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Microsoft Files Dispute Against Current Owner of XboxOne.com
MojoKid writes "Microsoft might have one of the most talked-about products at the moment with the Xbox One, but would you believe it doesn't own the rights to the most obvious domain name to accompany it? Domain squatting is a real issue for companies about to launch a new product. If they register a domain before the official launch, people can find that and subsequently ruin the company's surprise. This particular case is different, however. The domain name wasn't registered just the other day. Instead, a UK resident registered the name XboxOne.com in December of 2011, long before Microsoft itself even likely had a definitive name for its upcoming console. So, what can a company do in this instance? File a dispute with the National Arbitration Forum, an ICANN-approved organization that specializes in dealing with these sorts of matters."
I kind of agree. They could have saved up all those lawyer fees and just paid the guy off. I'd take Microsoft money any day.
Easily solved. Just visit xboxone.com and you will immediately notice it's a parked domain.
I love my sig.
Nissan as a company was NEVER called Datsun. Datsun is a brand name, derived from an early model called Datson. Nissan is short for Nippon Sangyo. Which was the earlier company name. Nissan as an abbreviation was invented for the stock market (like AAPL for Apple)
well, NOW it's parked after Microsoft brought the lawyers out of leashes and sicked them on the domain owner(s)...
looking on archive.org it seems it used to have an active site on it, for example this snapshot:
http://web.archive.org/web/20110207201840/http://xboxone.com/
OR this one, from the YEAR 2003
http://web.archive.org/web/20031225193949/http://xboxone.com/
root@127.0.0.1
oops.. small case of "spoke too soon"/"foot in mouth", i realize this is from before the "domain created" date, so it must be the site maintained by the previous owners of the domain name, name that had expired by the time the current owner registered it.
Anyway, it's a proof that "XboxOne" was already used by someone else in the context of computer games related stuff even since the year 2002 and IMHO should have not been awarded as a registered trademark to MS...
root@127.0.0.1
WHOIS and Google reveal that he owns a total of 5 domains. Sure, he isn't doing anything with them, but he isn't some faceless "domain squatting corporation" either.
The guy seems to have been the director of a bunch of companies, so he probably understands business. I don't blame him for trying to capitalize on his good fortune. Microsoft will try to use their army of lawyers to either get the domain for free or at a value far below what it is worth to them. I hope he stands up for himself and hires a good lawyer, rather than settling for a derisory sum.
It was a fan site, they went down, squatter registered it, and now here we are.
Don't want to just burn karma, but thanks for bringing Uzi's story to my attention.
Here's the link for anyone who would like to read baout it:
http://www.nissan.com/Digest/The_Story.php
And yes, Uzi Nissan still holds Nissan.com (it cost him a lot of money though.).
BlameBillCosby.com