Lawsuit Against Registrar About To Be Settled

[Dave_Z]

Just found this, suggesting Neiman-Marcus' lawsuit against Dotster might then
be settled:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070219/ap_on_hi_te/web_address_sampling_3

The department store chain Neiman Marcus Group Inc. even filed a federal lawsuit last year accusing the registration company Dotster Inc. of tasting hundreds of names meant to lure Internet users who mistype Web addresses. At one point, the lawsuit said, the misspelled NeimuMarcus.com featured ads for Target, Nordstrom and other rivals.

David Steele, an attorney representing the retailer, said Neiman Marcus could have placed ads on those sites as well, but "should Neiman Marcus have to pay ... for directing people back to their Web site?"

The two parties recently agreed to settle, though Steele said details won't be announced until at least this week (Dotster declined comment). He said his law firm, Christie, Parker & Hale LLP, also was preparing litigation against other tasters.

Originally reported:

http://www.namepros.com/industry-ne...ersquatting-suit.html?highlight=neiman+marcus

 

[labrocca]

Yeah....it's bad enough when individual domainers are shady but when actual registrars do it that's another matter. Again...I am very much against registrars registering domains. It's basically insider trading.

 

[Ronald Regging]

The article doesn't really say that Dotster themselves were doing the tasting, just that they agreed to settle. This could be as simple as Neiman Marcus finding a bunch of domains related to their TM, seeing them all registered at Dotster (through a client such as you or I), and Dotster choosing to settle rather than spend tons of money in legal costs. When you get to corporate lawsuits, it rarely comes down to whose right and whose wrong. A company who is completely in the right may still have to spend millions in legal fees just to show that. Alot of times companies will just weigh the $$ and figure out which way is going to be cheaper. Would definitely be interesting to have more facts on the case though.

 

[Dave_Z]

The article doesn't really say that Dotster themselves were doing the tasting, just that they agreed to settle.

But of course. That's the beauty of settling outside court.

The article further indicates the law firm is after more prey. That should send
a message (not to mention get their money's worth).