I don’t believe this to be a case where an individual purchases a domain-name in hopes that someone will pay big bucks for it later.
I read a news article recently about a computer store owner, Mr Uzi Nissan, who, in 1994, registered the domain name www.nissan.com
fur his business, Nissan Computers of Raleigh NC.
Then, for the purpose of offering internet dialup service, in 1996 registered www.nissan.net
From what I can see, Nissan Computers has made no claim or competition to Nissan Motors. Both websites have specific wording which indicate that they are not affiliated with Nissan Motor, and in fact provide us with a correct address to visit if we’re seeking the car-maker. But it seems that Nissan Motor has been trying, through legal means, to get Mr Uzi Nissan to give up his domain names (to them?), claiming damages of $10 MILLION DOLLARS!
ZOW-EEE!!
This is one of the most egregious uses of power I’ve seen!
Nissan Motor may have as much right to the name as Nissan Computer, but to bully around the little guy through legal means just because they didn’t get there first is just BAD FORM.
Suck it up Nissan Motors. Either come to an agreement to buy the name from Mr Uzi Nissan (which would probably cost you less than going through all of this legal wrangling), or get off his back!
If it goes to the WIPO arbitration panel, Mr Nissan may have a good chance. For all that WIPO favour big corporations in their judgements, they require evidence of bad faith in demanding domain transfers, and it seems to me that the owner has a legitimate reason for the domain and isn’t passing himself off as being associated with Nissan Motors.
Iwonder if Nissan Motor tried settling first, or something-- "We’ll give you $100 for your domain name…?"
Otherwise, it looks like they’re just going to have to settle with nissandriven.com. I mean, with Nissan being the owner’s last name and all, I don’t see ANY reason for a lawsuit, other than a big company wanting to whine.
Back in 1999, David Sams registered veronica.org and displayed pictures of his two-year old daughter, Veronica. He was threatened with legal action by Archie Comics (who has a trademark for Veronica, the name of a character in Archie Comics.)
Eventually, Archie comics relented. While the site is no longer up, WhoIs still shows David Sams as the owner of the domain name.
Pfff… the guy is a jerk and a liar. He spammed me - twice - and claimed the emails didn’t come from him, despite the matching IP addresses and other information. I know for a fact that he was lying to me when he replied to my email. I have tried to get Nissan.com shut down for spamming, but apparently their ISP is totally irresponsible and allows them to keep on going. Uzi Nissan may be a victim of Nissan, but I’ve had first hand experience of his deceptiveness, and anyone who spams is automatically discredited in my mind anyway.
People, no matter how good you think your cause is, do not email strangers to ask them for support. It’s wrong, on so many levels.
I don’t think so. Even if the rules say there’s supposed to be bad faith, there have been too many instances where the large company vs. small guy has gone the wrong way.
I don’t trust WIPO any further than I can spit a rat.
I just want to know why the hell Microsoft registered www.corrado.com. Volkswagon, I could understand. But Microsoft? In order to talk about Windows NT applications?
Registrant:
Corrado American Incorporated (CORRADO-DOM)
200 Marsh Lane
New Castle, DE 19720
Domain Name: CORRADO.COM
Administrative Contact:
McDowell, David (DM431) dmcdowel@CORRADO.COM
Corrado America Inc.
200 Marsh Lane
New CAstle, DE 19720
302-655-6501
Technical Contact:
Domain Administration (DA3393-ORG) dns@DCA.NET
DCANet
1204 West Street
Wilmington, DE 19801
US
+1 302-654-1019
Fax- +1 302-426-1568
Record expires on 14-Mar-2003.
Record created on 13-Mar-1995.
Database last updated on 31-May-2002 16:25:22 EDT.
Domain servers in listed order:
NS1.DCA.NET 204.183.80.2
NS2.DCA.NET 207.245.82.2