http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blog Domain Name Law, Buying and Selling Domains, Trademarks, UDRP, Cybersquatting en-us Thu, 28 Aug 2008 07:47:53 GMT Tue, 31 Jul 2007 03:13:58 GMT CF Blogger by DayDream Inc http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss No Email Provided, Use our contact link No Email Provided, Use our contact link http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=1A4402B6-1422-B034-2307B40C786883CE Domain Name renewal scams are not new. For years owners of domain name registrations have received emails or faxes indicating one or more of their domain registrations are up for renewal.The average business owner who doesn't pay much attention or may not even remember what registrar holds their domain registration may see the notice and believe it is an invoice. Unwittingly, that owner has just changed his registrar.Domain Name Wire reports yet a new scam this one a bit more nefarious than just a scam switch to a new registrar. The link in the email takes you to DomainRenewal-online.com (which we assume will be shut down soon after the news spreads), offers to renew your domain for 1 year for a whopping $69.95 and provides a non-secure form for you to insert your private information.If this isn't bad enough, after providing your private information in an open form, you are taken to another non-secure page with a framed credit card authorization.Protect your domains and your private information by dealing only directly with your domain name registrar. Make sure that if you are asked to provide private information (such as name, address, email address, etc.) that the form is secure (indicated by a lock in the address bar). Never input credit card or other financial data in a non-secure form. Do not attempt to pass this information through non-encrypted email either.If you receive a domain registration renewal notice which you are unsure about, either login to your domain registration account with your current registrar, or contact them with questions. Domain Name News Tue, 31 Jul 2007 03:13:58 GMT http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=1A4402B6-1422-B034-2307B40C786883CE http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=0A2A2954-1422-B034-2351E3741C9FF7F7 Stand-up comedian Keith Malley from Brooklyn, New York was ordered to turn over "TheSimpsonsMovie.com to Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation on July 22, 2007 by an arbitrator from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).Using the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) instituted by ICANN, the WIPO arbitrator found that Malley had no legitimate right to the domain name. Malley originally used the domain name for "off-color" and "sexually explicit" comedy depictions of Simpson TV characters.When Fox contacted Malley about the domain, Malley offered to sell it to Fox for $50,000. At that point Fox inlisted the WIPO, alleging Malley's domain name registration was confusingly similiar to Fox's numerous US and global trademarks involving "The Simpsons" television show.UDRP lists three elements of proof for claims that a domain name has been abusively registered:The specified domain is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark held by complainant; the owner of the disputed domain name has no rights or legitimate interests in the domain name; and the domain name registration is in bad faith. The WIPO arbitrator found a bad faith registration, stating that Malley was well aware of Fox's trademarks, the registered domain name was confusingly similar to Fox's trademarks and Malley had no rights to use "TheSimpsons" since he did not have permission and did not have a connection to Fox. Domain Disputes Sat, 28 Jul 2007 00:11:48 GMT http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=0A2A2954-1422-B034-2351E3741C9FF7F7 http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=005CF722-1422-B034-23CC61823FA3465E Forbes Magazine ran a story in late June 2007 about the recent auction held by Moniker at the NY TRAFFIC conference.Also listed in the article are the five most expensive web addresses which currently are: Beer.com $7 million, Business.com $7.5 million, Diamonds.com $7.5 million, Porn.com $9 million and Sex.com $12 million.Forbes points out the generic keyword domain names can be quite lucrative, especially since online ads have been increasing by 30% a year. Many websites offering news and information operate on ad revenue collected.As with real estate, location is also important on the Internet. In the case of the Internet, location is determined by an easy to remember web address, a generic term that people use to find information and a well developed website the keeps users returning.It's important to note that very few domain names sell in the 6 or 7 figures; in fact very few sell for 5 figures. The unusual stories of domain names selling in the millions only highlights the fact that a well chosen domain name, appropriately developed, can and does bring a good return whether you sell it or use advertising to support its operations. Domain Name News Thu, 