Tag: Modern Warfare 3

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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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News Video Games

ModernWarfare3.com to re-direct to official MW3 web site, any day now

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 website

It’s good news for all the fans of the Call of Duty franchise. 

The domain name ModernWarfare3.com has transferred over to Activision’s domain server that hosts other names like CallofDuty.com, which likely means only one thing:  ModernWarfare3.com will finally resolve to the official MW3 website any day now.

Earlier in the week, Activision’s trademark attorneys at Millen, White, Zelano & Branigan, P.C, took official control of ModernWarfare3.com from Anthony Abraham following a dispute over the web address.

The transfer of the domain to Activision’s domain server occurred on Saturday, September 24, 2011.

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Disputes National Arbitration Forum News Video Games

ModernWarfare3.com: Activision’s attorneys take official control of domain

ModernWarfare3.com Whois

In what has been one of the most highly publicized struggles for a domain name, Activision’s trademark attorneys at Millen, White, Zelano & Branigan, P.C, have officially taken control of ModernWarfare3.com from Anthony Abraham as of September 21, 2011, after winning the dispute over the web addresss earlier in the month.

Now all that’s left to do is to transfer the domain to Activision’s Mary Tuck, who serves as the company’s senior litigation counsel (and is the registrant for most of Activision’s properties), then re-direct the domain to the official ‘Modern Warfare 3’ website at callofduty.com/mw3.

Modernwarfare3.com doesn’t resolve to a web page at the time of this story, but lets hope that Activision puts it to good use shortly.

Type in modernwarfare3.com into any of the major search engines, and EA’s Battlefield 3 is still the first result.  A temporary effect of Anthony Abraham’s redirection of modernwarfare3.com to  battlefield.com/battlefied3 back in July.

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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