Category: News

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News

1800Flowers adds Conversations.com to its portfolio, new brand in the works?

conversations

Are plans underway for 1-800-Flowers to launch a new internet brand to add to its portfolio?

On Sunday, July 31, the floral and gift company took ownership of the domain name conversations.com from its previous owner Ted Fest, who had owned the property since December 2009.

The sales price is currently unknown, as the acquisition appears to have gone through the corporate identity protection company CSC Corporate Domains Inc.

Here’s a look at the Whois record which reflects the change in ownership. 

Registrant:
      1-800-FLOWERS.COM, INC.
      Domain Administrator
      One Old Country Road, Suite 500
      Carle Place, NY 11514
      US
      Email:  domainadmin @1800flowers.com

   Registrar Name….: CORPORATE DOMAINS, INC.
   Registrar Whois…: whois.corporatedomains.com
   Registrar Homepage: www. cscprotectsbrands.com

   Domain Name: conversations.com

      Created on…………..: Thu, Oct 15, 1998
      Expires on…………..: Sun, Oct 14, 2012
      Record last updated on..: Sun, Jul 31, 2011

1-800-Flowers has a number of brands including celebrations.com, winetasting.com, cheryls.com and more.

At the time of this story, conversations.com re-directs to celebrations.com.

I’ve reached out to the seller for comment, and will update this story if I hear back.

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News

Arizona State University wins SunDevils.com domain from naturists

Sparky

The web address sundevils.com won’t be such a shock to visitors soon enough.

The Arizona Board of Regents, on behalf of Arizona State University has won a dispute for the domain name after filing a complaint (case no. 1393853) with the National Arbitration Forum (“NAF”) in late June.  The decision was published online today.

The URL sundevils.com, in case you happen to type it into a browser (WARNING: Still NSFW), re-directs visitors to the home page of “Diablo Sun Devils”, a naturist club that displays adult content.

According to the case details, the owner of the domain failed to respond to the complaint.

The panelist, Honorable Paul A. Dorf (Ret.), ordered the domain be transferred after finding that the domain was identical and/or confusingly similar to the Sun Devils trademark, the use of a disputed domain name to display or link to adult-oriented material was further evidence of a lack of rights and legitimate interests in the domain name, and that redirecting to adult-oriented content demonstrated bad faith.

You can read all the gory details of the decision here.

Discussion: Deadspin and Startribune

(Photo of Sparky via Arizona State University)

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Disputes News Technology WIPO

Apple wins dispute over iPods.com, domain name ordered transferred

iPod Shuffle

Updated August 1, 2011:  The full administrative panel decision has been posted online.

**

WIPO Panelist David Cairns has ruled in favor of Apple in a dispute over the domain name ipods.com.

Apple filed the complaint at the end of May with the World Intellectual Property Organization.

Although the company is known for paying millions of dollars for domain names, sometimes months after launching a product, it may be adopting a different approach by following the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the UDRP), which costs thousands not millions when it’s successful for a complainant.  

In the case of iCloud.com which captured technology news headlines, the company reportedly paid $4.5 million in late April for ownership of the domain name (along with others) from Swedish cloud computing company Xcerion, shortly before officially launching the service. 

But the days of Apple purchasing domain names for seven figures, like it did for iPhone.com from businessman Michael Kovatch months after it released the iPhone, might be gone.

Full details of the ruling in case no. D2011-0929 have not been posted yet, which would explain what led Panelist David Cairns to the decision of ordering ipods.com to be transferred to Apple.  

The decision was just issued this past Friday, on July 29, according to WIPO’s website.  When the full decision becomes available online, I will update this post.

Depending on the reasoning, this decision could prompt Apple to file dozens of disputes over web addresses it still doesn’t own such as iPad.com, iPads.com, Macs.com, iPhones.com, iPhone5.com and countless more.

Earlier this month, Apple acquired the domains iPhone4.com and WhiteiPhone.com for an undisclosed amount.

Discussion: Apple Insider, Chron.Com / TechBlog, iPodNN, Neowin.net, 9to5Mac, Network World, The Inquirer, Mashable, Geeky Gadgets, the Sociable and Techmeme

(Photo of iPod Shuffle Second Generation via Wikipedia)

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News Technology

Bell-ATL.com, internet’s oldest hyphenated .com domain turns 25

payphone

Bell-ATL.com used to be the web address for Bell Atlantic’s website, which is now called Verizon Communications after a series of mergers dating back to the 1980s. 

The URL (http://www.bell-atl.com/), which turns 25 on August 5, is still used by the telecommunications giant and re-directs to a landing page on Verizon.com’s website.

While it’s not symbolics.com, the first .com domain ever registered, it is the first hyphenated .com domain ever registered.

Also sharing a 25th birthday on August 5 are GE.com, Grebyn.com, ISC.com, NSC.com, and Stargate.com.

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Disputes National Arbitration Forum News

With return of ThunderCats, comes domain dispute over ThunderCats.com

thundercats

 An all-new ThunderCats animated series premieres on Cartoon Network tonight.

Warner Bros anticipates the series will appeal to viewers who have loved the characters all their lives as well as young newcomers to the franchise.  That, according to a press release.

Now with all the hype surrounding ThunderCats, it appears Warner Bros wants to setup a website using ThunderCats.com. 

The only problem is, the company doesn’t own the domain.

A domain dispute (case No. 1400583) has been filed with the National Arbitration Forum.  While the name of the complainant isn’t known at this time, it’s a safe bet that it’s Warner Bros behind the filing.

Since 2003, Warner Bros has filed several disputes with the National Arbitration Forum – and won. 

In one of its more recent cases, Warner Bros won hogwarts.com. 

The company has only had 2 claims denied at the National Arbitration Forum.  Djbatman.com in 2004 and DaisyDukes.com in 2005.