Month: February 2012

Categories
Disputes National Arbitration Forum News

Virgin mogul Richard Branson wins disputed dot-XXX domain name

Richard Branson

Richard Branson

Business magnate Richard Branson filed a complaint (Case Number: 1423689) over the domain name RichardBranson.xxx with the National Arbitration Forum in January.

Now a single-member panel has ordered the name transferred to Richard Branson, having established all three elements required under the ICANN Policy. 

First, the domain name is identical to the RICHARD BRANSON mark.  Second, the respondent lacked rights and interests in the disputed domain name.  And lastly, the domain name was registered and used in bad faith.

“As an additional independent ground demonstrating bad faith and as discussed above with regard to “rights and interests,” Respondent apparently registered the at-issue domain name even though he does not qualify to register a domain name on the .XXX register,” wrote Paul M. DeCicco, Panelist.

The full details of the ruling have been released and can be read online here.

There are now several UDRP cases involving dot-xxx domain names since the domain went public. 

The list of cases that are active as of today include: baylorgirls.xxx, utsystem.xxx, femjoy.xxx, kayjewelers.xxx, finansbank.xxx, foxstudios.xxx, borcelik.xxx, borusanholding.xxx, denizbank.xxx, valero.xxx and markafoni.xxx.

(Image of Richard Branson via Virgin.com)

Categories
News

UPDATED: Google may be officially launching Rater Hub

Rater Hub web page

Rater Hub web page

Back in 2005, Henk van Ess wrote about the Google Rater Hub, a somewhat secretive program at the time that had people review and rate the quality of Google’s search results.

Well, now it looks like the Rater Hub program will soon have a more public home on the web with the registration of the domain raterhub.com earlier this week by Google.  

Typing the web address today, takes you to a Google 404 page that says, “The requested URL / was not found on this server. That’s all we know.” 

404 pages on Google’s network can be a good sign that something is happening out at Google.

Paying people to review and rate search results at Google is nothing new and the very topic was recently in the news.

In January, Matt McGee published a detailed interview online with a Google Search Quality Rater, after a contractor contacted Search Engine Land wanting to explain and clarify some of the things that had been written and said about the program.

While Google hires contractors to do the job, it’s possible it may be doing more.

The search engine giant registered the domain name raterhub.com (Whois) through MarkMonitor on February 13, 2012, which surprisingly had never been registered before. 

RaterHub.com Whois record

In the past few days, the name transferred from MarkMonitor’s name server to Google.

Given the purchase of the domain, name server changes and the recent news, we could expect to see something soon on RaterHub.com.

[Update 1 on February 22, 2012: In the past 24 hours, a sign in page has gone online using Google Accounts, as shown in the snapshot below.  The message reads, “Google is not affiliated with the contents of Ewok2 Rater Hub or its owners.”  It appears Rater Hub is a third party service, not operated by Google.] 

Ewok2 Rater Hub

Discussion: Search Engine Land

Categories
Disputes National Arbitration Forum News

Baylor University files a complaint over BaylorGirls XXX domain name

Baylor Girls

Baylor Girls

Several colleges bought up .XXX domain names last year like mizzou.xxx as a defensive measure to prevent others from registering the names and possibly setting up porn sites.  

Now Baylor University, a school that has filed and won dozens of domain disputes over names like Baylor.com and BaylorUniversity.com, has officially filed a complaint (Case No. 1429318) with the National Arbitration Forum over the domain name BaylorGirls.xxx.

BaylorGirls.xxx (which does not resolve to a web page) was first registered on December 10, 2011, by a resident of Massachusetts, according to Whois records, just days after general availability of .XXX domain names began.  

The names can now be registered on a first come, first served basis. 

To date, a dozen disputes, including RichardBranson.xxx and FoxStudios.xxx, have been filed over .XXX domain names with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the National Arbitration Forum.   Only one ruling has been made so far.  On February 7, 2012, Panelist Darryl Wilson ordered heb.xxx transferred to HEB Grocery Company, L.P.

Baylor doesn’t appear to be the first college-related XXX domain dispute on record.

Last week, it appears The University of Texas System which owns UTsystem.com (Whois), filed a complaint (Case No. 1428670) over the domain name UTSystem.xxx.

Because the National Arbitration Forum doesn’t publicly identify complainants on its website until a Panel has issued a ruling, the official complainant over BaylorGirls.xxx isn’t immediately known.

However, given Baylor University’s track record with the National Arbitration Forum, it’s a sure bet that Baylor is the complainant.

[Update 1 on February 18, 2012: It appears Baylor University has got its hands on BaylorGirls.com according to Whois records.  The name was transferred to trademark law firm Pirkey Barber LLP this week.]

Categories
News

Could the new Barnes & Noble Nook be called the Nook Glow or Nook Shine?

Nook Shine

NOOK Tablet

Late last month, it was reported that Barnes & Noble would be introducing a new Nook this spring. 

Although very little is known about the successor to the Nook Tablet, some interesting domain names were privately registered on February 13, 2012 with CSC Global, a company that helps protect many of the world’s best global brands in part by registering and managing thousands of domain names.

The domains registered were NookGlow.com (Whois) and NookShine.com (Whois). 

Additional names that were registered on the same day include: NookUniverse.com, NookTabletPen.com, and TheNookTabletPen.com.

The names currently resolve to a blank web page at the time of this story.

While the registrant of each domain is listed as Corporation Service Company, it’s pretty safe to say that Barnes & Noble is behind each name, as CSC specializes in domain, trademark, and brand services. 

For now though, the name of the next Nook device will remain speculation until Barnes & Noble makes an official announcement.

[Updated on March 2, 2012:. It appears Barnes & Noble has acquired NookLabs.com according to Whois records.]

Discussion: gadgetell

(Image of Jane Lynch holding Nook Tablet via BarnesandNoble.com)

Categories
News

Apple.com domain name will celebrate its 25th Anniversary this month

Apple.com domain name

On February 19th, the domain name Apple.com will celebrate its 25th Anniversary.

The domain was created on February 19th, 1987, nearly two years after the first and oldest .com domain name on the internet “Symbolics.com” was registered, and just over ten years after Apple Inc. was founded.

Today, Apple.com is one of the most visited sites on the internet, ranking in the top 50 sites of the world, according to Alexa.

Apple hasn’t announced anything about the upcoming anniversary, so it’s not certain whether the company will be holding any kind of celebration.

Other domain names like Unisys.com, which was registered on December 11, 1986, have recently celebrated their 25th birthday without much fanfare. 

Apple.com ranks at #64 in the Top 100 oldest registered .com domains. 

Other domains owned by well-known companies that will celebrate their 25th anniversary this year include: cisco.com, dupont.com, and lockheed.com.

A full list of the top 100 oldest domain names can be seen on iWhois.