Another UDRP has been filed on what appears to me to be a descriptive keyword domain name. According to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) UDRP database, a UDRP was filed on the Areas.com domain name. The UDRP is WIPO Case D2015-1482.
The complainant in this UDRP is listed as AREAS, S.A. Whois records show that Areas.com is registered to a person (or maybe an entity) with an address in Spain. Historical Whois records seem to show that the domain name has been registered to the
I was looking through the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) website this afternoon, and I found what look to be two troubling UDRP filings. WIPO Case D2015-1469 is a UDRP for the three letter IEC.com domain name. WIPO Case D2015-1470 is a UDRP for the two letter WI.com domain name. Both of these domain names are clearly high value assets.
The registrant for IEC.com is listed as IEC Communications Ltd. The domain name has an under construction message at the top of the landing page with PPC links below. The complainant in this case is listed as IEC – International Electrotechnical Commission.
The registrant for WI.com is
Domain sale negotiations can be a bit risky. I think two of the biggest potential pitfalls include 1) a prospective buyer using the negotiations in a UDRP or legal proceeding or 2) a buyer failing to follow through with an accepted offer.
I think a creative way that could reduce the risks is to have the prospective buyer sign an agreement prior to negotiating to buy a domain name. The agreement would list the terms and conditions of making an offer and discussing an acquisition. When you receive an offer to buy a domain name or an inquiry about a domain name, you can tell the prospective buyer that you require an agreement to be signed prior to negotiating the sale of a domain name.
I would obviously speak with an attorney to have an agreement such as this drafted, and some of the terms I would want to include in the agreement would be the following (along with my rationale):
I was looking through the recent UDRP filings at the World Intellectual Property Organization, and I saw that a UDRP was filed on MusicMaker.com. The case is WIPO Case D2015-1216, and the complainant is listed as MAGIX Software GmbH.
Whois records show that MusicMaker.com has a registration date of November 11, 1996. The current registrant of MusicMaker.com is listed as The Music Connection with a Virgina address. I did a historical Whois search using DomainTools, and the earliest Whois record the company has for this domain name is November of 2000, and the registrant is the same company that owns it today. I presume this company was also the registrant prior to 2000, but DomainTools doesn’t have archived records prior to this 2000 record.
At the time of publication, MusicMaker.com resolves to
Namecheap has teamed up with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and Fight for the Future to launch RespectOurPrivacy.com, a website that informs people about a potential policy change to the Whois database that ICANN is considering. A Whois change could eliminate domain privacy and proxy services for domain name registrations, and that could have a serious repercussions for many domain owners and business owners.
When you visit the RespectOurPrivacy.com website, you are given information about how you can “let ICANN know that you object to any release of personal information without a court order.” Visitors are able to submit comments directly to ICANN via the website, and I was told more than 5,000 comments were already submitted to ICANN over the weekend, and over 360 voicemails were left.
According to the website, here is the issue at hand:
Let’s say you just closed a mega-deal. You’re pretty amped because the right buyer came with the right offer, and you closed a fantastic deal on a domain name. You may or may not have signed a non-disclosure agreement covering the negotiation and purchase price, but the company that bought it announces that it acquired the domain name from a cybersquatter. Not cool.
I’ve seen quite a few news reports, first person acquisition stories, and other types of articles that discuss how a company acquired a particular domain name. While most presumably won’t divulge confidential information, the company principals might not be prevented from writing about the seller. Perhaps they were nice when negotiating for the sake of closing a deal, but behind closed doors, they are upset they had to pay a “cybersquatter” or someone who was “domain hoarding.” Whatever the case may be, you should protect yourself.
When I first wrote about
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