[ga-udrp] UDRP issues in the news - potential refrence documentation

[Jeff Williams <jwkckid1@ix.netcom.com>]

All,

  See:
SUCK.COM OWNER IS VICTORIOUS

Bucking the trend, Dan Parisi has won the right to keep the
domain name Michaelbloombergsucks.com. Parisi, who also runs the
pornographic site, whitehouse.com, owns about 700 domain names
containing the word "suck," including Microsoftsucks.com and
Chinasucks.com. Those addresses are redirected to the mother
site, www.sucks.com, where visitors can complain about a host of
organizations, governments, and corporations. Virtually all the
cases in which dispute resolution boards have considered this
issue have sided with trademark holders, because the domain names
were purchased in bad faith. However, the board in this case
found that Parisi wanted to send people to a site where they
could offer opinions about different companies and issues.
Bloomberg still has the option of taking the case to federal
court if it wishes. The panel's decision may be found at
http://www.sucks.com/bloomberg.html

and...

COURT FINDS MISSPELLED NAMES CONSTITUTE CYBERSQUATTING

On July 15th, John Zuccarini lost another legal battle when the
3rd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals rejected his argument that
federal anti-cybersquatting law should not apply to misspelled
variations of famous or copyrighted names. The infamous Zuccarini
has spent years registering misspelled variations of famous
celebrity and company names as domain names, establishing web
sites at those addresses, and then posting links to pornographic
sites, whose owners pay him for the links. Last June, a U.S.
District Court ordered Zuccarini to surrender several domain
names meant to play off the success of comedy Web site
Joecartoon.com. The court also ordered Zuccarini to pay
Joecartoon.com owner Joseph Shields' attorneys' fees as well as
$10,000 in damages for each infringing domain name. The case was
one of the first major decisions under the Anticybersquatting
Consumer Protection Act (ACPA) of 1999, which prohibits Internet
users from registering in "bad faith" Internet addresses that
are the same or "confusingly similar" to famous or copyrighted
names. The court found that Zuccarini's intent was "to register
a domain name in anticipation that consumers would make a
mistake, thereby increasing the number of hits his site would
receive." The decision may be found at
http://laws.lp.findlaw.com/3rd/002236.html.

And indirectly...

HOW STATES RATE IN JUDICIAL AND LAW ENFORCEMENT TECHNOLOGY

In a report released on June 4th, the Center for Digital
Government and the Progress & Freedom Foundation ranked each
state on its use of digital technologies in its judicial system,
including online access to court records and opinions. The study
also ranked states on their use of digital communications by law
enforcement agencies, and on the availability of digital
signatures for legal contracts and agency filings. Colorado,
Delaware, Illinois and New Jersey tied for first place, with
Ohio, Georgia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania running closely behind.
The results are the first phase of a four-part study on state
technology usage by law enforcement, the courts and social
services. The other three parts will focus on e-commerce and
business regulation, taxation, digital democracy and education.
Most states this year scored noticeably higher in using
technology to deliver social services than in 2000. Last year,
only 15 states scored 50 (out of 100) points or higher, while
that number climbed to 41 this year. The study may be found at
http://www.centerdigitalgov.com/center/digitalstates.phtml.

Regards,

--
Jeffrey A. Williams
Spokesman for INEGroup - (Over 118k members strong!)
CEO/DIR. Internet Network Eng/SR. Java/CORBA Development Eng.
Information Network Eng. Group. INEG. INC.
E-Mail jwkckid1@ix.netcom.com
Contact Number:  972-447-1800 x1894 or 214-244-4827
Address: 5 East Kirkwood Blvd. Grapevine Texas 75208
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