WIPO Awards 'Sucks' Domain to Vivendi

Sarcasmo writes: "A WIPO Panel has decided in favor of Vivendi Universal in the dispute over VivendiUniversalSucks.com. The arguments made on Vivendi's behalf are strange, to say the least." It's so unjust as to be farcical. When the domain name holder makes a sarcastic comment that he wasn't making any money off the domain (in contrast to the lawyer who was billing a few hundred dollars per hour to handle the dispute), the esteemed Panel takes that as evidence that he wants to sell the domain (which in itself was already a flimsy plank to call "bad faith"). Kangaroo court is too kind a description. ICANN is currently asking for input on the domain dispute resolution process, so if you've been a victim of the UDRP, now would be a good time to speak up.

Time for some new domains...

I think it's time for...

vivendiuniversalreallysucks.com

and maybe even

wiposucks.com

Re:Time for some new domains...

well, the com [wiposucks.com] version seems to be owned by sucks500.com, a bulliten board for complaining about things related to corporate america. Wholly appropriate considering that Vivendi probably bought this case. The version [wiposucks.org] is owned by someone upset about a previous dispute that was arbitrated by WIPO, and has a fair amount of information relevent to this case (procedures, etc). Perhaps they would be interested in putting up information on other cases as well.

I have to wonder (conspiracy time) if WIPO wants to set up precedents to have these sites taken down, as well as ICANN itself removing anti-icann sites. (icannsucks.com is also owned by sucks500.com) In fact, there are a lot of people with a lot of money who would be happy if these sorts of sites were given more trouble than private individuals can reasonably deal with. It appears that the group which owns the two .com sites has resited some lawsuits, but how long can they last?

Re:Time for some new domains...

Perhaps asswipo.com?

Primus??

Wow, that had me laughing hysterically.
People may be confused by the "sucks" at the end of a domain, because ONE band (primus) owns PrimusSucks? That's just silly! The whole process of Domain name settlements have always been a joke, been this is a new low.

I wonder...

Does this surprise anyone?

How uncommon it is to see a fair "ruling" regarding domain name disputes involving a company and someone who's not representing a company.

The internet is starting to look more and more like real life, you got more money, you win.

Come on, since when does claiming "I'm not making money off the site" mean "I want to sell the site and you're not giving me enough money"??
If I am to believe John Gray's book, the judge has to be a female, this is too far fetched an understanding of a simple sentence. (no offense intended to the so-called "weak sex" audience)

Take it to a real cort

If ICANN takes a domain in an act of censorship in the name of IP rights take it to a real cort and sue em.

Hold on I already know the victoms can not afford it.. So what is needed is to stick a civil rights group on this.
EFF or ACLU might be good places to turn.

I am so confused...

stating that the addition of the terms "sucks" and ".com" to the Bloomberg mark does not have the effect of escaping confusing similarity

"Microsoft sucks"
"Why do you like MS?"
"Huh??? I hate MS?"
"Oh... It's all so confusingly similar."

Seems they can't make up their minds

Wasn't the last 'sucks' domain (I think it was wallmartsucks.com or something to the effect) awarded to the guy who registered it and not Walmart? I forget how that one ended, but I do seem to remember him also requesting that Walmart hand over walmartsucks.org and walmartsucks.net since they were obviously registered in bad faith as Walmart wasn't planning on using them.

What we really need

You know ICANN took all this time to mull over new top-level domains, why don't they add ".sucks"? They could stipulate that no one owning a copyright for a name could buy the .sucks domain, and then all of the webmasters with grudges would have their own little playground to make fun of companies. Because all of the domains end in .sucks, they could not be "confusingly similar" to the original since everyone would know what the purpose of the .sucks domain is.

then this guy could buy vivendiuniversal.sucks, and everyone would be happy.

That DOES it!

I'm sick of this crap. Time to start a second Internet. Free up all the domain names all over again, and this time, keep out all the corporate lawyers. Let's have some FREEDOM again! Who's with me?

