Cybersquatting

Information and questions about the Law in Spain and Andalucia.
lenox
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Cybersquatting

Postby lenox » Wed Sep 09, 2009 12:25 pm

My friends at the Euro Weekly are keen players on the Internet. They have registered some 170 different domains, including several versions of my name which will take you to their vanity site.
See, for example, http://www.lenoxnapier.com or http://www.lenoxnapier.org or 'dot es' or 'dot co dot uk' etc
Is this illegal or just plain unethical?
Then again, my webpage (and old newspaper site) with a switch from dot com to dot net (and various others), brings you once again to them: http://www.theentertaineronline.net.
I've registered these in front of a notary, but the law here is veeeerry slow...

Jool
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Re: Cybersquatting

Postby Jool » Wed Sep 09, 2009 3:51 pm

Lenox - have you thought about reporting this to google and yahoo plus other major search engines and ISP providers? They take these kind of things very seriously, no matter how childish it is, as these "entertainers" have effectively high-jacked your name and you are absolutely nothing to do with their business? It is internet harassment. You may get a much faster response from them!!!

lenox
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Re: Cybersquatting

Postby lenox » Thu Sep 10, 2009 10:14 am

What would be interesting would be a complete list of domaind owned and contolled by '[email protected]'. Does anyone know a site that holds all his domains? I know he has over 170 in current use.

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Re: Cybersquatting

Postby Jool » Thu Sep 10, 2009 10:23 am

You could try www.dnsstuff.com

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tjtops
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Re: Cybersquatting

Postby tjtops » Thu Sep 10, 2009 5:45 pm

and the same for the late Andalucian Times (RIP)...except they not only cybersquatted in exactly the same way but then managed to steal the name and register it as theirs.......lovely
Life is as good as you make it, just keep my glass half full

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brianjackson
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Re: Cybersquatting

Postby brianjackson » Thu Sep 10, 2009 5:51 pm

Has anyone ever put their name into Google and seen who you come up with ?

I tried it :

Brian Jackson (actor), actor, known from the 1980s commercials as The Man from Del Monte
Brian Jackson (cricketer), English former cricketer for Derbyshire
Brian Jackson (footballer born 1933), English former footballer
Brian Jackson (footballer born 1936), English former footballer
Brian Jackson (musician), American jazz musician, composer and producer, known mainly for his work with Gil Scott-Heron
Brian H. Jackson, mayor of Innisfil, Ontario, Canada


Which one is me ?

Answers on a postcard please ! :lol:
I hope for nothing - I fear nothing - I am free.

wildside
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Re: Cybersquatting

Postby wildside » Thu Sep 10, 2009 6:08 pm

Hi,

You can use...
http://www.myipneighbors.com/

When the page loads you see a box for an ip address or domain name... don't put the http bit just www.a-website-name.whatever

The result will give you the IP address of the server that website is residing on along with all of the other website as well... Of course a bit of detective work is needed to sort out the obvious ones... The links Lenox gave before are on a shared server so other peoples websites are there as well in the list... Make a start with the domain names you do know and work from there

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Re: Cybersquatting

Postby wildside » Thu Sep 10, 2009 6:13 pm

I forgot to say... For a dispute over a domain name such as one that is your personal name and is being used without your consent do some research at icann...
http://www.icann.org/en/udrp/

Contrary to what most people believe the internet and especially domain names is controlled and policed...

lenox
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Re: Cybersquatting

Postby lenox » Sat Sep 12, 2009 8:34 am

Thanks Wildside - I found a few of mine (they have eighteen that I know about) including one new one - http://www.the-entertaineronline.com (if you take the 'dash' out, you get my blogpage since 2002) and another amusing one for fans of 'The Costa Blanca News' at http://www.thecostablancanewspaper.net.
Here's a quote from them:
'Cyber Squatting' - really, I call it good business practice, and if you can't afford to play by the rules then don't enter into the game because the stakes are high'. The Euro Weekly News, Almeria Edition 1114, Page 18.’
Last edited by lenox on Sat Sep 12, 2009 6:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Beachcomber
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Re: Cybersquatting

Postby Beachcomber » Sat Sep 12, 2009 8:44 am

I wonder why they have never tried it on with the Sur in English? Presumably because it is part of a Spanish group which wouldn't stand for such nonsense.
Let's go Brandon!

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Re: Cybersquatting

Postby wildside » Sat Sep 12, 2009 9:00 am

If you go over to whois.net you will be able to see when the domains were bought and when they are up for renewal...

Lavanda
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Re: Cybersquatting

Postby Lavanda » Sun Sep 13, 2009 3:33 pm

I don't think anyone is entitled to register their name as their domain unless it has not already been 'taken'. How many people in the world have the same name? I have a very unusual name yet it's almost impossible for me to use my name as a blogger on many news sites.

However, why do these people want 170 domain names? :?

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andalucia
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Re: Cybersquatting

Postby andalucia » Sat Sep 19, 2009 6:36 pm

If you believe that another party is cyber-squatting a Domain name that should be available for you to register you have three options:

1) Contact the registrant of the domain name, advise them they you believe they are cyber-squatting and privately negotiate the transfer.
2) Petition a court of competent jurisdiction to rule that you have the right to the domain name.
3) Make a complaint under the UDRP process for an arbitration panel to instruct the registrar to transfer the domain to yourself.