26 Jul 2007 02:31:06 GMT http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=005CF722-1422-B034-23CC61823FA3465E http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=F5D26EBD-1422-B034-2337A726FE4302E4 Sedo has just announced the sale of Travel.info for $116,000. This is the highest price paid for the .info TDL so far. Of course Travel.info makes good sense for a web site that will contain travel information. It would be easy for users wanting traveling information to remember.Previous sales of .info domain name registrations include: newspaper.info for ¬13,550 (approximately $18,500), booking.info for $11,500 and names.info for ¬8,100 (approximately $10,500).Sounds like the .info TLD has found its niche for those wanting to provide information about a generic term. Domain Registrations Tue, 24 Jul 2007 01:23:35 GMT http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=F5D26EBD-1422-B034-2337A726FE4302E4 http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=F5C3B256-1422-B034-238F6C0DC3F40607 A new service just opening up, SwapNames. Now you can not only offer domains for a sales price, but also offer simply to trade domain names with someone who has a domain registration which would work for your development plan.PickeyDomains offers a service for those searching for just the right domain name. PickyDomains offers to find available domain names that are descriptive, concise and are easily remembered, using 17 domainers from United States, Canada, Russia, UK, Australia and New Zealand, with extensive experience in picking great domain names.This service costs $50 but comes with a money back guarantee if a domain that suits your fancy doesn't appear. Domain Name News Tue, 24 Jul 2007 01:07:29 GMT http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=F5C3B256-1422-B034-238F6C0DC3F40607 http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=D6F4D2BE-1422-B034-2339AEAEE62E5DDB Lexico Publishing Group, LLC and Answer Corp have agreed on the sales price for Dictionary.com, Thesaurus.com and Reference.com. When the sale is complete, Lexico will be $100 million richer. Answer will own domain properties which attracted 11.5 million unique visitors for the month of June 2007.Over 85% of this traffic comes direct from end users or from people searching the word "dictionary" in search engines. The addition of these domain properties are expected increase Answer's traffic to over 22.5 million unique users each month and will enhance Answer's ability to reach Internet users without dependence on search engines. "The acquisition of Lexico is a transformative event for us," explained Robert S. Rosenschein, Chairman and CEO of Answers Corporation. "We are excited about applying our experience in monetization to significantly increase Lexico's 2008 revenues and EBITDA. Lexico's suite of popular brands, steady direct traffic and loyal users are valuable assets that we believe will reduce our products' reliance on search engine-driven traffic. Post-transaction, we estimate that over 70% of our total traffic will now be direct from end users or people searching specifically for the term 'dictionary' in search engines. Our combined size and available ad inventory should provide greater exposure among online media buyers, which we expect will lead to increased advertising sales."According to the press release the final sale is still contingent upon usual closing conditions and financing. Closing is scheduled for fall 2007.Answers anticipates using the new domain name properties to cross-promote other Answers' sites.Dictionary is the second most generic search term in search engines. Lexico's domain properties ranked #3 in the Education-Reference category in June 2007, Answers's ranked #4. With Answers taking over Dictionary.com, Thesaurus.com and Reference.com, Answers is expected to win the #2 ranking with Wikipedia the only one in front. Domain Name News Wed, 18 Jul 2007 01:32:55 GMT http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=D6F4D2BE-1422-B034-2339AEAEE62E5DDB http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=CCD2BA1B-1422-B034-23342B89C8AFE028 We found a dynamite article which will be interested to every domainer serious about running a good business and staying out of trouble.The 10 US legal issues covered by this article are: Domain Name SniffingTrademark IssuesWhat Entity Should I UseWhat State to Legally Form Your CompanyPiercing the Corporate VeilBusiness or Hobby?Donating Domain NamesEmployers vs. Independent ContractorsInaccurate Registration InformationDepreciating vs. Deducting Domain Names The author simply states the current law on each of these issues and then discusses possible pitfalls. While the author is not offering legal advice (only an attorney you hire can do this and only after understanding the details of your specific situation and the State laws that may be involved), he certainly provides some good "heads up" advice about issues to consider. Domain Name News Mon, 16 Jul 2007 02:19:28 GMT http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=CCD2BA1B-1422-B034-23342B89C8AFE028 