Equifax Takes Action to Recover Domain Names

Elliot Silver
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In the wake of the massive breach at Equifax, I wrote about the number of domain name registrations with “Equifax” in them. Smartly, it looks like Equifax is beginning to take action to recover domain names that could potentially be used by bad actors. Equifax came under fire recently because of the domain name it used for its security website.

According to the most recent update of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) website, Equifax filed three separate UDRP proceedings to recover domain names it believes are infringing on its trademarks. The three UDRP filings that have been made so far can be found here:

In total, there are 285 domain names that are listed in these three UDRP filings.

With UDRP filings, a company is able to file one UDRP for multiple domain names registered to the same entity. I did not check the

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Two Letter KF.org Subject of UDRP (Updated)

Elliot Silver
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A UDRP was filed at the National Arbitration Forum (NAF) against the two letter domain name, KF.org. The  filing can be seen at UDRPSearch.com, and it is case #1749586.

KF.org was originally registered in June of 1999, making the domain name 18 years old. The registrant of KF.org appears to be an individual in Germany. Using DomainTools’ Whois History tool, I was able to see that the same registrant has had KF.org since at least 2003. There aren’t any historical records prior to 2003, so it is quite possible that this same registrant has owned KF.org for even longer than that.

When I visited KF.org, I saw a message in German that translates to “This is the default index page of your web.” I do not see any type of monetization of the domain name, nor do I see a contact form. Archive.org records show the same message on the landing page for quite some time.

It is not very often that you see a UDRP filed against a two letter domain name, especially in one of the

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NTI.com UDRP: Complaint Rejected

Elliot Silver
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There was another three letter .com domain name that recently became the subject of a UDRP proceeding: NTI.com. Because the NTI.com UDRP was filed at the Czech Arbitration Court (CAC), I didn’t even realize the UDRP had been filed until I read the decision on UDRPSearch.com.

The owner of NTI.com was represented by domain industry attorney John Berryhill. The complainant is a company called NTI CADcenter A/S, which operates on the similar but inferior NTI.dk domain name. .DK is the ccTLD extension for Denmark.

I think the most important aspect of the UDRP decision can be found here:

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PCO.com Subject of UDRP Filing (Updated)

Elliot Silver
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A UDRP has been filed against the high value PCO.com domain name at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The UDRP filing is WIPO Case D2017-1778.

PCO.com has a creation date of January of 2000. Because it is a three letter .com domain name, this domain name was almost certainly initially registered prior to this. The Whois record for PCO.com is currently private, so I am unsure about who owns this domain name. From what I can see using the Whois History tool from DomainTools, the domain name has been privately registered for quite some time.

When I visited PCO.com today, the domain name did not resolve for me. Archive.org does not have any entries for this domain name since 2011. I looked through my email history, and I don’t see PCO.com listed for sale via any brokerage email. I also don’t see any public sales record for the PCO.com domain name on NameBio. DomainIQ values this domain name into the 6 figures.

The complainant in this UDRP proceeding is listed as PCO AG. A Google search for this company showed me that the complainant is likely the company that

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Many Equifax Domain Names Registered

Elliot Silver
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Yesterday, we learned that there was a major security breach at Equifax that may impact well over 100 million Americans and others. This is a concerning situation to those who are impacted, but there may be another threat looming for victims and others who may become victims in an effort to see if they were impacted by this breach.

A look at Verisign’s DomainScope tool that tracks new domain name registrations shows 135 .com and .net domain names were registered just yesterday with “Equifax” in them. There have been more registrations today, and I presume this number will continue to climb. I only searched for the correct spelling of Equifax, so this result does not include any typographical errors that spelled the company name wrong, nor does it include domain names that are related but do not include “Equifax” in them. In addition, because the tool is Verisign’s, it does not include registrations made in other extensions such as .org, .us, or any of the new gTLD extensions.

Domain name registrations are a concern because of the potential for bad actors to set up websites that attempt to confuse consumers into giving their personal information in an attempt to see if they are impacted by the breach or are looking to obtain identity theft protection. Maliciously registered domain names could also be used to send phishing emails with the same goal of stealing information.

Some (or many) of these

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UDRP Filed Against Grandstand.com (Updated)

Elliot Silver
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A UDRP has been filed against the valuable Grandstand.com domain name at the World Intellectual Property Organization. This UDRP filing is WIPO Case D2017-1709.

Grandstand.com was created back in March of 1995. In 2011, the Whois record for domain name went private, so I am not sure who currently owns the domain name. I believe Whois privacy will be removed because of the UDRP. Prior to the domain name becoming privately registered, Grandstand.com was registered to a company in North Carolina. A DomainTools Whois History search shows that this company was the registrant since at least 2001 (there are no Whois History records from before that time).

At the present time, Grandstand.com resolves to a generic GoDaddy landing page (see below). Screenshots.com shows that the domain name has had a GoDaddy landing page for quite some time. It looks like the domain name was used for a website in the past.

The complainant in this UDRP is listed as a company called Screen-It Graphics of Lawrence, Inc., which is listed as doing business as Grandstand. A Google search shows that the company is operating on the inferior eGrandstand.com domain name, so it makes sense that this company would want to have the Grandstand.com domain name.

Grandstand.com is a fantastic domain name that I would be happy to own, and I would consider it a

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