NBA Star Now Owns 800 "Cybersquatted" Domain Names

Could Chris Bosh Be a Future ICANN UDRP Respondent at WIPO or NAF?

So I read the news item where Toronto Raptors NBA star Chris Bosh won a judgment for $120,000 against a domainer, Luis Zavala (Hoopology.com) for registering ChrisBosh.com. The judgment apparently came down in April, but now Bosh's lawyers reportedly convinced the judge to order that the domainer's 800 other mainly sports and celebrity domain names domains be handed over to Chris Bosh as well, since the defendant wasn't likely to pay the $120,000 judgement...

Bosh's lawyer reportedly stated, that "the Raptors’ star has no intention of holding onto any of them except his own. “He’s not trying to make any money here. He just wants to give these players their names back.".

So let me get this straight....Chris Bosh sues a guy for cybersquatting and then takes 800 cybersquatted domain names as booty? And Bosh's lawyers are apparently going to decide for themselves, who deserves the domain names: “We are notifying the world that anyone whose name is on this list that has a legitimate right to the domain name, Chris will transfer it to them for free,” said Brian Heidelberger, one of three lawyers who represented Bosh." Wow. So the Judge gave up the court's jurisdiction to a sports star and his lawyers to determine who has the rights to particular domain names...Amazing. Here is the actual text of the lawyers' terms for handing over the domain names - a kind of screwy para-UDRP process entirely within the discretion of a basketball star and his lawyers:

Chris Bosh and Max Deal offer the return of the domain name free of charge as a courtesy to the celebrity named herein, provided that such person promptly requests the return of such domain name in writing from Max Deal. Domain names will not be returned without a direct written request from an authorized person to Hadi@MaxDealTechnologies.com. Prior to transferring any domain name on this list, Chris Bosh and Max Deal reserve the right to require documentation in their reasonable discretion to support the requester's rights in the domain name. Domain names on this list may or may not be renewed at Chris Bosh and Max Deal's sole discretion. Chris Bosh and Max Deal reserve the right to at any time in their sole discretion to delete or cancel domain names on this list. Chris Bosh and Max Deal will not charge any fees for the transfer of domain names on this list. All third party costs relating to transfer of any domain name on this list to an authorized rights holder, including but not limited to transfer fees charged by the requester's registrar, are the sole responsibility of the party requesting transfer. Chris Bosh and Max Deal make no representations express or implied regarding any domain name on this list. By requesting or accepting the transfer of a domain name, you hereby release Chris Bosh and Max Deal from any and all liabilities in connection therewith.

But wait...WHO IS MAX DEAL? Good question! Its a social networking site associated with/owned by Chris Bosh. According to Bosh's press release, "Max Deal is a social media company that allows brands to increase their reach". How does that fit in? This is what Chris Bosh has to say according to his press release:

"I will offer the return of the domain names free of charge, but I'd also love the opportunity to show their owners how Max Deal can help."

Ahhh, I get it. When someone calls up to get their domain name back off of Chris Bosh, the new owner of the cybersquatted domain names, he will take the opportunity to sell them on how they can use the domain names in connection with his social media business....According to the terms copied above, Chris Bosh can delete or cancel any domain name in his sole discretion. Better be careful or the domain name could get dropped and picked up by another cybersquatter. What happens if Chris Bosh decides to not give back a name because the claimant doesn't meet his criteria? Maybe Bosh takes the position that one of the highschool basketball players or Venezuelan racecar drivers on his list doesnt have common law trademark rights? Could Bosh be the Respondent in a ICANN UDRP? The Complainant could argue that Bosh registered the domain names in bad faith and is using them in bad faith because he won't give them back and registered them with the intention of using them in bad faith as part of his monetization scheme in Max Deal....

Can you imagine if a domainer registered 800 celebrity domain names and his defense was that he would give them back to anyone who convinced him that they were the rightful owner and listened to his pitch that they could do great business together by letting the domainer monetize their name? What would happen to the domainer in a case like that?....

Its great when someone is there to help out his fellow man. Thankfully the Judge realized this when she allowed Chris Bosh and his entourage to "distribute" the ill-gotten domain names.

And I note that at least one of the domain names in the list, cockblocks.com, is not a celebrity that I am familair with. I wonder what Chris plans on doing with that name....Will the rightful owner please stand up?

For more information on domain name law please visit http://www.dnattorney.com/.

WIZZAIRSUCKS.COM Claims Victory in ICANN UDRP Domain Name Dispute at WIPO

Well, that must suck for Wizz Air, the Hungarian discount airliner.....

Panelist Sebastian Hughes provided an exceptionally well-reasoned and fair decision in a Complaint brought by the airliner against Texas Wizzair critic, Holden Thomas, proprietor of WizzAirSucks.com.