This UDRP (Uniform Domain-Name Dispute resolution Policy) process was put in place by ICANN (International Corporation for assigned Names and Numbers) in 1999 in order to provide a simple and cost effective solution to the problem of cyber-squatting at international level.

The UDRP applies to the generic Top level domains such as .biz, .com, .info, .name, .net. and some of the country code top level domains. Other country registries such as .es have adopted similar procedures.

When you register a domain name with a registrar you (the registrant) certify that you are not infringing anybodies trade mark rights. It is appreciated that you can not know of all the trade marks in the world, so you agree to submit to a UDRP should a complainant alleged that you are cyber-squatting.

Cyber-squatting refers to the bad faith registration of a domain name containing another person’s brand or trademark in a domain name.

To find who is the registrant of a domain name use any ‘whois’ lookup service such as domaintools.com

As pointed our above by ‘wildside’ full information about UDRP can be found on the ICANN website.

To invoke the policy, a trademark owner (registered or common law) should submit a complaint to an approved dispute-resolution service provider. The most commonly used one in Europe is WIPO.
World Intellectual Property Organization.

The panel is made up of one or three experienced arbiters who review the documents of the complaint and of the respondent (alleged cyber-squatter) and produce a report of their findings. There is no actual hearing. The cost of filing a complain of up to five domains costs $1.500. The matter is usually resolved in two months.

A search engine of the nearly twenty thousand proceedings brought to date can be found here. It makes interesting reading. http://www.icann.org/cgi-bin/udrp/udrp.cgi

In the UDRP the complainant must prove each of three elements of the current domain registrant that:

(i) your domain name is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which the complainant has rights; and
(ii) you have no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name; and
(iii) your domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith.

Definitions and examples of ‘bad faith’ and ‘legitimate rights’ can be found in the UDRP policy at. http://www.icann.org/en/dndr/udrp/policy.htm

Text book examples of the complainant gaining a transfer would be in the case of cocacoladrinks.com where referring to (i) above the complainant had similar registered trademarks, (ii) the respondent had no rights. (iii) and the respondent had evidenced bad faith in an earlier email to the Coca Cola company.
"As a customer of CCD in Norway, I thought that one day Coca Cola [sic] Drinks will use that domain as an international ordering site for retailers. So I registered it. It is a fantastic domain and should do very well in the Internet auctions, but if you are interested in making an offer for the domain name cocacoladrinks.com [sic] If so please contact me with an offer. I will in a few weeks put the url up for auction on Ebay or Yahoo, you can also bid for it there shoud [sic] you not wish to make me an offer".

On the other hand transfer was denied in the cases of amarni.com because the respondent, Mr A. R. Mani of Vancover could prove (ii) rights in that his name was identical to the domain name. In the case of sting.com Mr Michael Urvan could evidence that ‘sting’ had been his nick-name.

I hope this has been an informative overview.

Returning to ‘lenox’ question at the beginning of this thread. Assuming he does not have a registered trademark anywhere in the world granted before the domain was registered.

The sticky question is whether a personal name can be a common law trade mark? UDRP rulings have not been consistent in this area. However the WIPO overview page states a consensus in section 1.6 at http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/search/overview/

“While the UDRP does not specifically protect personal names, in situations where an unregistered personal name is being used for trade or commerce, the complainant can establish common law trademark rights in the name.”

It looks like ‘Lenox’ would need the help of an very experienced UDRP lawyer such as Matthew Harris of waterfrontsolicitors.com or speak to him or any of the other experts at the upcoming conference “WIPO Conference: 10 Years UDRP - What's Next?” in Geneva on Monday, October 12, 2009.


Written and posted by Chris Chaplow at the request of David Searl.

Jool
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Re: Cybersquatting

Postby Jool » Sat Sep 19, 2009 6:40 pm

WOW, Lenox, you get the award for the longest ever reply from Admin!!!! :wink:

Some really good info here, I do hope it helps, if not you can always get a pink rinse and pretend....... :lol: :lol:

lenox
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Re: Cybersquatting

Postby lenox » Sun Sep 20, 2009 9:04 am

Many thanks Andalucia for your full and interesting answer.
The fact is - as must be clear by now - the holders of these seventeen different domains have registered these names because they can. We certainly know each other.

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Re: Cybersquatting

Postby Lavanda » Sun Sep 20, 2009 12:09 pm

I don't understand any of this Lennox. Please forgive me if I'm putting my foot in it. If these people bought a business from you, and conversely, you sold it, then, unless you had a contact to the contrary, they can do what they like with it? They bought it. You sold it. If you didn't like these people, why did you give them a job and sell them your business :?: :?

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frog
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Re: Cybersquatting

Postby frog » Tue Sep 22, 2009 1:46 am

no offence lenox,but i think admin are operating double standards here

if i started a thread critisising a person or couple that had ripped me off im sure it would be removed

i have in fact had many posts removed for no particular reasons,maybe i can post a thread about my 2 'english friends' that ripped me off for 1.500 euros,i can put a pic up as well

that ok admin?
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andalucia
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Re: Cybersquatting

Postby andalucia » Wed Sep 23, 2009 12:10 am

This thread has been pruned and edited to remove personal criticism. The remainder of the thread which questions the law on cyber-squatting has been left in place to advise others in similar situations.

We remove posts when admin consider them to break terms and conditions of the forum.


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