Registrars promoting trademarked names.

[Lasher]

Very curious about this, as I cannot find a parallel in another industry where this is ok. I understand that registrars cannot be expected to be responsible for any kind of Trademark violations in names that their users register, same with customer backorders for drop catching, but aren't they crossing the line when they start to promote those names?

I have seen many examples of this, but the most recent one that springs to mind is "myexpedia.com" being featured on Pool.com's daily email of hot names coming up for auction. I'm sure they have disclaimers somewhere and believed they're covered, but I wonder if Cendant, the parent company of Expedia, would see it that way. Cendant is a Fortune 500 company with a legal department big enough to have it's own zip code....

 

[labrocca]

Yeah and the lawsuits will be coming and are just beginning. Lots of lawyers and companies are wising up to the registars and drop service providers. I expect some heavy heavy action over the next 2 years.

 

[Lasher]

Just got today's email from Pool, amongst their "Hot domains" being promoted tomorrow is:

circuitciry.com

 

[Dave_Z]

Ditto what labrocca said. After a recent thread about a big group suing Dotster
for cybersquatting, we are going to see a couple more spring up soon.

But they gotta know about it first.

 

[labrocca]

Just got today's email from Pool, amongst their "Hot domains" being promoted tomorrow is:

circuitciry.com

Yeah these HOT domains gotta be handpicked. The lawsuits should really be aimed at fools like this.

 

[Lasher]

I may be getting this confused with copyright, but isn't there a legal need to protect their trademark if this is bought to their attention, otherwise they weaken their case in future brand protection cases?

 

[MrGoodhost]

Taken from news.com:
june 2:

A new federal lawsuit charges that Dotster, one of the largest domain name registrars, has unlawfully participated in a massive cybersquatting campaign targeting companies such as Cingular Wireless, Disney, Ikea, Google, Neiman Marcus, Playboy and Verizon.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday by high-end retailers Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman, alleges that Dotster abused its status as a registrar by "checking out" hundreds of domain names that closely resemble the correct ones--and then keeping only the ones that were visited by Web users who couldn't spell very well.

The misspelled domain name NeimuMarcus.com, when visited by CNET News.com on Thursday evening, included code in its Web page that references Dotster and its subsidiary RevenueDirect.com--and featured advertisements for Neiman Marcus rivals such as Bloomingdales and JCrew. By early Friday, however, that Web site and dozens more had been taken offline.

Cybersquatting, the practice of registering domain names that may violate a company's trademark, is hardly new--it's been around for more than a decade. Also called typosquatting, it's led to high-profile spats such as Apple Computer's successful attempt to claim iTunes.co.uk and Canadian teenager Mike Rowe's registration of MikeRoweSoft.com.

But this Dotster lawsuit involves allegations of a new twist on the concept: a registrar using its special status with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers to secure misspelled domains temporarily for a few days, measure the traffic, and then pay for only the ones that would be lucrative in terms of advertising.

Dotster did not respond to repeated messages left on Friday with its legal department and two other employees.

Complete article: http://news.com.com/Dotster+named+i...g+suit/2100-1032_3-6079567.html?tag=nefd.lede

http://research.microsoft.com/URLTracer/

As a buddy of mine put it Big Brother 2.0

 

[labrocca]

Big Brother 2.0? Sorry but I am very confused as to how this relates to personal privacy vs trademark infringement. Are you saying that companies don't have a right to protect their intellectual properties? Also this is against Dotster...another company that is most likely worth many millions itself.