facebook acquires the domain name Instachecker dot-com

instachecker

According to WHOIS records, Facebook is now the owner of the domain Instachecker.com.

Facebook acquired the name through the internet brand protection company MarkMonitor.

Considering the word “insta” in the domain, instachecker likely has something to do with Instagram, the online photo-sharing company that Facebook bought in 2012.  For now, it’s just speculation, as Instachecker may be nothing more than a defensive registration to protect its Instagram service.

Instachecker.com was first registered in late May 2012.  The previous owner used a WHOIS privacy service, so the price paid for the domain will likely never be known.

The social networking company doesn’t seem all that interested in “Instachecker” if you look purely at domain registrations, having only acquired the dot-com.  The dot-net, dot-org, and other top-level domain names are still available.

At the time of this story, instachecker.com does not resolve to a web page.

Talking about this story: All Facebook

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Disputes News Video Games WIPO

Take-Two wins another dispute over a Grand Theft Auto V beta domain, 3 more to go

Grand Theft Auto V Beta

Take-Two Interactive has won a dispute over the domain betagtav.com, a name that was registered back in 2011 shortly after Grand Theft Auto V’s official announcement.  The game is set to be released in September 2013.

Last year, the domain owner launched a website on betagtav.com that claimed to have beta keys to the game.  Of course, the website was a fake.  But it wasn’t the only site on the internet issuing fake beta keys.  There were and are others.

At the beginning of 2013, Take-Two filed five separate complaints with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) over ‘GTA V Beta’ domains.

In February, it won a dispute over getgtavbeta.com, but there are still 3 more cases that are active and undecided.  The cases involve gtavbeta.net, gtavbeta.org, and  gta5downloadsecure.com.

You can see a screenshot below of betagtav.com from 2012.  The web address currently redirects users to Rockstar Games’ official website.

Grand Theft Auto V Beta

Expect to see more complaints filed over beta domains in 2013 as scammers continue to prey on unsuspecting fans of popular video games.

Last year, Microsoft took control of the domain names Halo4Beta.biz and Halo4Beta.net, after filing similar complaints.

Talking about this story: Examiner.com

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Featured News Video Games

Electronic Arts is buying up plenty of “Supreme Heroes” domain names

Battlefield Heroes

Electronic Arts has something in the works, according to the company’s latest domain registrations.

This week, EA purchased several domain names involving “Supreme Heroes”.

The latest batch of registrations include: Supreme-Hero.com, Supreme-Hero.org, Supreme-Heroes.org, SupremeHero.org, SupremeHeroes.com, SupremeHeroes.fr, SupremeHeroes.org, SupremeHeroesRock.org, SupremeHeroesRocks.org, SupremeHeroesSuck.org, and SupremeHeroesSucks.org.

All of the registrations above and more took place on March 5, 2013.

There’s no word yet on what “Supreme Heroes” will end up being and EA has made no official announcement.

At the time of this posting, nearly all of the domains redirect visitors to a parked web page.

Talking about this story: VG247, ntower, Play3-Live, GoNintendo, Nintendo Everything and Eurogamer.it

(Image of Battlefield Heroes via EA.com)