Yes Victor, It doesn't matter if its a .org .com or some country code TLD as in this case. Once there is trademark infringement and 'bad faith' use then its cybersquatting. And no it may not be 'illegal' but ICANN and country code registrars have dispute policies set up for exactly this case when someone tries to hijack a TM name and sell it for huge profits. All Dries or the DA has to do is contact the .se registry (I think that that is
<a href="http://iis.se">http://iis.se</a>), and find out about their dispute resolution policy. It might cost about 1,500 or 2,000 (not sure) to file a complaint, but the squatter would stand no chance. Once he tried to sell it for thousands, it is clear 'bad faith', not to mention TM infringement. And yes he can be sued for misuse and TM infringement by Dries if Dries so chooses. It really is incredibly naive and frankly quite stupid to register a TM domain and then try to sell it back for profits. Imagine if he registered
<a href="http://pepsi.se">pepsi.se</a> or <a href="http://microsoft.se">microsoft.se</a> and then tried to sell it for thousands of dollars. He'd get a lawsuit faster than he could say the word 'lawsuit'. <br>
<br>Sean<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Jan 3, 2008 11:36 AM, <a href="mailto:blogdiva@culturekitchen.com">blogdiva@culturekitchen.com</a> <<a href="mailto:blogdiva@culturekitchen.com">blogdiva@culturekitchen.com</a>
> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"><div style=""><div>most cases of TM infringement are fought based on the top level domain. the top domain always wins and is usually the cause for cyberaquatting exactly because they can hijack traffic and create brand confusion. if it were not so, why would the owner try to sell it for 25K? they obviously believe the traffic that domain gets just by existing is worth that amount of money. and for a pornographer or other unscrupulous netpreneur, that may be a bargain if they can double their investment in ad monetization or direct sales.
</div><div><br></div><div>/ liza</div><br><div> <span style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;"><b style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Liza Sabater, Publisher</span></span></b></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="http://www.culturekitchen.com" target="_blank">
www.culturekitchen.com</a></div><div style="margin: 0px;"><a href="http://www.dailygotham.com" target="_blank">www.dailygotham.com</a></div><br></span></span> </div><div><div></div><div class="Wj3C7c"><br><div><div>On 03.Jan.2008
, at 11:09, Victor Kane wrote:</div><br><blockquote type="cite">above and beyond our opinion of cybersquatters, notice that the domain is not .org.<br><br>The Drupal Association, or someone in Sweden acting on their behalf, should be able to get
<a href="http://drupal.org.se" target="_blank">drupal.org.se </a> <br><br>In Argentina, proof of existence of membership and authorization of an organization is required to take out a site, like <a href="http://drupal.org.ar" target="_blank">
drupal.org.ar</a><br><br>Now, this depends on the Swedish registrar organization, so that's where the solution can be found. <br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Jan 3, 2008 2:01 PM, Sean Robertson <<a href="mailto:seanr@ngpsoftware.com" target="_blank">
seanr@ngpsoftware.com</a>> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"> My opinion of cybersquatters is not fit for print. If I had my way,
<br>what he's doing would be completely illegal. If there's any way Dries<br>can sue his ass for trademark infringement, I think he should. That guy <br>has no right to profit from the Drupal name and holding the domain
<br>hostage like that is totally disrespectful to the community who's<br>software he's (still!!) using. What a f***ing schmuck.<br><div> <br><br><br>Khalid Baheyeldin wrote:<br>> The owner of the domain offering it for sale is Carl McDade, now known
<br>> as Hiveminds.<br>><br>> Carl had some friction with the community back in 2004 or 2005 (Can't <br>> remember). You can check the development mailing list archives for details.<br>><br>> On Jan 3, 2008 9:16 AM, Thomas Barregren <
<a href="mailto:thomas@webbredaktoren.se" target="_blank">thomas@webbredaktoren.se</a><br></div> <div>> <mailto:<a href="mailto:thomas@webbredaktoren.se" target="_blank">thomas@webbredaktoren.se</a>>> wrote:<br>
><br>> Dear fellows,<br>><br>> I was deeply choked to find out today that the domain the Drupal domain <br></div>> in Sweden -- <a href="http://drupal.se" target="_blank">drupal.se</a> <<a href="http://drupal.se" target="_blank">
http://drupal.se</a>> -- is for sale for €25,000<br><div>> EUR, that is <br>> approximately $36,730 USD!!<br>><br>> See <a href="http://groups.drupal.org/node/7948" target="_blank">http://groups.drupal.org/node/7948
</a> and<br>> <a href="http://hiveminds.co.uk/drupal.se" target="_blank"> http://hiveminds.co.uk/drupal.se</a>.<br>><br>> Best regards,<br>> Thomas<br>><br>><br>><br>><br>><br>> --
<br>> Khalid M. Baheyeldin<br></div>> <a href="http://2bits.com" target="_blank"> 2bits.com</a> <<a href="http://2bits.com" target="_blank">http://2bits.com</a>>, Inc.<br><div><div></div><div>> <a href="http://2bits.com" target="_blank">
http://2bits.com</a><br>> Drupal optimization, development, customization and consulting. <br><br></div></div><font color="#888888">--<br>Sean Robertson<br>Web Developer<br>NGP Software, Inc.<br><a href="mailto:seanr@ngpsoftware.com" target="_blank">
seanr@ngpsoftware.com</a><br>(202) 686-9330<br><a href="http://www.ngpsoftware.com" target="_blank"> http://www.ngpsoftware.com</a><br></font></blockquote></div><br></blockquote></div><br></div></div></div></blockquote></div>
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