I SAID, who's with me?!

awep[ojasf

[whois.register.com]

The data in Register.com's WHOIS database is provided to you by Register.com for information purposes only, that is, to assist you in obtaining information about or related to a domain name registration record. Register.com makes this information available "as is," and does not guarantee its accuracy. By submitting a WHOIS query, you agree that you will use this data only for lawful purposes and that, under no circumstances will you use this data to: (1) allow, enable, or otherwise support the transmission of mass unsolicited, commercial advertising or solicitations via direct mail, electronic mail, or by telephone; or (2) enable high volume, automated, electronic processes that apply to Register.com (or its systems). The compilation, repackaging, dissemination or other use of this data is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Register.com. Register.com reserves the right to modify these terms at any time. By submitting this query, you agree to abide by these terms.

Organization:
Secaucus Group Inc
Secaucus Group Inc
295 Greenwich Street (Suite 184)
New York, NY 10007
US
Phone: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

Registrar Name....: Register.com
Registrar Whois...: whois.register.com
Registrar Homepage: http://www.register.com

Domain Name: WIPOSUCKS.COM

Created on..............: Mon, Apr 19, 1999
Expires on..............: Fri, Apr 19, 2002
Record last updated on..: Fri, Feb 23, 2001

Administrative Contact:
Secaucus Group Inc
Secaucus Group Inc
295 Greenwich Street (Suite 184)
New York, NY 10007
US
Phone: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

Technical Contact:
Dan Parisi
Dan Parisi
295 Greenwich Street (Suite 184)
New York, NY 10007
US
Phone: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

Zone Contact:
Dan Parisi
Dan Parisi
295 Greenwich Street (Suite 184)
New York, NY 10007
US
Phone: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

It's not over yet...

The ICANN dispute resolution system has no legal value, it is just a dispute resolution solution. If the output don't match your hopes, you can still take the thing to court (a real one).

The Bastards!

I'm going to vote them all out in the next election! Oh... Wait...

Status quo, no doubt

Such intellectually bankrupt decisions are even more problematic than they first appear because poor decisions serve as precedents that enable more and poorer rulings. The result is a UDRP system that has sent fairness into a death-spiral.

Quite frankly, some of these "panelists" need to go back to grade school.

Whatever happened to "First come first served?".

No, really, I'm dead serious, if a corporation thinks that they can wait years, quite literally, and claim their domanin name...fuck 'em.

McD's, and Coke, I believe did this..and lest we forget etoy and etoys. I've used etoys many times before they went away, never even visited etoy... no confusion there.

If nothing else, forget the "sucks" how about appending "sucksthebigone"...never be a typo as far as I can tell.

Anyone got a sack full of clue sticks? My arms are getting tired.

Porn stars and blackholes

My favorite quote from the dissenting panel member statement:

As the majority suggests, there may well be some narrow categories of trademarks for which the word "sucks" does not clearly disassociate a domain name from the trademark, and therefore it may be unwise to adopt a per se rule holding that "sucks" domain names can never be found confusingly similar to the trademarks they contain. But the Complainant in this proceeding does not claim to be known as a manufacturer of vacuum cleaners or suction pumps, or as a self-deprecating alternative rock band, or a test laboratory for beverage straws, or a porn star, a black hole, or any other sort of entity that people are likely to associate with sucking.

Media Monopoly

I know this will piss some (many) people off, but I often find these domain name spats touchingly irrelevant.

In the long term, will domain name shortage be a real and continuing problem?

Just putting ...sucks... on a domain doesn't offer much in the way of real criticism. Effective activism isn't as easy as calling people names. If it's just a prank, then isn't all the hoopla a bit overblown?

Corporate dominance of public discourse is not a new problem. All the free access to domain names in the world will not overcome the fact that most of what most people see/read/hear is controlled by a relatively small group of greedy people. The world is poorer for it, but this is old news.

Try reading some pulped tree products for a great discussion of these problems. I'd start with Ben Bagdikian's classic, The Media Monopoly-- http://www.commoncouragepress.com/bagdikian_monopo ly.html
You'll find some more pressing media control issues than "...sucks.com".

