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The British tabloid The Sun unsuccessfully tried to buy the domain TheSun.com for $600,000, later resorting to reverse domain name hijacking to try to get the domain from its rightful owner. The publication uses the domain name TheSun.co.uk.
The paper first made a $300,000 offer for the domain in 2016. The owner asked for offers of $700,000 or more. Last year, The Sun made a $600,000 offer, only to have the owner request $2.5 million for the domain.
After its latest offer was rebuffed, the tabloid filed a cybersquatting complaint with World Intellectual Property Organization under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP).
The three-person panel was not amused by The Sun’s tactic to get the generic domain name registered in 2001. It wrote:
Allen & Overy LLP represented News Group Newspapers Limited (the paper’s company). ESQwire.com represented the domain owner.
News source: DomainNameWire
The paper first made a $300,000 offer for the domain in 2016. The owner asked for offers of $700,000 or more. Last year, The Sun made a $600,000 offer, only to have the owner request $2.5 million for the domain.
After its latest offer was rebuffed, the tabloid filed a cybersquatting complaint with World Intellectual Property Organization under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP).
The three-person panel was not amused by The Sun’s tactic to get the generic domain name registered in 2001. It wrote:
…it is apparent in the Panel’s view that the Complaint has been filed abusively, in an attempt to wrest the disputed domain name from the Respondent’s control after failed negotiations with the Respondent to acquire the disputed domain name for a reasonable market price.
The Panel therefore concludes that the filing of the Complaint by the Complainant constitutes reverse domain name hijacking.
The Panel therefore concludes that the filing of the Complaint by the Complainant constitutes reverse domain name hijacking.
Allen & Overy LLP represented News Group Newspapers Limited (the paper’s company). ESQwire.com represented the domain owner.
News source: DomainNameWire