Although the Panelist found that, "the addition of the word “sucks” as a suffix in the disputed domain name does little to distinguish the disputed domain name from the Trade Marks, and that there is a clear likelihood of confusion between the disputed domain name and the Trade Marks", the Panel properly denied the Complaint upon analyzing the other two parts of the three-part UDRP test ("legitimate interest" and "bad faith registration and use").

The Panelist wrote on "Legitimate Interest": The Panel finds no evidence to suggest the Respondent, in registering the disputed domain name and setting up the Website, has misleadingly diverted consumers to the Website. Other than a bald assertion of tarnishment, the Complainant has not made any submissions nor filed any evidence to suggest that the Website has been set up and used in order to tarnish the Trade Marks. In any event, fair use criticism does not amount to tarnishment and is not proscribed under the Policy (Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association v. Paul McCauley, WIPO Case No. D2004-0014).

The Panelist wrote on "Bad Faith": In any event, in all the circumstances, the Panel is of the opinion that the use of the disputed domain name in respect of genuine and non-commercial criticism of the Complainant does not amount to bad faith registration and use.

Having read and reviewed domain name dispute cases for many years, and having represented clients in numerous domain name disputes as a domain name dispute lawyer, I found the Panelist's decision to be extraordinarily well-balanced, and he applied the UDRP in a precise and comendable manner.

Good to see that free speech on the Internet has been protected by domain name law.

Canadian Prime Minister Needs A Good Domain Name Lawyer?

Canada's Globe and Mail reported today that "Edmonton-based blogger Dave Cournoyer pointed out on his blog Thursday night that the website stephenharper.com is actually a link to a portal for adult personals, replete with images of women clad in black lingerie and stiletto heels."  *****[The Story seems to have been removed by the  Glober now...weird...Maybe because it was inaccurate or for some other reason??]*****

Upon checking it on Friday morning however, I saw that it is currently just pointed to a standard PPC page. The story also points out that StephenHarper.org is a lampoon web site about the Canadian Prime Minister.

As a domain name dispute lawyer, I would say that the .org domain name is probably beyond the reach of Stephen Harper, assuming he would even be interested in going after it, since it is likely a non-commercial and fair use, e.g. for the purposes of review, critiscism, and commentary, as understood by the UDRP and by trademark law. The .com however, could theoretically be caught by the ICANN UDRP, if the PM brought a case to WIPO or the NAF, for example, if he was able to provide "trademark rights" in his name, and showed that the registrant had "no legitimate interest" in the domain name, and registered it and used it in "bad faith".

In this Jay Leno case reported by the Calgary Herald, one can see a summary of the WIPO's analysis of the UDRP provisions regarding personal names and common law trademark rights. The actual ICANN UDRP WIPO domain name dispute case can be read here.

ARMOURGAMES.COM Domain Name Dispute Dismissed

In an ICANN WIPO UDRP decision released today, the Complaint brought against the registrant (represented by me) of ARMOURGAMES.COM was dismissed by UDRP Panelist Alistair Payne. The Panelist found, inter alia, that the domain name registrant had a legitimate interest in the domain name because he registered it after conceiving of the domain name, and before the Complainant had used the American spelling, i.e. without the "u", even though the Complainant had registered its domain name a week earlier. The Panelist found that since the Respondent registered the domain name before the Complainant had acquired any trademark rights in its mark/domain name, the Respondent could not have registered the domain name in bad faith:

There is no evidence that the Complainant had made any substantive use of its domain name or of a corresponding trade mark by this stage. At best the Complainant’s first use date is one week prior to the Respondent’s registration of the Disputed Domain Name, but in all likelihood according to the Wayback machine evidence submitted by the Respondent, the Complainant started actively using its domain name or any corresponding trade mark after this time. Certainly the Complainant had no registered trade mark rights at this time and it seems extremely unlikely on the evidence presented that it had any common law rights either.

This case demonstrates how a Panelist properly interepred the ICANN UDRP as it was intended; narrowly, i.e. it is not intended as a broad trademark enforcement mechanism, but merely to catch so-called "cybersquatters".

A copy of the decision is available here.

Getting Court Orders To Reveal ID's

Yet another case of someone going to court to get the ID's of anonymous emailers/bloggers/posters. I was interviewed on CBC's The National on one of these cases.

This is starting to be a regular occurance...

It may start happening so much that Google establishes its own "court system"...all online...

Would be like an ICANN arbitration  over a domain name dispute at the National Arbitration Forum or WIPO. I think it would work and would save them a lot of money and headache by avoiding going to court in many cases...

Domain name lawyers are used to this kind of arbitration for online legal issues, and I could see how a domain name attorney could easily adapt to this kind of Internet law case.