I get dibs on...

www.prolonged-discussion-about-whether-adding-suck s-to-the-end-of-a-second-level-domain-name-makes-i t-confusingly-similar-or-not-when-anyone-with-a-ce ll-of-gray-matter-can-tell-the-difference-sucks.co m

Time to register ...

VivendiUniversalSucksALot.com
VivendiUniversalPue.com
VivendiUniversalPueGrave.com
VivendiUniversalSucksRocksThroughAThinCurlyStraw .c om
VivendiUniveraslCanSuckMyBollocks.com
VivendiUniversal-sucks.com
VivendiSuckniversal.com
FuckVivendiUniversal.com

The record of your favorite arbiter:

http://www.udrpinfo.com/

Use the top right hand drop box.

Alan L. Limbury, Presiding Panelist
Sir Ian Barker, Panelist
David E. Sorkin, Panelist, (Dissenting in this case)
Note that Sorkin doesn't get to arbitrate many cases on his own.

Things that make you go hmmmm.

Translations

Let that be a lesson to the owners of xxxsucks.com sites. You should provide translations of "sucks" in Chinese, Spanish, etc.!

The similarity part is how the laws are worded

I'm a business owner and when I formed my business I issued an article of organization to my state that includes an article of name reservation. As part of that I'm not allowed to start a company with a name similar enough to confuse or damage another business. It's pretty simple really, if I call my business Yoyodyne Corp. somebody cannot create Xoyodyne or a Yoyodyne or 1 Yoyodyne or Yoyodyne balls or anything designed to hurt my business. (like show up in phone book deceptively before my business or sound insulting to my business) It's open and shut just about every time.

This is simple. The owner of the domain was clearly within that definition of deceptively similar. I don't even see why this is being discussed, some guy disliked a business, he didn't say that one his web page, he in essence organized a public entity which defaces them by its existence and he lost when they defended their image. If somebody puts up slashdotsucks.org and slashdot of va chooses to fight it, they'd win too.

It's a fair decision.

Please note the following before flaming and modding:

...the Panel has found that non-English speaking Internet users would be likely to attach no significance to the appended word 'sucks' and would therefore regard the disputed domain name as conveying an association with the Complainant.

This makes sense. That's really all there is to it. Non English speaking people truly could be confused by this. (Maybe it's a new movie called 'sucks' being released by VivendiUniversal ?)

Translating languages is difficult enough, but translanting slang and vernacular is almost impossible. Just try listening to some 12 year old girls describe Britteny Spears (sp?). Or try to remember (if you're old enough) 80's style valley girl speak... it's incomprehensible to fluent English speakers, I don't even want to imagine how non English speakers interpret this. For example, if I bought 'totallygrodyvivendiuniversal.com', how many English speakers would know what the hell it meant, and from the name whether it was a legitimate VU website or not? I doubt any non-English speakers would.

And furthermore, if you are concerned about free speech violations, register "IDoNotLikeVivendiUniversal.com". If that gets taken away, we have a problem.

Customer Confusion

To avoid customer confusion, the owner of a domain name should be required to put up a page at that domain that is appropriate to the domain name. Someone putting up a pro-Vivendi site at a "Sucks" domain is obviously attempting to trick customers into thinking that Vivendi does not suck.

On Primus and Sucking...

The WIPO panel goes so far as to insist that because the band Primus owns the domain name primussucks.com (named after their 1990 album "Suck on This"), prospective visitors to vivendi.com might get confused about who's who.

Well, kinda. Back in the late 80s/early 90s, Primus fans used the term "sucks" in an ironic fashion. It was kind of an inside joke -- ie, Primus fans would have bumper stickers that said "PRIMUS SUCKS", t-shirts etc. It was a heavily sarcastic way [fortunecity.com] of showing your fanness, typical of the early 90's rejection of corporate culture (grunge, etc.-- Ah, take a moment to remember the glory days before all TV and advertising was wry and tongue-in-cheek and corporate marketers didn't know how to handle "Generation X".)

Seeing as it was originally a joke slogan meant to confuse non-"true" Primus fans, it makes no sense to use it as an example of how the general public might get confused-- that was the whole point!

W

Did ANYONE read the decision?

