Yesterday, all .eu domain names under UK citizens and organizations were cancelled permanently. This marked the completion of the long .eu domain names adaptation to Brexit. The process had started at the beginning of the last year itself. At the start of 2021, a number of domain names showed a ‘suspended’ sign. The domain names could have been reinstated once the registrant showed the necessary...
Ferrari once had a very interesting interaction with two domain names. The case originated from a slight inconvenience people had with Ferrari. Old Ferrari cars’ wiring diagrams in the manuals were very difficult to understand. They were poorly written, improperly scanned, used Italian nomenclature and were all black wired. People needed an easier version, but Ferrari didn’t...
The domain name RegalGames.com was at the center of a dispute between a toy and games company and a private individual. The Complainant was Regal Games LLC while the Respondent was Wolfgang Sauer. The Complainant has the trademark rights over the term ‘Regal Games’. The Complainant argues that the Respondents domain name is confusingly similar to its trademarks as well as domain name Regal-games...
Turkey is going to change Domain Resolution Policies related to .tr domain names. The Information Communications and Technology Authority (ICTA) has proposed a Draft Communiqué on Dispute Resolution Mechanism. The Draft Communiqué has several new propositions as compared to the previous one. There were certain provisions regarding the eligibility of Dispute Resolution Service Providers (DRSP)...
Some stories are so interesting that you start thinking how a movie based on them would look like. Well, seldom do such feelings arise out of legal proceedings. However, a recent judgement could very confidently be described as an exception. The story is of J. W. Dant. Dant used to distill bourbon in his own unique way. He later started selling ‘J. W. Dant- branded bourbon...
Cyber Scams are nasty aren’t they? What is more nasty is the fact that a very small percentage of perpetrators behind these scams actually get caught. But what if domain name registering agencies disclosed the identity of fraudulent domain name holders? Digital Millennium Copyright Act Services Ltd. (DMCA) has handed a subpoena to Cloudflare regarding the disclosure of information...
A US court has fined the operators of a Ukraine based chain of piracy sites. The US Court for the Western District of Washington has decided against one Kiss Library for infringing upon the copyrighted products of the plaintiffs. The Plaintiffs were several writers, Penguin Random House LLC and Amazon Content Services LLC. Kiss Library operated through a network of malicious domain names. The...
A number of popular artworks are entering the public domain. This means that anyone can use it. Usually artworks are protected by Intellectual Property Rights, and you can’t use them without the owner’s permission. However, there are certain exceptions where you can use some of the artworks without the owner’s permission. How is this possible and which artworks are now in the public domain. Don’t...
How much difference can a single letter in a domain name have? If you consider the recent case of the City of Liberty Hill, the answer is tremendous. The City of Liberty Hill has been the victim of two cyber scams. Both of these cyber scams included the exchange of money online. The victim received emails from the fraudulent email Ids, disguised as the original one. The fake email Id asked for a...
The domain name Lumos.com was under dispute a few months ago. The Complainant in the case was Gridiron Fiber Corp. and Lumos Networks. The Respondent was Yui Quan, who is a domain name investor. The Complainant argued that it has trademark rights over the term ‘Lumos Networks’. The domain name Lumos.com was confusingly similar to its own trademarks and domain name LumosNetworks.com. It contested...
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer. In addition, my thoughts and opinions change from time to time I consider this a necessary consequence of having an open mind.
My posts on Domain Magazine are intended to provide a semi-permanent point in time snapshot and manifestation of the various memes running around my brain, and as such any thoughts and opinions expressed within out-of-date posts may not the same, nor even similar, to those I may hold today.