Category Archives: Pornography

Offer to Purchase vs. Counter Offer

Posted on November 4, 2012 by Gmlevine

It makes a difference which party initiates a negotiation to sell or purchase a disputed domain name. In SIX Group AG v. Xedoc Holding SA, D2012-1548 (WIPO October 11, 2012) the Complainant’s cause for complaint concerned Respondent’s redirected use of as a pornographic website . But, “six” is a weak mark: “there is extensive third party use of the term ‘six’, both as trade marks and as domain names, and that it cannot by any stretch of the imagination be considered famous or exclusively associated with the Complainant.” The question of “rights or legitimate interests” in a domain name identical or confusingly similar to a trademark (however weak it may be) depends on use only if there is evidence … Read the rest

Posted in bad faith use, Burden of proof / persuasion, Complainant "in mind", Cybersquatting / Not cybersquatting, Defenses, Diverting to another website, Legitimate use, Para. 4(a)(ii) of the Policy, Para. 4(c)(i) of the Policy, Pay-per-click, Pornography, Targeting, Website content | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Threatening Complainant as Grounds for Abusive Registration

Posted on October 19, 2011 by gmlevine

“Given the human capacity for mischief in all its forms” (said one Panel) “the Policy sensibly takes an open-ended approach to bad faith, listing some examples without attempting to exhaustively enumerate all its varieties,” Worldcom Exchange, Inc v. Wei.com, Inc., D2004-0955 (WIPO January 5, 2005) (<wei.com>). There are three acts that are presumptively abusive, namely pointing or threatening to point the disputed domain name to a website featuring “adult content”, extorting money to return a domain name fraudulently transferred (allegedly by someone other than the respondent who obtained it in good faith) and phishing.

In Motorola Inc. v. NewGate Internet, Inc., D2000-0079 (WIPO April 20, 2000) the Respondent threatened to “use the domain to host an ‘adult sex … Read the rest

Posted in Abusive intent, Fraudulent transfer, Hijacking domain name, Para. 4(b)(iv) of the Policy, Pornography, Redirecting Internet user | Tagged | Leave a comment

Pretending Association with Trademark Holder to Draw Traffic

Posted on July 14, 2010 by gmlevine

ICANN’s decision to approve the .xxx suffix for websites with pornographic content is essentially a zoning resolution. It has the same intention, namely to confine adult content to its own district to prevent its contaminating better neighborhoods. Offering pornography is not condemned under the Policy. “The mere fact that a domain name resolves to a website featuring adult content does not per se render the registrant devoid of rights or legitimate interests in the domain name,” West Corporation v. Domain Admin c/o Mrs Jello, LLC, FA1004001321540 (Nat. Arb. Forum June 14, 2010).

Condemned is associating “adult content” with the complainant’s trademark and piggybacking on its reputation. V&S Vin & Sprit AB is not amused when ABSOLUT is coupled with … Read the rest

Posted in Cybersquatting, Domain names, ICANN, Para. 4(a)(iii) of the Policy, Para. 4(b)(iv) of the Policy, Pornography, Targeting | Leave a comment