Did anyone read the WIPO decision? The whole thing? Down to the part that says ...

It is common ground that no use was made of the disputed domain name between the date of registration, February 27, 2001, and the date when notice of the dispute was given to the Respondents by way of "cease and desist" letter on July 26, 2001.

That's right, it was dead space. The whole redirect to geektivism is ex post fact, folks. Capitolizing on /. eyeballs, if you will.

While I think the WIPO decision is a laughable miscarriage of Justice*, I do find it a bit difficult to feel really high and mighty and start saying, "oh, how terribly awful." Even the fellow who registered the thing seems to have a good sense of humor about this whole joke.

Personally, I would wager that he's feeling the same way I am about the whole charade. Vivendi's response and the fact they actually convinced WIPO to give them the domain name is really just prooving this guy's point.

Cheers,
- RLJ

* Justice? These guys are lawyers, come on now...

Ridiculous argument about non English speakers

As already mentioned, the Respondents did have prior knowledge of the VIVENDI UNIVERSAL mark and they deliberately chose to register a domain name which incorporated that mark in its entirety. In so doing, they might have thought that the word "sucks" would serve to distinguish the disputed domain name from the mark. However, in this regard they were mistaken, at least so far as non-English speakers are concerned, and they must bear the consequences of the risk they took.

That's a great argument(!) - So if I was to register www.this-site-has-nothing-to-do-with-vivendi-unive rsal.com it could still be judged as confusing because non-English speakers may not understand?

Laughable.

There are merits here...

Let's think about things for a second. If I opened up a fast food restaurant called "McDonald's Sucks" should I be forced to change my name? Yes.

If I decided to call my bookstore "Barnes and Noble Bites" should I be forced to pick a new name? Yes.

If I decided to starta phone company called "AT&T Blows" should I be forced to use something else? Yes.

Then why shouldn't the same standard be applied to websites? Why shouldn't trademarks be protected? I'm not a fan of being hampered in life by the law, being oppressed by monopolistic behavior, or having commercialism shoved down my throat. However, I believe in the right to have my own name and not have someone slander said name.

ICANN -- Just say "No, thanks"

So stop whining already and point your name client at OpenNIC [unrated.net], the non-ICANN name space. (Of course, OpenNIC includes the ICANN name space as a subdomain).

.sucks

It's too bad they don't just make a new TLD ".sucks". Then all the anti-[whatever] sites could be filed in there.

That ruling was worth reading...

... just to find this from dissenting panelist David Sorkin:

"As the majority suggests, there may well be some narrow categories of trademarks for which the word "sucks" does not clearly disassociate a domain name from the trademark, and therefore it may be unwise to adopt a per se rule holding that "sucks" domain names can never be found confusingly similar to the trademarks they contain. But the Complainant in this proceeding does not claim to be known as a manufacturer of vacuum cleaners or suction pumps, or as a self-deprecating alternative rock band, or a test laboratory for beverage straws, or a porn star, a black hole, or any other sort of entity that people are likely to associate with sucking. And even if the Complainant did fall within one of these categories, it would still bear the burden of proving a likelihood of confusion."

Bravo!

Justice?

Things like that only makes you wonders whether this world is just. I guess we are see it for ourselves

For those who lost their "sucks" domain

I'll offer a delegation from my 2nd level domain, so for example, the domain that was taken from "j d sallen" can be replaced with the one I am offering: vivendiuniversalsucks.thekindbud.com.

Someone who is more enterprising than myself could set up some more 3rd level delegations, like vivendiuniversalsucks.mydick.com, vivendiuniversalsucks.greencanalwater.com, vivendiuniversalsucks.theyjustsuckperiod.com, and so on...

WIPO and ICANN have no authority over 3rd level delegations, as far as I know. But that might be an interesting battle if they were to try to take away a domain that was used in this way.

TLD's

This is why there should be more top level domains available. If "McDonald's Sporting Goods" registered mcdonalds.com first, it would probably result in McDonalds the waste-management..err..fast food chain strongarming them into surrendering the name. So, we could have

mcdonalds.food
mcdonalds.sports
mcdonalds.criticism or mcdonalds.sucks

No confusion there...type in mcdonalds.food looking for sporting goods, and I'll promptly beat you about the head and chest with a hammer. Of course, someone typing companySUCKS.com looking for that company is equally amazing, even in hypothetical considerations. But, this would mean companies can't complain, or at least make a nice-sounding case for themselves.

