CyTRAP Labs - EU-ReguStand

MySpace stripped of myspace.co.uk domain victory.The Nominet UK Dispute Resolution Service appeals panel (Tony Willoughby, Claire Milne and Sallie Spilsbury) ruled that the myspace.co.uk domain — which was registered by Total Web Solutions before the “real” MySpace came into existence — did not after all have to be turned over to MySpace Inc, owners of the hugely popular myspace.com.

Total Web Solutions registered myspace.co.uk August 1997 with the intention for providing customers with e-mail and webpage hosting services. The judgment reveals that still today 18 of its customers use e-mail addresses with the @myspace.co.uk domain.

About July 2004 myspace.co.uk Total Web Solutions decided to park the domain with Sedo. The latter enterprise offers target advertising links on unused domains.

In 2005, following the growing popularity of MySpace, the Sedo algorithm began serving Total Web Solutions’ domain with advertisements for services such as “MySpace Friend Adder.”

The appeal panel dismissed the assertion by MySpace that it was entitled to the disputed site on the ground that it was entirely descriptive of its business. Nor did it consider the earlier registration to be abusive. The panel added:

“To date experts and Appeal panels have reasonably consistently taken the view that if a registrant acqUires a domain name in advance of the coming into existence of the complainant’s rights, the registrant is entitled in principle to hold onto the domain name and to use it, notwithstanding that confusion of the ‘initial interest’ variety may be inevitable. Similarly, experts and Appeal panels have concluded that in such circumstances it is not of itself abusive for the registrant to demand a high price from the complainant for transfer of the domain name in recognition of its enhanced value.”

The judgement also states:

“The registration of domain names is still a first-come, first-served system and the panel is reluctant to place any duty on a registrant, who has merely had the good fortune (or maybe ill-fortune) to register a domain in good faith, which subsequently, through no fault of his own, provided he does nothing to actively exploit his position [appeals panel emphasis].”

also of interest:
unified communications - what it means with Twitter, Friendfeed, Stumble Upon, Del.icio.us	The ComMetrics Index
Yahoo! Search Marketing vs. Mr SPICY - English High Court Decision	methodology - how we measure social media efforts

Bottom Line Even if Total Web Solutions has not done anything wrong, the mere fact that it has gained substantially through no effort of its own is not actionable in a court of law. Accordingly, nothing wrong with mere confusion as long as it is not deliverately induced.

Get the verdict here:

MySpace stripped of myspace.co.uk domain name victory full text of the decision (16 pages - pdf file - 2008-04-18)

domain name dispute resolution, myspace, MySpace.co.uk, social media, Yahoo

This entry was posted on Friday, May 2nd, 2008 at 7:43 and is filed under

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