Tag: Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3

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News Video Games

Top 10 Stories of 2011: #2 Activision battles for ModernWarfare3.com domain

Modern Warfare 3

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.

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News Video Games

Finally, ModernWarfare3.com points to official Call of Duty MW3 website

Modern Warfare 3

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.

Discussion: Kotaku and Game Rant

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Disputes National Arbitration Forum News Trademarks Video Games

ModernWarfare3.com domain name battle ends with an Activision triumph

Modern Warfare 3

Modern Warfare 3

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

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News Video Games

Another twist in ModernWarfare3.com story, still not owned by Activision

Modern Warfare 3

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).

Modern Warfare 3 Sucks

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.

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Disputes News Video Games

ModernWarfare3.com, site taken down; domain not owned by Activision

Modern Warfare 3 reveal trailer

The website had reached over 7,000 Facebook Likes in the weeks following the announcement of Modern Warfare 3 and looked confusingly similar to Activision’s official MW3 site.  And the site even added new features in the past couple weeks including a newsletter for announcements, videos, pre-order links, and a forum that was slated to launch.

But now the site ModernWarfare3.com (which is currently not owned by Activision), returns a “404” not found page on the web — a move that may have been prompted by Activision’s lawyers after witnessing the site’s growth and similar look to its own official site, which can be found at callofduty.com/mw3.

Although it’s difficult to tell whether the site is just down for something as simple as maintenance, this is the first time since Activision’s newest title was leaked that ModernWarfare3.com has been offline for a significant time period.  In this case, days not hours. 

Activision and ModernWarfare3.com

The big question is whether Activision is even trying to acquire the domain.

The company doesn’t have a strong trackrecord of buying domain names on the aftermarket, at least publicly.  Nor has the company ever filed and won a formal domain dispute, according to a quick query at UDRPSearch.com. 

As an example of Activision’s poor track record with domains, last year the company registered several names for possible future game titles including: callofdutyfuturewarfare.com, callofdutyfuturewarfare2.com, callofdutyfuturewarfare3.com, and a number of variations including codfuturewarefare.com, codfuturewarfare2.com, and codfuturewarfare3.com.  The company also registered secretwarfare2.com, secretwarfare3.com, spacewarfare2.com and spacewarfare3.com.  But what you might notice about the list is not what the company purchased, but more so what the company didn’t — generic domains like futurewarfare.com or spacewarfare.com.

Regardless of the company’s history with domains, this time though when it comes to a domain it doesn’t own, the company may finally be honing in.

Considering Modern Warfare 3 is set to be one of the company’s biggest launches to date in November 2011 and will coincide with the launch of its own online social network called: Call of Duty Elite, the registrant information could be changing soon, just like Halo4.com did yesterday – as reported here on Fusible and covered by Gawker Media’s Kotaku.