As for this Vivendi case, its just absurd. Unless the owners of that site were claiming to be affiliated with Vivendi Universal, or made an identical site to hawk a similar product, it boils down to whether or not we are allowed to badmouth a corporation...or worse yet, say their name without praise and a genuflect.

And upon review of the facts, the courts found that Vivendi Universal really does suck, and no damages should be awarded.

Thanks, Hollywood

More importantly, it must be borne in mind that not all Internet users speak English as their mother tongue.

Maybe so, but how many people on the internet have never seen an american movie? It's pretty dificult to be un-aware of certain american slang terms these days.

Possible alternative domains

vivendisucksuniversal.com
Or, for the more creative types:
vivendisucksuniversally.com

Would non-English speakers be confused and think this is a Vivendi Universal site? And if some would be confused, would it just be really stupid non-English speakers who automatically assume that any domain containing the strings "vivendi" and "universal" must be official Vivendi Universal sites? At what point does individual stupidity become the responsibility of the individual and not the domain owner?

So what registration is all about

is you have to register *whatever name* and add a *whatever name + sucks*?

Ok, I'll bite, is this included when you register a name?

"Hello, I'd like to register 'mycompanyname'"

"Ok, that is available, would you like to sucks your name as well"

"????"

Heh, and much merriment was had by all.

But on a serious note, the dude has a point:
If that weren't enough, Vivendi has even threatened the owner of VivendiUniversalSucks.com, which points to this page. Although they have no legal grounds for such a threat, they believe they can unethically bully ordinary citizens into giving up legitimate first amendment speech against them.

Yeah, I'm going to summone my powers for stating the obvious, because it it often over looked, the obvious, that is and say:
"This suprises no one".

And why, I ask, does it seem these four letter acronyms are the main perps in bullying private citizens? WIPO, MPAA, RIAA et al?

I dunno, but it seems to me that at least one citizen is not going to be a corporation's WIPO'ing boy (whipping boy).

Oh, and not to make lite of this person's plight but he hinted at the phrase "corporate ethics" which as most of us are aware is an oxymoron.

Non-English speaking visitors get confused

If the non-English speaking visitors are confused by the work "suck", then they are really going to be confused when they realize the web site's content is in English too!

Maybe if the page wasn't in English...

One of the key points of the ruling was the judgment that non-English speakers might confuse the domain name with Vivendi trademark. The fear is that someone would stumble onto the website and think that it's Vivendi, when it's actually not. However, it seems to me that a nonanglophone would find the page utterly unintelligible, assuming the thing was written entirely in English. It would be equivalent to a nonfrancophone stumbling onto a page with a domain name of whatever "vivendisucks" is in French. The nonfrancophone might not make the distinction, but if the page were written entirely in French, it would also be quite meaningless to that person. Thus, the supposedly infringing domain should not cause the slightest harm to the trademark holder, unless if the person viewing the page somehow thought the graphics layout of the page to be unworthy of an international corporation. All of which is to say, the primary premise of the ruling seems utterly ridiculous.

AlterNic, etc.

This is an example of why centrallized controling organizations cannot be trusted. They will always exhibit a tendency to decide in favor of the current centrallized power organization.

When designing systems, please always bear in mind that centralized points of control need to be avoided.

Even within a business organization this is usually true. Information will only flow to those who need it (perhaps to make the proper decisions) if it is able to do so without repercussions to those who transmit it. (OTOH, legal precedents make it clear that any such information should have a short expiration date. And that it should be automatically deleted after that date.)

Please remember, the feeling of pain that one experiences when one touches a hot stove may save one from a more lasting injury. And you aren't supposed to like it.

.

geektivism needs to put it's hat out for law fees

As a matter of civic.. er... communal pride, this cannot be tolerated.

