Mistyped PA address has NSFW redirect

Butler

Mistyping the address for Penny Arcade - http / wwwpenny-arcade dot com (misses the first "dot") - redirects to an adult social networking site with NSFW pictures (albeit thumbnails) on the front page. Not sure if there's anything that can be done about this but I thought I should report it anyway.

Willeth

pennyarcade.com used to, as well, but I don't know if it stopped because of action by PA or just stopped anyway.

Burden of Proof

yeah this is pretty hot, thanks

matt has a problem

Aside from first asking the site it's redirecting to to give up the wwwpenny-arcade.com domain (which they won't do), G&T would have to file some kind of copyright infringement action. The fact that the site/company it redirects to isn't actively advertising the wwwpenny-arcade.com link as going to their site though means a victory wouldn't be clear-cut.

So basically, just be sure you get the period in there. Or, be sure you don't, I'm not one to judge...

Cyvros

Or just use penny-arcade.com.

Echo

Typosquatting

There are a few options, should you care about it. A C&D is probably a good start.

FyreWulff

matthasaproblem wrote: »

Aside from first asking the site it's redirecting to to give up the wwwpenny-arcade.com domain (which they won't do), G&T would have to file some kind of copyright infringement action. The fact that the site/company it redirects to isn't actively advertising the wwwpenny-arcade.com link as going to their site though means a victory wouldn't be clear-cut.

So basically, just be sure you get the period in there. Or, be sure you don't, I'm not one to judge...

Actually that's a trademark violation, and would be fairly easy to get back. Depends on if they want to bother.

The problem is that these spammers can typosquat because they can essentionally hold onto these domains for free forever by passing the domain around between 3 shell companies, exploiting 'domain tasting' rules.

MKR

It's some random dude in the UK.
redacted stuff

Tube

maybe posting his address on a public forum is kind of a dick move

Abracadaniel

Yeah. . .some 'random dude'

I remember the pennyarcade.com thing though. Boy was that a weird thing to explain.

MKR

Anyone with a browser can run a whois and find that he has 30 porn domains, but I'll take it out just in case he forgot to spend $6 on whois privacy.

Ramius

Smart Hero wrote: »

Yeah. . .some 'random dude'

I remember the pennyarcade.com thing though. Boy was that a weird thing to explain.

pennyarcade.com dates back almost as far as, if not farther than penny-arcade.com and was not an "adult website" but rather an advertising vehicle for a New York "performance artist", who continues to perform to this day but had to give up her web presence due to too many people arriving by typo.

http://www.dixonplace.org/html/mondocane.html

Willeth

I could have sworn that after that, though, an adult content provider snatched it up.

Antimatter

Willeth wrote: »

I could have sworn that after that, though, an adult content provider snatched it up.

it was in one of the books, wasn't it?

Szechuanosaurus

FyreWulff wrote: »

matthasaproblem wrote: »

Aside from first asking the site it's redirecting to to give up the wwwpenny-arcade.com domain (which they won't do), G&T would have to file some kind of copyright infringement action. The fact that the site/company it redirects to isn't actively advertising the wwwpenny-arcade.com link as going to their site though means a victory wouldn't be clear-cut.

So basically, just be sure you get the period in there. Or, be sure you don't, I'm not one to judge...

Actually that's a trademark violation, and would be fairly easy to get back. Depends on if they want to bother.

Actually, it's not at all that clear-cut. Generally, you can only get a domain released if they are actively using it to imitate or take market share away from the company for which the trademark belongs. Basically, they'd have to be running a rival webcomic about videogames on the URI for Penny Arcade to have a valid claim. Hence why Penny Arcade have never been sued by a musical transvestite act from New York.

matt has a problem

Antimatter wrote: »

Willeth wrote: »

I could have sworn that after that, though, an adult content provider snatched it up.

it was in one of the books, wasn't it?

They made mention of it in a newspost too I think.

Willeth

Szechuanosaurus wrote: »

FyreWulff wrote: »

matthasaproblem wrote: »

Aside from first asking the site it's redirecting to to give up the wwwpenny-arcade.com domain (which they won't do), G&T would have to file some kind of copyright infringement action. The fact that the site/company it redirects to isn't actively advertising the wwwpenny-arcade.com link as going to their site though means a victory wouldn't be clear-cut.

So basically, just be sure you get the period in there. Or, be sure you don't, I'm not one to judge...

Actually that's a trademark violation, and would be fairly easy to get back. Depends on if they want to bother.

Actually, it's not at all that clear-cut. Generally, you can only get a domain released if they are actively using it to imitate or take market share away from the company for which the trademark belongs. Basically, they'd have to be running a rival webcomic about videogames on the URI for Penny Arcade to have a valid claim. Hence why Penny Arcade have never been sued by a musical transvestite act from New York.

If they can be proven to be deliberately trading on someone else's IP then it really is that clear-cut. Fox had a case recently against the comedian Keith Malley, who had owned thesimpsonsmovie.com for years before the movie came out, and Fox won it fairly cleanly. He was using it to direct traffic to his podcast, not to an animated family-oriented movie. The only difference was that he had images commissioned of the Simpsons having sex, but oddly enough I don't think that had much bearing on the case.

Of course, IANAL.

PantsB

Willeth wrote: »

I could have sworn that after that, though, an adult content provider snatched it up.

ISWYDT