Tag: Domain Dispute

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Disputes National Arbitration Forum News

Google wins dispute over YouTube typo domains, names ordered transferred

YouTube Scam Survey site

In a no-brainer, a single-member Panel with the National Arbitration Forum has ordered several YouTube typo domain names be transferred to Google.

The domain names disputed in the case were: youtbe.com, youtub.com, youtue.com, youube.com, and yutube.com.

The respondent, who filed no response in the proceeding, had been using the names to send unsuspecting users to a survey scam that asked a series of questions and attempted to gather personal information by promising free gifts like Best Buy gift cards.

Google filed the complaint (Case No. 1416796) at the end of November.

Judge Harold Kalina (Ret.), Panelist, found that all three elements required under the ICANN Policy to transfer the domains were satisfied.

1)  the domain name registered by Respondent is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which Complainant has rights; and
(2)  Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name; and
(3)  the domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith

Full details of the ruling, which was issued on January 5, have been posted online.

Discussion: The Next Web, Marketing Land, Index, The Verge, Afterdawn.com and mediabistro

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News

Panel denies Salesforce the name Forces.com in domain dispute

Force.com

After filing a complaint (Case No. 1416951) with the National Arbitration Forum last month against Internet Venture Holdings (IVH) over Forces.com, Salesforce.com has been denied the domain name.

Not surprisingly, the panel found that <forces.com> was not identical or confusingly similar to any mark in which Salesforce.com has rights.  As a result, the name was ordered to remain with its owner Internet Venture Holdings (IVH) and will not be transferred to Salesforce.com.

Because the panel concluded that the domain was not identical or confusingly similar, it didn’t bother establishing whether IVH had no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name; or whether the domain had been registered and was being used in bad faith.

There was also no finding of reverse domain hijacking.

If Salesforce.com really wants a generic domain, they should pay the asking price, not bully smaller companies.

Full details of the panel’s decision can be read online here.

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News

Linkdin.com cyber squatter throws away $22K, domain now belongs to LinkedIn

Linkdin.com WHOIS

Back in December, LinkedIn filed a complaint (Case No. 1417534) with the National Arbitration Forum over the typo domain LinkdIn.com (missing an ‘e’). 

The web address redirected consumers to an online scam that asked a handful of questions and attempted to gather personal information by promising free gifts like a $1,000 Walmart gift card, to anyone who finished filling out the survey.

The owner learned an expensive lesson after they allegedly paid $22,000 to the buy the domain at SnapNames in July 2010.

Now, the domain name belongs to LinkedIn (WHOIS).

LinkedIn withdrew the domain dispute in late December.  It appears the respondent in the case agreed to turn over the name without waiting for a panel to order the name transferred.

It’s unknown whether LinkedIn paid any amount of money to expedite the transfer of the domain, but it’s unlikely, considering LinkedIn was pretty much guaranteed a win.

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Disputes News WIPO

eCommerce giant markafoni first company to file .XXX domain dispute

markafoni

The Turkish private shopping club markafoni has become the first company to file a .XXX domain dispute with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) over the domain markafoni.xxx.  According to WIPO, the case commenced on December 29.

WIPO Case Number (D2011-2298) was filed by VIPINDIRIM, the company behind markafoni, which was featured last July in TechCrunch, after the company was valued around $200 million following 70 percent of its shares being acquired by Naspers.

According to WHOIS records, the domain <markafoni.xxx> was registered on December 6, by Yasin Kaplan who resides in Istanbul.

December 6 marked the first day of general availability of .XXX domains.  

Per the ICM Registry, “General Availability is when members of the adult Sponsored Community get regular, resolving names on a first come, first served basis. Non-members of the adult Sponsored Community can also get “Non-Resolving” names.”

Although the ICM Registry has gone to unprecedented lengths to put an end to cybersquatting by suspending abusive registrations such as BusinessWeek.xxx, there will be other names that fall into a gray area that will get sorted out at arbitration.

As of today, only one other .XXX domain case has been filed under the UDRP (Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy) — Case number 1421851 commenced on December 30, with the National Arbitration Forum over the domain name heb.xxx.

Discussion: NamePros

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Disputes National Arbitration Forum News

Actress Rose McGowan wants her name, files dispute for rosemcgowan.com

Rose Mcgowan

Actress and singer Rose McGowan has apparently filed a complaint (Case Number: 1419570) over the domain name RoseMcGowan.com with the National Arbitration Forum.

First registered over ten years ago, today, rosemcgowan.com is parked with HITFARM (part of the Reinvent Media Group), an online monetization service for domain names.   

The rosemcgowan.com website currently displays third-party ads, many having to do with her career, such as Netflix ads for the supernatural drama television series Charmed, which she is well-known for. 

The owner of the domain name is currently hidden behind WHOIS privacy, according to registrant records.

Because the National Arbitration Forum doesn’t publicly identify complainants on its website until a decision has been handed down by a panel, the official complainant isn’t immediately known.  As domain disputes usually go though, it’s all but guaranteed that Rose McGowan filed the complaint.

In the online world, Rose McGowan is an active Twitter user, with nearly 200,000 followers.  However, outside of fan pages and information on websites like IMDB, apparently she has no official site to call her own.