To quote ICANN's own website:
Decisions under the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy are subject to challenge by court action. The long list of their outrageous abuses of power can, still, be found here [icann.org] although the text of this particular decision isn't on that page yet, it's back, as I'm sure someone else has posted and I just missed it here [geektivism.com].

So, we collect some money and make some phone calls to the ACLU and bring ICANN to court. This is a surrealistic violation of ICANN's own charter, not to mention of our sensibilities, and even if we lose (which we probably will) we should take it to court to generate bad press for them.

Not a problem.

According to Dotster [dotster.com], http://www.vivsucks.com is still available. If I wasn't so poor, I'd register it myself. Would someone be kind enough to purchase it and donate it to the guy who just got the shaft from WIPO?

It is kind of funny to think that www.vivendiSucks.com will probably redirect to www.vivendi.com... Kind of like if www.MicrosoftAKAUltimateEvil.com redirected to www.microsoft.com...

fight fire with fire

My bullshit meter goes off the scale when the same group that allows p0rn cybersquatters to 'steal' domains from churches and small non-profit groups decides to squash some poor person who registers a *sucks.com domain. Even my non-technical friends Clearly understand what those domain names imply.

What should have been done, was to sell the vivendiuniversalsucks.com domain to a p0rn site and let them battle it out... now THAT would be fun to watch ;)

Vivendi-really-sucks.com not taken

since there is no primusreallysucks.com precedent, this domain should be allowed by a 3rd party.

... or perhaps, since even non english speakers know what fuck means, vivendifuckspigs.com is also not taken, and would satisfy the WIPO's requirements for a protest site.

WIPOsucks.net still available

FYI you can still buy WIPO.Sucks.net for $30 at Register.com [register.com] not to mention VivendiStillSucks.com

More info on VivendiUniversalsucks.com UDRP crap

I own the Geektivism.com website that VIVENDIUNIVERSALSUCKS.COM points to. Oddly, this site is dedicated to increasing activism in technology-related issues where the little man is getting squashed.

What's incredibly disturbing about this opinion is that there was a perfectly legitimate, NON-COMMERCIAL gripe site up at VIVENDIUNIVERSALSUCKS.COM, which aired the opinions of both myself and David Sallen, the owner of the domain. Rather than recognizing this, and David Sallen's and my free speach rights, the UDRP panel took it upon itself to decide that our critical free speech just wasn't good enough in it's opinion. This is absolute garbage, plain and simple.

In any event, if anyone wants to take a look at David's response to the complaint in this matter, I've posted it at Geektivism [geektivism.com]. Feel free to drop by and leave comments about this case. I will be updating my site regularly to reflect ongoing news in this atrocity of a UDRP decision.

MD

Domain squatter...ICANN just missed the squattee

Dan Parisi owns a ton of "sucks" websites with no content on them. His name turns up time and again in these UDRP stories because of that.

Is he a squatter? Of course he is. But he's not registering these domains in bad faith to shake down the entities which purportedly "suck", he's doing it to shake down the pissed-off people who get burned by Corporation X and want to put up a "sucks" site.

The simple way to fight stupid WIPO rulings.

Registering a domain name costs $10-$20. Add the cost of some low end hosting for a year and you're looking at $50-$100.

Filing a complaint with ICANN costs $1000 or more. Add to this the cost of lawyers required to draw up the complaint and a company like Vivendi Universal is probably looking at $5000 to take the domain name.

Why not simply register a new name and wait for Vivendi Universal to get around to taking that one as well. Then repeat the process until you get bored or Vivendi runs out of money. Remember it costs a company about 100 times more to take a domain from someone as it does to initially register it. Under a system like this a few geeks could easily wage a guerrilla war against any opponent and either make them stop taking domain names, or drive them into bankruptcy.

