Huge Settlement Upheld in Verizon Domain Squatting Case
Huge Settlement Upheld in Verizon Domain Squatting Case
Posted 08/27/2009 at 12:34pm
| by Pulkit Chandna
5
Comments
Print
A federal court in Northern California had ordered a cybersquatter, OnlineNIC, to pay $33.15 million in damages to Verizon in December, 2008. The award was made in a default judgment after OnlineNIC employees eluded all attempts to summon them to court. OnlineNIC had registered more than 600 domains that contained Verizon's name and trademarks. It earned money through ads hosted on these domains, which appeared to be associated with Verizon.
The cybersquatter finally appeared before the court in February 2009. It filed a motion to set aside the default judgment. The burden of OnlineNIC’s argument was that the damages awarded by the court gave an exaggerated account of the harm its activities had caused to Verizon. It claimed to have only earned a trivial sum of $1,468.60 in profit from the 663 Verizon-related domains at issue. On August 25, the court upheld the default order while dismissing OnlineNIC’s arguments.
"OnlineNIC's reference to its alleged profit fails to take any account of the damages suffered by Verizon in the form of a likelihood of confusion surrounding Verizon's marks and the diversion of internet traffic to websites selling rival products," Judge Jeremy Fogel wrote in his verdict, making it clear that harm caused to Verizon should not be confused with OnlineNIC’s profit.
Image Credit: Phatrat92 (Photobucket)
More like this
bloodgain
September 03, 2009 at 12:40pm
I agree with this judge's ruling -- a rare event in technology-based court cases. Domain squatters are malignant tumors on the Internet. They violate the premise of domain names and the registrar system. I'm sure they did some damage to Verizon, though I'm not so sure it was over $30M worth. I hope this serves as an example to other squatters.
I'm sure I'm biased, since Future Media Architects (a name that belies the company's goals) has been parking a domain I've been trying to get my hands on for years, all in the name of pointing it to a keyword-advertised search page. It isn't some impossible-to-get 3, 4, or 5 letter domain, but a domain that might not have been otherwise registered. At the very least, it may have been registered by someone willing to negotiate its sale.
Domain squatters are evil and deserve to be bankrupted.
nightkiller
August 27, 2009 at 6:33pm
It owned domains that included the trademarked name Verizon or it reasonable variation that were of no benefit to OnlineNIC other than to collect click revenue based on input from a clueless public. If you are in sympathy with OnlineNIC, I suggest a donation via PayPal. They'll need your support.
You choose a flightless bird as a mascot and wonder why it doesn't take off?
comptech08
August 27, 2009 at 6:46pm
Okay that is what I was thought, just wondered what domains. I hate that. MaxPC has a couple where if I forget one letter it goes to a ad page.
nightkiller
August 28, 2009 at 6:24pm
...add it as a link to your browser or have Google do the searching for the on a public PC? My typing skills ain't so hot either and it annoys me too.
You choose a flightless bird as a mascot and wonder why it doesn't take off?
Connect with MaximumPC
Featured Content
We introduce Intel's latest class of tablet killers and review 4 of the first Ultra...
Where have all the memorable videogame enemies gone?
This month's issue
Feature
11 Hardware Hacks
Feature
Overclock Your CPU
How-To
Supercharge Your Smartphone
Build It
A Powerful $830 Rig
Most Commented Articles
Latest Max PC Tweets
- maximumpc: Analysts: 9-Inch Kindle Fire This Summer http://t.co/QDYApwCZ1 day 1 hour ago
- maximumpc: Micron: DRAM Prices Likely as Low as They're Going to Get http://t.co/fFUWuFOm1 day 4 hours ago
- maximumpc: Yar, Mateys! All Of Pirate Bay Made Available As A Single 90MB Zip File http://t.co/j5LHlXEZ1 day 6 hours ago