http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=CCA33CCB-1422-B034-23F8AD8405917594 The Domain Roundtable Conference will be held August 12-15, 2007 at the Seattle Sheraton. Registrations are already available. The Agenda is being flushed out right now.A recent announcement states SEO Book author and Search Engine Guru, Aaron Wall will be a speaker at the conference.This looks to be a good match since Wall will be teaching the secrets to organic rankings. Domainers will have yet another opportunity to learn more about developing domains and sustaining good search engine rankings.The Domain Roundtable Conference plans an interactive auction which will combine both online and off-line participation on the last day (August 15th) of the conference. The auction is currently accepting domain names for the auction. However, don't submit just any ole domain name, since only the top 450 domains (according to ranking done by Domain Tools)will be accepted for auction. Most of the domains accepted will be dotcoms, with few exceptions, and all domains submitted must be worth at least $1,000, at least 3 years old, and no more than three words. Reserve prices will be one of the ranking factors, so if you are in doubt whether your domain will make the cutoff, keep the reserve price low. One and two word domains will receive higher rankings than three word domains. Commission for domain names that sell will be only 10 percent (quite a reasonable price), which is to be paid by the seller. The buyer only pays their bid price. In fact, any seller who sells at least $50,000 worth of domains will get their conference price reimbursed!One of the big domains up for auction at Domain Roundtable will be eTV.com. The reserve price is $899,000 but some claim the value to be at least $2M. Only 20 of the domains auctioned will have a reserve price greater than $100,000In addition, Enom is offering new eNom reseller accounts along with $100 in Credit to the first 100 registrants to the conference. Domain Name News Mon, 16 Jul 2007 01:27:36 GMT http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=CCA33CCB-1422-B034-23F8AD8405917594 http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=CC797057-1422-B034-23208D7FEF9FB224 In April and May 2007 we wrote about the financial troubles of former registrar RegisterFly. We detailed some of the woes those who had registered domains with RegisterFly, paid for renewals which didn't take place and registration owners who attempted to transfer their domains only to find them locked. Requests to unlock domains went unanswered for months and months and months. Some lost their domains through the slow procedure to remove RegisterFly as a registrar.Now comes a rumor that another registrar is having financial troubles. Naming the registrar seems to ensure future financial troubles since many holding domain name registrations with the registrar are sure to flee just in case the rumors are true.Yet not naming the registrar and warning their customers means that if the rumor is true, these holders of domain name registrations may lose them.There's a grave danger in giving too much credence to rumors since competitors can start rumors to get rid of their competition.So for now we have decided not to mention the Registrar. We cannot find any legitimate news source that confirms the rumor. The rumor appears to have grown from a discussion thread and no resources for verification were provided. Domain Name News Mon, 16 Jul 2007 00:41:57 GMT http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=CC797057-1422-B034-23208D7FEF9FB224 http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=B7FC3F36-1422-B034-236BFF08D12D4879 Best Practices for Corporate Domain Name Management is an excellent article for any domainer and any business interested in protecting their intellectual property.Writer Todd Mintz gives an example of just how little attention some businesses pay to their intellectual property which in the end may cost them a pretty penny. An Indian company announcing a new product in a press release had failed to first secure the .com domain name registration. "Dave the Red Frog" from France acquired the domain name registration after reading their press release.So it stands to reason: when bringing a new product to market, secure the .com domain name registration before making any announcements. Next, look into common misspellings or typos of the .com which can be parked to redirect traffic to the correctly spelled domain. If you don't, someone else will!Mintz also suggests registering generic domain names. As an example, if you bring a slimming drug to the market you might look for generic variants such as SlimDrug.com, SlimmingDrug.com, BeSlim.com, SlimPill.com. Since this is an example, all these generic domain names probably are already registered but it gives you an idea of the creative process to use.A very important tip is to keep hold of your own domain name registrations, making sure they are registered in the appropriate name of the business and ensuring that you use a domain registry that offers a secure account. Most registrars offer automatic renewal