So if Vivendi Universal now owns vivendiuniversalsucks.com here are a very short list of a few similar domains might still be available. With a little imagination I'm sure there are hundreds if not thousands of possible domains that embody the basic idea that "Vivendi Universal Sucks".

vivendiuniversalreallysucks.com
vivendiuniversalreallyreallysucks.com
vivendiuniversalsucksbad.com
vivendiuniversalreallysucksbad.com
vivendi-universal-really-sucks-bad.com
vivendi-universal-really-really-sucks-bad.com
vivendiuniversal-reallyreally-sucksbad.com
etc...

comments

well..
firstly, what they say about language and confusion is perfectly valid. I'm French, Vivendi is French as well, and i can tell you that about 40% of the French people surfing regularily on the net don't know what "sucks" mean. So, yes, it is misleading. I don't like WIPO a lot, but, from their point of view, it's understandable.
secondly www.vivendiuniversalsucks.com currently sucks itself. it is redirecting to a geektivism almost empty web page. if you want to prove efficiently that VU sucks (and it sucks), do it in a more efficient way, and never mind of the name it has, it will work. in France, we have associations and/or websites tending to prove that cable or ADSL companies suck, and their name isn't as silly as for instance _cable_company_pue.com (pue=stinks)

anyway, the problem looks more like "what will be inside", and "how will this be used". for now, the site is empty and useless (like many sucks.com sites, including linuxsucks.com that looks like a MS site: good looking, but empty of anything smart.). moreover, the name itself doesn't matter that much. try to find a way to gather all the clever things against VU (and there are lots of), make a great site from that, find a clever name (not just by lazily adding sucks.com). then, if the WIPO or anyone comes out against you, i'll agree that it is scandalous.

WIPO know solution to 'confusion' - WIPO.org.uk

Most trademarks share its name or initials with many others. When authorities could put trademark identity beyond shadow of doubt, they are either devoid of intelligence or corrupt.

The United Nations World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO.org) and the United States Department of Commerce (DOC.gov) are hiding the simple solution to trademark and domain name problem.

The US Patent and Trademark Office virtually admitted this, on August 22, 2000: "The questions you raised with respect to trademark conflicts, as well as the proposed solutions, have their basis in good common-sense. As such, they have been debated and discussed quite exhaustively within the USPTO, the Administration, and internationally."

Yet the authorities refuse to admit the ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS. To deny this, is to be without honour.

The solution was ratified by honest attorneys - including the honourable G. Gervaise Davis III, UN WIPO panelist judge.

Please visit WIPO.org.uk [wipo.org.uk] to see the answer.

Free Speech?

Excuse, me when did domain registration become free speech?
Didn't any of you people have to click-through a license agreement with NSI or your alternative registrar of choice agreeing to be bound by the UDRP or its equivalent with other arbiters?
Please stop making life harder for those people actually fighting for free speech, a la DeCSS/Skylarov/etc, instead of fighting for the right to violate contracts in the name of pathetic humor.

The DNS /IS/ the phone directory

The Internet already has a phone directory called the DNS. It translates a so-called easy-to-remember name into a difficult IP address. Adding another layer will not help. Besides, there is an additional flaw with one of your ponts. Domain names cannot exceed 23 characters, which would force people to have either 20, 21, 22, or 23 character domain names, and that could be considered discrimination against slow typists(somehow). Plus, we have search engines and web crawlers and web indices like Google [google.com], Altavista [av.com], Lycos [lycos.com], Yahoo [yahoo.com], etc [http] to help you find what you're looking for. The real problem is not that people are getting confused, but that companies are either overly protective of their "ever important" brand name (I'd never heard of Vigundy Unifarcical before this article), or are afraid that their products really do suck and therefore would lose business because of various suckage sites.

The only true solution would be to eliminate money in the world and move to a non-magic-fish-based economy. Ideally, we'd all be practicing Utopian Socialism, but unfortunately people are inherently greedy and can't practice such a system without trying to take advantage of each other.

Re:.info domains getting "stolen"

Well, if you didn't have a trademark on it when you registered it, then you lied on your applicaton and the other side SHOULD win. Of course, if they don't have a trademark either, then the name should be returned to the pool of available names and the person who registered the name originally AND LIED should not be allowed to register it in the future as a penalty for lying.

Seems simple enough to me.

Re:Well

Without getting into flames over personal opinions, one of the best game companies, Bungie, is owned by Microsoft. I guess this means that Microsoft "cant[sic] be all that bad"?