Yet Another Bad UDRP Decision

mrbrown1602 writes "According to a NewsBytes article, a Florida man named Peter Frampton had his domain, PeterFrampton.com, taken away thru the quasi-juduicial process established by ICANN for domain name disputes because he shares his name with a washed up rock star from the 70s. A copy of the WIPO decision can be found here."

Comments

This decision sounds right to me

[markwelch]

The notion that someone named "Peter Frampton" could lose the domain "PeterFrampton.com" sounds pretty bizarre, until you read the published opinion.

Though I don't agree with some of the statements in the opinion, I found it completely persuasive on the relevant points:

• The first registrant's real name was "Lyle Frampton" and not "Peter Frampton" (the court seems to accept that the registrant's full name is "Lyle Peter Frampton" but notes that no proof was actually given)

• The web site showed logos copied from the web site of the music artist Peter Frampton

• The web site contains commercial links to resellers of music and music equipment associated with the "famous music artist" and not the original registrant

• Although the web site does not offer the domain for sale, the web site's text (as quoted in the opinion) reads like a classic "join with me to exploit this famous domain" instead of being a page about the registrant (Mr. Frampton):

  Frampton Enterprises, Inc.
  Entertainment!/Income Opportunities!/Shopping!
  @ WWW.PETERFRAMPTON.COM
  A Monster Business Development Opportunity!
  Unlimited Income Potential!
  "A New Life" You Must See This!
  FRAMPTON4U@AOL.COM
  Please! Send: Your Full Name/Address/ Phone #/ Your Resume in Text Only!
  Then Call (ASAP)
  Mr. Frampton
  (727)584-0395
  For Your Lifetime Career Opportunity Interview!
  Now Hiring for Key Corporate Regional / Filed Manager Positions in USA.
  

The first-registrant is not some kid named Peter Frampton who posted a home page about his hobbies, nor a guy named Peter Frampton who engages in some business under that name. Instead, it is someone who doesn't normally answer to the name "Peter Frampton," and whose sole use of the domain is to exploit and profit from the professional fame of the washed-up music artist named Peter Frampton.

This doesn't sound like a close case to me, unless you hide or distort some of the facts as stated in the published opinion.