As buzz picks up about Halo 4, Microsoft has won another domain dispute (Claim Number: FA1203001432610) this past week against a fake Halo 4 beta website, this time Halo4Beta.biz.
On April 11, 2012, a single member panel with the National Arbitration Forum ordered that the Halo4Beta.biz domain name be transferred to Microsoft Corporation after having established all three elements required under the ICANN policy.
The three elements included:
(1) the domain name is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark in which the complainant has rights
(2) the owner 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.
Some of the highlights noted in the decision included that the respondent in the case, “Gerardo Torres / JerryG”, generated revenue from affiliate fees collected when each internet user signed up to receive one of the offers and that the domain was registered less than 10 days after Microsoft officially introduced Halo 4 through a global press release.
In early March, Microsoft Corporation won the rights to Halo4Beta.net, the first Halo 4 beta website to gain notoriety for tricking users into getting a bogus beta code.
343 Industries announced in March that it had no plans for a Halo 4 beta, but scam artists have still been able to cash in.
The full details of the ruling have been released and can be read online here.
Updated May 8, 2012:. Microsoft has taken official control of the domain name Halo4beta.biz (Whois) and now redirects visitors to Bing.