from http://www.cbw.cz/phprs/2006082114.html
Google’s purchase of the google.cz domain name has fueled speculation that the American search engine company intends to open a Czech branch office or locate a telesales center here serving the whole of Central and Eastern Europe.
“We can confirm that we are now owners of the google.cz domain,” Google said in a statement issued Aug. 15, but declined to comment on the process of registering the domain, which was conducted by the law firm Lovells.
A Czech, Tomáš Schel, had registered the domain name in 2000. Currently, an Internet user looking to access google.cz Web page is redirected to Schel’s portal globalsearch.cz, which is also a search engine but, according to Internet commentators, is nowhere near as powerful as Google.
“I can’t give you any details about the out-of-court settlement because I’m bound by confidentiality clause of the contract,” Shel told CBW. He also owns the o2.cz domain, registered in December 2000, and has been approached by the Czech fixed-line and mobile telecommunication operator Telefónica O2 Czech Republic (TOCR) but no settlement was reached.
Google said that “in the near future” the content of the google.cz page will be changed and users will soon find the familiar Google intro page but in the Czech language. Schel transferred the domain to Google Aug. 10, and the domain is registered until July 22, 2013. The details of the transfer weren’t made available.
Aside from domain squatting, Google has had problems with typosquatting, which takes advantage of the potential typographical errors made by Internet users. The American company won an arbitration case in July 2005 when the National Arbitration Forum decided that Google has the right to domain names such as googkle.com, ghoogle.com, gfoogle.com and gooigle.com, which are “identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark.” These disputed domains were held by Sergey Gridasov of St. Petersburg, Russia, who registered and used the domains in “bad faith,” according to the ruling. Gridasov further allegedly exposed users to malicious software.
Expansion plans
The news of the google.cz purchase increased speculation that the company is interested in opening a branch office in the Czech Republic. Google hasn’t confirmed its plans or committed to any potential launch date, nor would it provide any time frame for a decision about such plans.
“At this moment we’re actively investing in Eastern Europe, and we’re aware of the huge potential that expansion of our activities into the Czech Republic would posses,” said Tomáš Fiala, consultant of the local branch of PR firm Mmd Public Relations, reading from a statement in a phone interview. Mmd is representing Google in the Czech Republic.
Talk of a possible Google venture in the Czech Republic has been circulating for some time (see “Rumors target Vodafone, Google,” CBW, May 2, 2006) with some in the IT sector anticipating a local branch office or customer support center for the Czech Re public. Along with Poland, the Czech Republic is also considered a potential site for a Google center for telesales covering the CEE region.
As for Shel, his o2.cz domain’s registration expires this December but TOCR spokesman Martin Žabka claims the company isn’t interested in buying it: “Our company’s name is ‘Telefonica O2’ and not ‘O2’,” he said. The Spanish parent company Telefónica bought the domain telefonicao2.cz after learning that the telefonica.cz domain was already registered by Telefon Internet Call, a company represented by Pavel Juránek, who registered the domain in 2005 when media started to mention Telefónica as a potential buyer of Český Telecom.
CBW.cz
Google’s purchase of the google.cz domain name has fueled speculation that the American search engine company intends to open a Czech branch office or locate a telesales center here serving the whole of Central and Eastern Europe.
“We can confirm that we are now owners of the google.cz domain,” Google said in a statement issued Aug. 15, but declined to comment on the process of registering the domain, which was conducted by the law firm Lovells.
A Czech, Tomáš Schel, had registered the domain name in 2000. Currently, an Internet user looking to access google.cz Web page is redirected to Schel’s portal globalsearch.cz, which is also a search engine but, according to Internet commentators, is nowhere near as powerful as Google.
“I can’t give you any details about the out-of-court settlement because I’m bound by confidentiality clause of the contract,” Shel told CBW. He also owns the o2.cz domain, registered in December 2000, and has been approached by the Czech fixed-line and mobile telecommunication operator Telefónica O2 Czech Republic (TOCR) but no settlement was reached.
Google said that “in the near future” the content of the google.cz page will be changed and users will soon find the familiar Google intro page but in the Czech language. Schel transferred the domain to Google Aug. 10, and the domain is registered until July 22, 2013. The details of the transfer weren’t made available.
Aside from domain squatting, Google has had problems with typosquatting, which takes advantage of the potential typographical errors made by Internet users. The American company won an arbitration case in July 2005 when the National Arbitration Forum decided that Google has the right to domain names such as googkle.com, ghoogle.com, gfoogle.com and gooigle.com, which are “identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark.” These disputed domains were held by Sergey Gridasov of St. Petersburg, Russia, who registered and used the domains in “bad faith,” according to the ruling. Gridasov further allegedly exposed users to malicious software.
Expansion plans
The news of the google.cz purchase increased speculation that the company is interested in opening a branch office in the Czech Republic. Google hasn’t confirmed its plans or committed to any potential launch date, nor would it provide any time frame for a decision about such plans.
“At this moment we’re actively investing in Eastern Europe, and we’re aware of the huge potential that expansion of our activities into the Czech Republic would posses,” said Tomáš Fiala, consultant of the local branch of PR firm Mmd Public Relations, reading from a statement in a phone interview. Mmd is representing Google in the Czech Republic.
Talk of a possible Google venture in the Czech Republic has been circulating for some time (see “Rumors target Vodafone, Google,” CBW, May 2, 2006) with some in the IT sector anticipating a local branch office or customer support center for the Czech Re public. Along with Poland, the Czech Republic is also considered a potential site for a Google center for telesales covering the CEE region.
As for Shel, his o2.cz domain’s registration expires this December but TOCR spokesman Martin Žabka claims the company isn’t interested in buying it: “Our company’s name is ‘Telefonica O2’ and not ‘O2’,” he said. The Spanish parent company Telefónica bought the domain telefonicao2.cz after learning that the telefonica.cz domain was already registered by Telefon Internet Call, a company represented by Pavel Juránek, who registered the domain in 2005 when media started to mention Telefónica as a potential buyer of Český Telecom.
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