if you provide a non-expiring credit card. You should also ensure that if you change your contact information, you update your domain name registry account. White list the email addresses of your domain name registrar if you use spam filters.Too many businesses lack web savvy and tend to allow their website designers or web hosts handle their domain name registrations. Both of these industries either for convenience or because they are unscrupulous may register the domain name in their own name. Even a less than scrupulous employee may register the domain in their own name and when feeling under appreciated, decide to hold it for ransom. When the domain name increases in value there may be a dispute over the actual owner of the domain name registration.Avoid these pitfalls by simply paying attention to your intellectual property rights and using these tips to ensure protection. Intellectual Property Thu, 12 Jul 2007 01:12:48 GMT http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=B7FC3F36-1422-B034-236BFF08D12D4879 http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=B7E7F6B0-1422-B034-232A6584D9228892 Dollars.com fetched $650,000 in a private sale when Rick Latona sold the domain to Virtual Network SA of Switzerland. Virtual Network SA recently sold Masculin.com ("masculine" in French) to a magazine publisher for $201,792.Cushion.com was the other high selling domain name registration this week when the owner of CustomCushions.net ponied up $75,000 for the dotcom. Domain Name News Thu, 12 Jul 2007 00:50:38 GMT http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=B7E7F6B0-1422-B034-232A6584D9228892 http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=AE0A7E05-1422-B034-23086C89CDCA3587 Domain Name News points out that where you park your domain name registrations might just mean trouble.Frank Michlick, the author of the original article points out that some companies are using domain registrations that don't properly resolve to domain name servers. This can happen either out of an error by the registrant who improperly denotes the name servers of their intended host; or it can happen when a domain name registration is not renewed and the registrar company switches the name servers to their own. You can see how many domain names registrars have pointed at their own domain name servers at IP Walk. Some of these domains are registered and actually hosted with the registrar, others are parked at the registrar and still others are actually owned by the registrar.Someone commenting on the original article uses the domain name Ajax.us as an example, pointing out that he registered the domain name in interest of the relatively new Ajax web technology. However, should he choose a domain name registration company that offers to park domains for free and then uses those parked domains to show Yahoo or Google ads, that might just mean trouble for him.Ajax is also a trademarked name for a household cleanser. Should the parked domain start showing ads for household cleaners, will the registratant be accused of cybersquatting? Domain Registrations Tue, 10 Jul 2007 02:52:09 GMT http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=AE0A7E05-1422-B034-23086C89CDCA3587 http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=ADE57E85-1422-B034-2336B2A6D46DF035 Co-founder of the TRAFFIC conference, Rick Schwartz shares his thoughts on cybersquatting versus cyberbullying at his blog, RicksBlog.com.Schwartz equates domain name registrations with physical real estate, pointing out that developers own lots of undeveloped land. Land can be held empty as an investment or developed marginally into a parking lot. Ownership of physical land passes from generation to generation and is only encouraged. Those who want land dont attack those who own land, attempting to call their earlier purchases illegal; they find available land for sale and invest at the current market rate or go without.Schwartz those who attempt to regulate what they call cybersquatting are going against the property rights of land ownership, equating domain name registration as yet another form of ownership of space and location. He points out the squatters on physical land are identified in the dictionary as those who attempt to use land they do not own. While cybersquatters on generic domain names are identified as those who register but do not develop the domain names, at least for a period of time.Noting that those who make the loudest noise about cybersquatting are those who made different business decisions and didnt get on the domain name registration train fast enough. They lacked vision, just as many people miss real estate booms by not reacting fast enough or choosing the correct investment. Schwartz says: "So they resort to name calling. They circulate petitions against parking domain names. They lobby trying to change the laws to take what you own. And make no mistake, they are motivated by jealousy and greed. Motivated with a deep desire to discredit anyone and everyone but always focusing on the biggest opportunity they have had and it passed them right by. They can't get