Tag: "Modern Warfare 3"
Top 10 Stories of 2011: #2 Activision battles for ModernWarfare3.com domain
Activision won rights to the domain ModernWarfare3.com in early September, bringing a saga that dragged on for months to a close.
My coverage of the whole affair from beginning to end drew thousands of thousands of page views, along with mentions from nearly every major video gaming news site and blog.
It was Activision’s decision to file a domain dispute over ModernWarfare3.com that earned the number two spot in the Top 10 stories of 2011.
The coverage began in January 2011, when I wrote about Activision missing out on several Modern Warfare domain names, including ModernWarfare3.com.
In May, information and dates were leaked on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 to Kotaku.
Shortly after the online buzz started, the owner of ModernWarfare3.com put up a website and literally gained thousands of fans on Facebook overnight. Then the website abruptly went offline for days, in what appeared to be a response by the owner to Activision’s lawyers.
When the site came back online however, the same owner launched a revamped website that lashed out at Activision, in a series of statements and videos, throwing support instead to Call of Duty’s biggest competitor – Electronic Arts’ Battlefield 3.
Still, at this point, no one else was covering it.
It was my story on ModernWarfare3.com re-directing to EA’s Battlefield 3 website in July that started drawing attention by sites like Kotaku. The move to forward the domain proved embarrassing for Activision.
What followed were a series of breaking stories that continued to draw massive traffic.
In mid July, Activision officially filed a complaint with the National Arbitration Forum that I got my hands on.
After the complaint was filed, Go Daddy removed the privacy service on the domain, revealing the identity of the owner.
In September, Activision triumphed and the domain was ordered transferred.
By October, the domain resolved to CallofDuty.com.
If Activision decides to release a Modern Warfare 4, it may want to handle things a little differently. As of today, ModernWarfare4.com doesn’t belong to Activision.
Finally, ModernWarfare3.com points to official Call of Duty MW3 website
The domain name ModernWarfare3.com is finally being re-directed to the official Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 website.
Activision won rights to the web address in early September, after online taunting by the previous owner Anthony Abraham who had lashed out at Activision in a series of statements and videos that appeared on the then ModernWarfare3.com website.
Things came to a head in July when Abraham re-directed the web address to Electronic Arts’ official Battlefield 3 website, prompting Activision to file a complaint.
Activision’s trademark attorneys at Millen, White, Zelano & Branigan, P.C, took control of ModernWarfare3.com in late September.
As of yesterday, the domain points to callofduty.com/MW3.
ModernWarfare3.com to re-direct to official MW3 web site, any day now
It’s good news for all the fans of the Call of Duty franchise.
The domain name ModernWarfare3.com has transferred over to Activision’s domain server that hosts other names like CallofDuty.com, which likely means only one thing: ModernWarfare3.com will finally resolve to the official MW3 website any day now.
Earlier in the week, Activision’s trademark attorneys at Millen, White, Zelano & Branigan, P.C, took official control of ModernWarfare3.com from Anthony Abraham following a dispute over the web address.
The transfer of the domain to Activision’s domain server occurred on Saturday, September 24, 2011.
ModernWarfare3.com: Activision’s attorneys take official control of domain
In what has been one of the most highly publicized struggles for a domain name, Activision’s trademark attorneys at Millen, White, Zelano & Branigan, P.C, have officially taken control of ModernWarfare3.com from Anthony Abraham as of September 21, 2011, after winning the dispute over the web addresss earlier in the month.
Now all that’s left to do is to transfer the domain to Activision’s Mary Tuck, who serves as the company’s senior litigation counsel (and is the registrant for most of Activision’s properties), then re-direct the domain to the official ‘Modern Warfare 3′ website at callofduty.com/mw3.
Modernwarfare3.com doesn’t resolve to a web page at the time of this story, but lets hope that Activision puts it to good use shortly.
Type in modernwarfare3.com into any of the major search engines, and EA’s Battlefield 3 is still the first result. A temporary effect of Anthony Abraham’s redirection of modernwarfare3.com to battlefield.com/battlefied3 back in July.
ModernWarfare3.com domain name battle ends with an Activision triumph
The domain battle between Anthony Abraham and Activision over ModernWarfare3.com has come to an end.
A three-member panel of the National Arbitration Forum has ordered the domain name transferred.
Earlier this year Anthony Abraham launched an unofficial fan site for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, attracting thousands of Facebook fans in a matter of days.
In late June, Abraham began lashing out at Activision, the publisher of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3, in a series of statements and videos that appeared on the ModernWarfare3.com website, and throwing support instead to Electronic Arts’ Battlefield 3.
Activision eventually filed a complaint (read here) which revealed the identity of the Battlefield 3 fanboy.
According to the decision posted online, Abraham argued that the term “modern warfare” is generic and is not monopolized by Activision.
Activision was required to prove that modernwarfare3.com is identical or confusingly similar to its trademark, that Abraham has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain; and the domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith.
