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Q: Law of web abuse ( Answered,   1 Comment )
Question  
Subject: Law of web abuse
Category: Relationships and Society > Law
Asked by: nellyb-ga
List Price: $4.00
Posted: 02 Jun 2002 19:06 PDT
Expires: 09 Jun 2002 19:06 PDT
Question ID: 20275
Robbie kerr a british formula three driver has a web site under the
name www.robbiekerr.co.uk - he used to own www.robbiekerr.com - now
someone else owns it and is advertising pornography --- what can he do
to either reclaim the name or stop this person advertising porn ---
google themselves have www.robbiekerr.com on there search with the
site advertising porn -- is this the kind of sites we want are
children to be looking at !!! please help
Answer  
Subject: Re: Law of web abuse
Answered By: xemion-ga on 02 Jun 2002 22:18 PDT
 
First off, I would just like to say that I have lots of first-hand
experience with domain disputes from both sides of the issue (all
non-porn related).

In every thing I tell you to do here, save all communications and
e-mails with everyone for legal reasons.

Your first step should be to e-mail the owner of the website and
request that he give the name back to Robbie.  I can 99.9% guarantee
you that this approach will not work, but you should try anyway.  DO
NOT OFFER TO BUY THE DOMAIN in your e-mail, just ask him to give it
back.  DO NOT reply to any offers requesting payment for over $100 for
then name.  Anything under $100 is acceptable and you should pay that
willingly.  If they offer to sell for over $100, do not reply and
contact a lawyer for further advice.

Second step after the first step fails to contact a lawyer.  Lawyers
are expensive.  I will be honest.  This will probably cost you several
thousand dollars minimum to get this name back.  I would recommend Ari
Goldberger to you.  I have personally worked with him in the past and
he has a very successful case record (as you will see on his website).

Ari Goldberger's Website: http://www.esqwire.com/

Other intellectual property attorneys specializing in domain disputes:
http://www.brandxperts.com/
http://www.internetdisputes.org/
http://directory.findlaw.com/lawyer/servlet/PStateFirm?practice=FL31

From there, your lawyer will more than likely file a WIPO complaint. 
WIPO is an arbitration and mediation service assigned to decide over
domain dispute cases by ICANN (the organization in charge of domain
names).  There is a $1,500 (or more) just to file a WIPO complaint.  A
case is normally concluded within two months.

WIPO domain dispute website:
http://arbiter.wipo.int/domains/index.html

This is the only real method of getting the domain back.  I'm not sure
about the legality of actually taking them to court, but I can assure
you that WIPO would probably be cheaper.

To summarize, a domain dispute is often very costly.  This is
especially true in cases involving porn.  I would also like to note
that this is just general advice and not intended to be legal advice. 
As you can see, my recommendation is to definitely find a lawyer.  You
will need a lawyer to obtain the domain back.  You really can't do it
yourself, I'm sorry.

On the upside, I took the liberty of examining the traffic
robbiekerr.com might recieve.  I doubt it's a lot.  There are only six
links and no indication of type-in traffic.  Unfortunately, however,
one of the links is from Yahoo and you should look into getting that
changed (that is probably expensive, but a definite answer on that
subject is outside the scope of this answer).

Other links that may be of interest to you...

Nicole Kidman and other domain dispute WIPO cases:
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/161519.html

Harrod's domain dispute WIPO case:
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/167543.html

FindLaw.com's domain dispute website:
http://www.findlaw.com/01topics/11disputeres/

To prevent your names from being registered in this manner again,
visit:
http://www.snapnames.com

Thanks for the question and if you require more information, don't
hesitate to ask for clarification.  And if you find this answer
satisfactory, please feel free to rate it. Thank you!

xemion-ga

Clarification of Answer by xemion-ga on 02 Jun 2002 22:29 PDT
I was reviewing Ari's website a little closer and it appears his
website is currently under constructions and not yet complete.  Please
view his "free consultation" banner on the bottom of his home page for
information on how to contact him.  I just wanted to point that out
and I apologize for not noticing his website was under constuction
sooner.  Thank you!
Comments  
Subject: Re: Law of web abuse
From: mvguy-ga on 03 Jun 2002 06:18 PDT
 
As discouraging as it may be, xemion gave an accurate and informative
answer.  Unfortunately, the porn companies have been using this as a
stategy for some time, pouncing on domain names as soon as they
expire.  I've read articles about churches and municipalities that
have suffered as a result.  Unless your domain name is a trademark or
is otherwise protected, you're usually out of luck.  Here are some
news articles you may find informative:
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&q=domain+name+porn&btnG=Google+Search

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