It appears that the Ohio Democratic Party believes that Senator John McCain will select Tom Ridge as his Vice Presidential running mate. According to the Whois database, on August 18th, Todd Hoffman from the Ohio Democratic Party registered the domain name McCainRidge.net. At the moment, the domain name resolves to a generic Godaddy landing page with links to John McCain buttons and political messages.
While some people might immediately claim that the Ohio Democratic Party is cybersquatting on this domain name, I would like to point out that there isn’t necessarily any evidence of bad faith in this registration – unlike many others who intend to profit from selling the domain name. Should the Ohio Dems decide to post an anti McCain/Ridge website, their rights to free speech would probably be protected under the US Constitution’s First Amendment, although I am not an attorney.
At the moment, the only entity profiting from the registration is Godaddy who is monetizing the name – presumably unbenounced to the registrant. IMO, the real legal question is this: if the Ohio Democrats utilize their First Amendment rights and they attempt to solicit contributions on the site, would this be considered a bad faith registration, as they are profiting off of a famous name/brand?
I think this is more of a John Berryhill question!
McCain & Ridge? Ohio Democratic Party Thinks So
Just Asking for a UDRP from the NBA
With the NBA set to announce the name of the newly relocated Oklahoma City basketball team, rumors have been circulating that the team will be named the Thunder. The rumors seem to stem from the registration of OKCThunderBasketball.com as a reason for this, although OKCBarons.com seems to be owned by a law firm in Oklahoma City.
Nonetheless, I must point out something that would seem to be asking for a UDRP. Out of curiosity, I searched for the Whois on ThunderBasketball.com, as this would seem to be a better domain name to own. The name has been registered since 2005, which would indicate the owner didn’t register the name in bad faith or to capitalize on a professional basketball team called the Thunder. Perhaps the owner’s son played for an AAU or local team called the Thunder.
However, I believe he is making a huge mistake that will surely cost him his domain name if the Oklahoma City team is renamed the Oklahoma City Thunder. The owner currently has a statement on the site: “Thunderbasketball.com For Sale… To the highest bidder. Make an offer at info@thunderbasketball.com”
While this certainly doesn’t show the owner intended to profit off of an NBA franchise, a UDRP panel could and probably would interpret it that way. If this isn’t damaging enough, he has an Adsense block advertising “OKC Basketball Tickets,”Sonics Fans – Hoops” and “Supersonics Ringtones.” The NBA is aware of the UDRP process, and is currently 3-1 in UDRP decisions.
There is always a fine balance between trying to sell a domain name that has become sensitive (for whatever reason) and not putting yourself at risk. It would be likely that the NBA and other fans/speculators would contact the owner in an attempt to purchase the domain name whether the owner had the statement up there or not. Putting a for sale sign up at this time is putting the domain name at serious risk.
LastWillAndTestament.com
I decided to sell my two legal domain names so I don’t lose focus on my main projects. I blogged about them to get opinions about which to develop, although I am going to sell rather than spend the time/resources developing.
LastWillAndTestament.com
1,120,000 Google results for “last will and testament”
Many top and side advertisers several pages deep
Aaron Wall’s Keyword Tool – 340 daily count
LegalZoom has a great affiliate program for these legal agreements
BIN price is $20,000.
UPDATE:
PrenuptialAgreement.com has been sold.
Domain Auction Acts of Impropriety
An important discussion continues to be had at Mike Berken’s blog regarding companies who participate in their own drop auctions. The short summary is that Mike bid on (and won) 23 drop auctions at Tucows, only to be told later that the names were part of Tucows’ portfolio. Apparently these names were accidentally listed during Tucows’ transition from their auction platform to Afternic’s.
These domain names were taken out of Mike’s account, after he paid for them, and the only compensation he received was an apology and a refund. Nothing was given to Mike to compensate him for his time searching for these domain names and his time bidding on them. Mike is no spring chicken when it comes to the domain industry, and judging by the quality of names Mike has and continues to purchase, these were probably significantly valued domain names.
The conversation has turned into one about ethics, and the discussion moved to whether employees should be prohibited from bidding on their company’s auctions. While I think it is necessary that domain companies hire people who know the domain industry, I think employees should be prohibited from bidding on their own company’s auctions – or on domain names where their company could benefit from the results (ie: registrar who outsources domain drops but profits based on the final sales price).
Denying a company employee access to various stats or proxy bid information for a domain name isn’t the remedy. As long as there is the appearance of a possible conflict of interest, there is a problem. As domain investors, we could be getting screwed without even knowing it.
I think this is a conversation that needs to be had, and all domain auction houses and drop companies should pay attention. Check out the discussion on Mike’s Blog when you get a chance.
Floyd Mayweather Files Cybersquatting Suit
TMZ is reporting that Floyd “Money” Mayweather has filed a lawsuit against Atlanta Sports & Entertainment Marketing for publishing an unauthorized fan website on FloydMayweather.net. According to the legal documents filed in the State of Nevada, Mayweather is suing for damages related to cybersquatting, as they used his name and fight footage in order to generate revenue. Mayweather is seeking unspecified damages in this lawsuit.
Interestingly, FloydMayweather.com was just transferred to the Greenberg Traurig law firm on or around May 17, 2008. This is the law firm that is representing Mayweather in the case against Atlanta Sports & Entertainment Marketing.
As foes like Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton know, you don’t mess with “Money” Mayweather!
Domain as Leverage in Negotiating Tactic
Shame on Vancouver’s Stanley Park board of directors for trying to use a local entrepreneur’s domain name as a negotiation tactic in a license renegotiation. According to an article in the Vancouver Sun, the Stanley Park board of directors seems to be using carriage entrepreneur Gerry O’Neil’s StanleyPark.com domain name as a leverage in their negotiations. O’Neil’s carriage company calls Vancouver’s famous Stanley Park it’s home, and they offer carriage rides in the park, as they’ve done since 1985.
An excerpt from a 2005 letter sent to O’Neil asking him to relinquish his domain name reveals the underlying negotiation tactic:
“We are aware that your current licence [sp] agreement with the board expires on April 30, 2008, and that you will likely wish to negotiate a renewal term in the near future.”
To me, this looks like they are trying to tell O’Neil that they will not look favorably upon his renewal application should he not turn over the domain name to them. Not only does O’Neil have every right to his domain name, he is also an advocate for the park. In fact, in his current license renegotiation, he has indicated that he is willing to pay $200,000 towards improvements in the park over 10 years, while the park only wants a 5 year deal with $100,000 in improvements.
If the Stanley Park board of directors wants the domain name badly enough, they should pay him a fair price. Perhaps they should commit to the $200,000 in park improvements in exchange for the domain name to save O’Neil’s company a considerable amount of money. Had they had the foresight to register the domain name before O’Neil, they wouldn’t be in this predicament.
It’s a shame that another group believes they have the right to a privately held domain name owned by someone else. They are lucky that a park supporter such as O’Neil owns the domain name rather than someone else who could use it for other purposes that might not be in the park’s interest.
Special thanks to DomainReport.ca for spotting this.