The three-member panel ruled in Activision’s favor today, having established all three elements required under the ICANN Policy.
Here is a copy of the decision by the National Arbitration Forum so you can read all the details.
Discussion: Game Informer, Joystiq, NeoGAF, CVG, GamesIndustry.biz, MCV, Ubergizmo, The Escapist, G4, Eurogamer.net, 1UP, Tiscali, Gamespot, FZ, Kotaku and Gaming Union
ModernWarfare3.com owner revealed, Go Daddy’s Privacy removed during UDRP
The Battlefield 3 fanboy who has fueled the drama between Electronic Arts and Activision by re-directing ModernWarfare3.com to Battlefield.com has been officially revealed.
Originally hidden behind Go Daddy’s Domains By Proxy (DBP) service, it appears the registrar giant doesn’t want to get involved in the domain dispute recently filed under the UDRP by Activision against the owner of ModernWarfare3.com.
Today, Go Daddy’s DBP has removed the privacy service on the domain, revealing the identity of the ModernWarfare3.com owner who has entertained Call of Duty and Battlefield fans with his online antics for weeks.
So who is this person who got the attention of gaming publications, fans and of course, Activision?
The registrant is Anthony Abraham of Florida according to the latest Whois records furnished by DomainTools.
Anthony, who has been hush hush since the beginning, will likely be receiving calls and e-mails from reporters over the next few days.
Now, if you’re wondering why the privacy service was removed all of the sudden, according to the Domains by Proxy website, cancelling the privacy service is just how it handles UDRP matters.
“DBP routinely receives notices from its affiliated registrars informing it of the filing of various administrative proceedings under the Policy. Upon receipt of such notices, DBP cancels its privacy service for the domain name that is the subject of the Policy dispute and notifies its customer about the cancellation of service.”
Activision files complaint over ModernWarfare3.com, posted online
Breaking update July 19, 2011 04:57 AM EST: The identity of ModernWarfare3.com has now been revealed.
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Activision has had enough with ModernWarfare3.com.
The gaming company has filed its first domain name dispute with the National Arbitration Forum.
The complaint was filed today, July 15, a week after the mystery owner of the domain started re-directing the URL to EA’s Battlefield.com, sparking a flurry of news stories.
Although I track domain disputes filed with the National Arbitration Forum and the World Intellectual Property Organization, I didn’t find out about the dispute through their online databases, instead I found out about the dispute when I paid a visit to ModernWarfare3.com.
As of today, ModernWarfare3.com is back to its old format online, but with a twist. Sitting on the home page is a copy of the complaint (read here) the owner received.
Now begins the UDRP (Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy), which was adopted by ICANN in the late nineties.
The complaint cost Activision $2,600 USD to file for a three-member panel.
The 11-page document, includes among other things, reasons by Activision as to why the respondent has no right or legitimate interest to the name.
Activision states, “It appears that the Respondent supports the game Battlefield from the game developer Electronic Arts (“EA”). EA is one of Complainant’s principal competitors in the video game industry, and Battlefield game competes in the marketplace with Complainant’s MODERN WARFARE games and its other military-themed shooter games in the CALL OF DUTY series.”
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ModernWarfare3.com begins redirecting to EA’s Battlefield 3, more drama
Updated July 15, 2011: The web address no longer re-directs. Activision has filed a complaint over ModernWarfare3.com. The domain dispute has been posted online.
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The saga of the web address ModernWarfare3.com, which is not owned by Activision, has been a story filled with bizarre twists.
And if you thought the battle over first person shooters between Activision’s Modern Warfare 3 and EA’s Battlefield 3 was interesting, type ModernWarfare3.com into your web browser.
As of today, the web address takes you to the official website of EA’s Battlefield 3, Activision’s rival.
Last week, I was able to piece together a storyline after keeping an eye on the domain name for months.
What started as an unofficial fan site, quickly turned into an anti-Call of Duty site.
WARNING — THIS WEBSITE IS UNDER SEIGE, read a message at the top of the homepage up until days ago.
The anonymous owner of the web address ModernWarfare3.com, has taken their sense of humor and anger one step further, by re-directing the domain to battlefield.com/battlefied3.
The redirection started after the site was suspended yesterday by web hosting provider iPage.
It’s unknown why iPage suspended the website, but a Google search shows iPage has shutdown other sites in the past after receiving complaints. It could also be that the website needed its own dedicated server due to internet traffic, something the owner may not have been willing to pay for.
Discussion: Kotaku, The Escapist, jeuxvideo.com, Videogameszone, PC Games, Games Aktuell and MeriStation
Another twist in ModernWarfare3.com story, still not owned by Activision
The ModernWarfare3.com ‘not owned by Activision’ story took another twist today as the producer of the video displayed on the homepage of the now ‘anti Call of Duty’ website, posted a message on the YouTube video saying, “I did not create ModernWarfare3.com.”