over it. So they will make petitions, try and pass laws, file frivolous lawsuits and WIPO actions and call everyone a CYBERSQUATTER."Schwartz is angry at what he terms the "cyberbully" who missed out on early opportunities and now wants to restructure the rules of the game. Cyberbullies missed the parade but they also missed the risk some domainer entrepreneurs were willing to take. Just as no one can force someone to build on undeveloped land, Schwartz makes that case that no one should be able to dictate that registration owners build web sites on their domains until they are good and ready. Neither should someone dictate what must be built on a domain, but it a shack or a mansion. Schwartz points out that he chose to use his resources to register domain names and wait on developing them until he learned from other developers' mistakes. Domain Disputes Tue, 10 Jul 2007 02:11:44 GMT http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=ADE57E85-1422-B034-2336B2A6D46DF035 http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=7FA69E2A-1422-B034-2381D010C39BE0ED The .ASIA domain name extension joins other regional extensions such as .EU and .CAT starting October 9, 2007 when registrations for this extension open to governments and Trademark registrations applied for prior or March 1, 2004. These older trademark registrations end October 31, 2007. Registrations for newer trademarks and for company names begin Nov. 13, 2007. General registrations are expected to begin in 2008 but reportedly will be limited to those within the Asia-Pacific region which includes Australia, Vietnam, China, Japan and South Korea.In attempt to give everyone wanting an .asia domain name, opening registrations will not be on a "first-come, first-served" basis. This prevents those with automated programs from jumping ahead and registering the best domain names first. Rather, all applications received in a round will be treated equally with an auction required for multiple requests for the same domain name. DotAsia Organization Ltd. will be handling registrations for this regional extension. More Domain Registrations Sun, 01 Jul 2007 02:40:32 GMT http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=7FA69E2A-1422-B034-2381D010C39BE0ED http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=751BA7A6-1422-B034-23A1FBC9095CCCFA On June 15, 2007 Vulcan Golf filed a punitive class action suit in the US District Court for Northern Illinois, Eastern Division against Google, Oversee.net, Sedo, Dotster, Internet REIT and John Does 1 through 10. It appears the John Does may be reserved for registrar companies that allow parked domains to carry Google ads. Class action designation for this suit is wide open to determination since normally a trademark suit demands the claimed trademark owner to prove the validity of their trademark, the claimed damage of dilution and the similarity of the claimed trademark versus the alleged violation. All this would be pretty hard to establish in a class action suit since each trademark, dilution value and similarity would vary based on the actual trademark.With the rapid rise of domain name values, lawsuits are not unexpected and probably viewed as the cost of doing business when making millions.Domainers noted immediately that this is one serious suit since it adds Google to the fray of normal players charged with intellectual property violations. Google is charged with being responsible due to providing "Adsense for Domains" program available only to parked domains. The program specifically specifies that the parked pages cannot carry other content.The plaintiffs allege that Google in effect is the licensee of the domain name since under the Adsense for Domains program, Google takes control of the pages. This action allegedly makes Google liable for Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA) claims.Often, parked domains take advantage of typical typos made by users such as forgetting the period between www and the domain name. Just as a hypothetical example: a user might type wwwkodak.com instead of the intended www.kodak.com. Hypothetically, a domainer may register the domain name wwwkodak.com to take advantage of a common user typo; and, if the domain pages are then put under the Google Adsense for Domains program, Google might show ads of retailers who sell cameras that may compete with Kodak cameras.This type of suit can take many twists and turns. It may even finally answer the question as to exactly what "engaging in a trademark use in commerce" entails when it comes to domain names. The suit may or may not receive class action status. Designation as a class action will inspire some attorneys to enter the fray since the awarded damages could potentially be far greater than just a one on one suit between Vulcan Golf and the named defendants. Certainly the Plaintiffs will be able to generate more energy and money with a class action designation. More and even more. Follow online discussion Intellectual Property Fri, 29 Jun 2007 01:32:33 GMT http://www.domainnamelawyers.com/blogdisplay_blog.cfm?bid=751BA7A6-1422-B034-23A1FBC9095CCCFA