[ga] [DNDEF] Why it's so important.

[Sotiropoulos <sotiris@hermesnetwork.com>]

Here's an article (from 
http://www.inside.com/jcs/Story?article_id=22578&pod_id=13) which 
underscores the importance of the DNDEF issue:

"Seller's Remorse? DotTV Accused of Grabbing Back a $100 Domain Name to 
Reoffer It for a Cool Quarter-Million
Firm peddled 'broadband.tv' for a song, then reneged, according to a 
suit by the would-be buyers.
by Ben Berkowitz and Denise Levin

Thursday , February 01, 2001 09:42 p.m.

Two people may have thought they hit the jackpot when they registered 
the domain name ''broadband.tv'' with DotTV Corporation for a standard 
$100 fee last July.
DotTV certainly thought so: The company pulled the name back, and tried 
to sell it again for a quarter-million dollars, according to a lawsuit 
filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court.

DotTV, which is backed by the incubator Idealab, licenses domains ending 
in .tv, which is the country code assigned to the island nation of 
Tuvalu. The company licensed the domain from Tuvalu in exchange for 
minimum revenues to the island nation of $4 million a year, stock in the 
company and a seat on the board. It is one of many companies that are 
trying to make a business of licensing unusual country codes as domain 
names, such as .cc, .md and .fm.

A spokesperson for DotTV said the company had not yet been served with a 
copy of the suit and couldn't comment.

According to the complaint, Bob Abrahams and Amy Snively registered the 
''broadband.tv'' name on July 12 of last year, paying DotTV's standard 
$100 registration fee. As part of the purchase, they entered into a 
registration agreement and received ownership contracts from the 
company. Such an instantly recognizable name pointing toward a 
technology with explosive growth potential could be exploited directly 
or licensed for a substantial markup to a third party.P>
   
 
The company pulled the name back, and tried to sell it again for a 
quarter-million dollars, according to a lawsuit.

 
   
DotTV, however, quickly ''determined that the Domain Name was worth more 
than the amount for which DotTV had sold it,'' and canceled its 
contract, the suit says. Further, the suit alleges that DotTV put the 
domain name up for sale again, but this time at the special price of 
$250,000. According to the DotTV Web site, broadband.tv is currently 
available at a fee of $62,500 per year, with a minimum two-year 
registration, and a 5 percent increase in the renewal fee at the end of 
the pre-pay period.

The issue of ultimate ownership of domain names has been a contentious 
one, with registrars like Network Solutions accused by some of treating 
domains like rented property, rather than property with ownership rights.

The suit, which claims breach of contract and promissory fraud, asks for 
compensatory, consequential and punitive damages in an amount to be 
determined at trial. The plaintiffs are represented by Michael Grace, 
Gregory Sater and Jill Abasto of Grace & Sater."


Sincerely,

Sotiris Sotiropoulos

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