I’ve been following the story of ModernWarfare3.com even before it was officially revealed that Activision was planning to launch its next Call of Duty Modern Warfare game called Modern Warfare 3.
Way back in January, rumors were already circulating that the next Call of Duty game title would be Modern Warfare 3. But as I wrote back then, Activision didn’t own ModernWarfare3.com.
By mid May, information and dates were leaked on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 to online gaming magazine, Kotaku. It was announced that Activision was developing what could turn out to be its biggest installment of a Call of Duty game to date, but surprisingly, it didn’t even own the matching domain name.
Days after news hit the internet, the owner of ModernWarfare3.com had a website online with thousands of Facebook fans.
Activision then announced plans for Call of Duty Elite, to coincide with the release of Modern Warfare 3.
As news outlets ate the stories up about Modern Warfare 3 and Call of Duty Elite, ModernWarfare3.com went offline for days, in what appeared to be a response to Activision’s lawyers.
At the same time, the battle between EA’s Battlefield 3 and Activision’s ModernWarfare 3 heated up. But online, EA had already positioned itself with a website on Battlefield.com and Battlefield3.com, while Activision owned neither ModerWarfare.com nor ModernWarfare3.com. In fact, during this time in mid June, EA acquired Battlefield.net.
Then, just over a week ago, ModernWarfare3.com came back online, but instead of being a fan site, the owner launched a revamped website lashing out at Activision, in a series of statements and videos, throwing support instead to Electronic Arts’ Battlefield 3.
The site, which claims to be “Under Seige”, still doesn’t belong to Activision.
Now today it appears the producer of the YouTube video posted on the homepage of ModernWarfare3.com who goes by RoboJules, never endorsed the website.
Titled “Modern Warfare 3 sucks”, a message has been overlayed on the the video (screen shot below).
I’ve reached out the owner of ModernWarfare3.com (who also owns the .net) for comment, and will update this post if I hear back.
ModernWarfare3.com owner lashes out at Activision, voices online support for EA’s Battlefield 3 with parody site
The owner of ModernWarfare3.com is lashing out at Activision, the publisher of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3, in a series of statements and videos that appear on the ModernWarfare3.com website, and throwing support instead to Electronic Arts’ Battlefield 3 due out two weeks before the release of Modern Warfare 3 this fall.
Up until yesterday the site had been taken offline. Before going offline the website was anything but negative about Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3, racking up over 7,000 “Likes” on Facebook, as the owner looked to be building out a massive online fan website, albeit a site that was confusingly similar to Activision’s own MW3 site.
Now the tone on the website has changed. In what seems to have been prompted by Activision’s lawyers.
WARNING — THIS WEBSITE IS UNDER SEIGE, reads a message at the top of the homepage. Instead of an official trailer video, a video called “Modern Warfare 3″ sucks runs on the homepage.
The site’s owner has also updated the disclaimer at the bottom of the site to say, “Modern Warfare 3 .com is a 100% unofficial fan site dedicated to the Modern Warfare series. IF you haven’t figured it out yet, this site is a parody of Modern Warfare 3. Call of Duty official site. Modern Warfare is crap. On November 8, 2011, the most over-hyped first-person action series of all-time returns with the copy and paste sequel to the lackluster Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Check out the E3 2011 gameplay demo featuring the Black Tuesday level for a look at the epic fail of the campaign. Pre-Order Call of Duty MW3 Today for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC to secure exclusive bonuses only available online for Modern Warfare 3 fanboys who don’t know that Battlefield 3 is the better game.”
Click on other links on the site such as Media, and additional YouTube videos explaining why Modern Warfare 3 will suck are posted.
The Intel page is much of the same, with testimonials that say things like, “Been there , done that. NEXT! The new kid on the block Battlefield 3.”
I’ve reached out to the site’s owner for comment and will update this post if I hear back.
As far as the dramatic change to a parody site showing support for EA’s Battlefield 3, the only conclusion that I can reach is that Activision has contacted the owner about the domain name and website. While that’s clearly speculation, if they weren’t in touch before, they might be in touch soon.
EA may win the battle when it comes to intellectual property online. The company already owns and operates Battlefield.com and recently acquired Battlefield.net. It also owns Battlefield3.com.
Activision, as I’ve pointed out before, doesn’t own ModernWarfare.com or ModernWarfare3.com. One can only imagine the online games that would be played if Activision decides to release a Modern Warfare 4 in the future. As I’ve noted in the past, ModernWarfare4.com is one of the most interesting domain registrations by far. It’s yet another domain not owned by Activision, but in this case, the owners made news headlines when they threatened to hurt a clown if the game development studio behind Modern Warfare, Infinity Ward, didn’t play ball with their demands.
According to the latest Compete statistics released for May, the “rough” estimated traffic to ModernWarfare3.com was over 20,000 unique visitors.
Here’s a link to the Modern Warfare 3 Sucks video, in case the website goes offline again. WARNING: Language is strong.
