[LFM] Internet Law Specialists

mordal31

Long time reader, first time poster, not really a forum guy but PA people have always struck me as a cool crowd.

Straight to the point: WoW online friends have had a domain site stolen from right under their noses.

To understand, said site had been around for a goodly amount of time (nearing a decade mark, from what I know) and out of the blue their domain company up and about locked them out, without cause or permission, from paying their account and promptly sold it to a bidder in Hong Kong whose only purpose is to resell the domain name.

I'm putting this up here for two reasons: 1) to gather support for 'Kyltania' (one of the now-former artist/owners of the domain) and 2) to ask for anyone with knowledge of legal people that specialize in Internet law.

Here's to hoping for a few answers. Cheers, PA.

Glaeal

So, no actual questions then?

Pheezer

This can happen when you rent a domain instead of buying it outright. They're likely boned because they didn't choose their hosting company carefully.

There is an oversight body for domain names though, and they're called InterNIC. http://www.internic.net/

Go to their website. They can file a dispute there and hopefully win out. Prior use usually determines the outcome on these things. This is pretty much the only legal recourse they have.

wrong_button

Yep. You'll need to find out of they we're just renting the domain name or if they registered it via an ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names & Numbers) accredited reseller. If it was registered and not rented, you (actually the last registered owner of record) may be able to file a dispute. But I can tell you first hand - it's a bitch. And it can be very expensive, depending who it is you're fighting - legal and consulting fees (many mandatory) rack up fast.

Domain disputes have a lot less to do with law and more management policy. Here's the policy that ICANN set forth on domain name disputes: http://www.icann.org/udrp/udrp-policy-24oct99.htm

Read it over and get your ducks in a row to see if you even have a viable case for dispute. Find out more about who bought it. They may be more entitled to it than the guild is if it's a legit company (trade/servicemarked names, etc.). The "bidder" may only be acting as a third party to the transaction. Which is another sticky part - if the purchaser was in Hong Kong, then that may fall under the territory of the Asian Domain Name Resolution Center. Lots of info in play here. Rack up as much info as you can and see how it applies to your situation, use ICANN as a resource. You'll get a better picture of what you are or aren't dealing with.

Honestly, you'll probably find it less of a pain and a hassle to register a new name. However, this gives you a starting point if you choose to do otherwise. Good luck!

edit: the link above was the original policy. I haven't read through the latest incarnation of it, though I understand it hasn't changed drastically. The 2004 revision lives here: http://www.icann.org/transfers/dispute-policy-12jul04.htm