Boy ordered to give up Narnia website - .Mobi

Essociate Peon

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#21

telling the panelist "the law is crap" won't go over very well...

Essociate, Jul 24, 2008 IP

IDN Active Member

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#22

WIPO orders Narnia domain transfer, makes 11-year-old cry

Jacqui Cheng July 24, 2008

A Narnia-like battle has erupted over a domain name that one party argues will leave an 11-year-old child without a birthday present thanks to greedy, powerful rightsholders. Control of the domain, narnia.mobi, was taken away from its original registrant this week by the World Intellectual Property Organization and awarded to the estate of C.S. Lewis, author of the popular The Chronicles of Narnia series, a decision that the original registrant is referring to as "scandalously one-sided."

Scotland natives Richard Saville-Smith and his wife, Gillian, originally registered naria.mobi in September of 2006, not long after the "sunrise period" for trademark owners to register .mobi domains had closed. Allegedly, they registered the domain in order to give their then-nine-year-old sonâ€”a huge Narnia fanâ€”the gift of an e-mail address with "narnia" in it for his 11th birthday. Why 11th and not, say, his 10th birthday? Supposedly, the couple wanted to give it to their son on May 20, 2008, to correspond with the release of the second Narnia film in the UK.

C.S. Lewis Ltd. first offered to buy the domain from Saville-Smith for Â£70 (about $140), according to The Scotsman, an offer the family rejected. After several attempts to play nicely, the estate submitted a domain dispute resolution request on May 28, 2008 to WIPO. Since then, both parties have submitted a number of documents arguing that they are the rightful owners to the domain. Saville-Smith told WIPO that, since he has no commercial motive for registering the domain, he should be allowed to keep it. However, a handful of evidence seems to have convinced WIPO that he registered it in bad faith.

For one, Saville-Smith registered 12 other .mobi domains just days after the registration of naria.mobi, including middleearth.mobi, ovaloffice.mobi, pentagon.mobi, primeminister.mobi, and uspresident.mobi. (For those who don't recognize some of these names, Middle Earth is a fictional land where stories by Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien take place, and Spooks is a TV drama on the BBC). Almost all of these pages were parked at Sedo with plenty of clickthrough advertising on them. Additionally, Saville-Smith registered two more Narnia-related domains on June 17, 2008â€”freenarnia.com and freenarnia.mobiâ€”long after the dispute over narnia.mobi began.

WIPO stated in its decision that the panel arbitrating the dispute was disturbed that Saville-Smith would register more names that could potentially cross the Narnia trademark after beginning a proceeding over the first, showing that he was not registering them in good faith after all. On top of that, WIPO states that there was no evidence that he had made preparations to use narnia.mobi as an e-mail address before being placed on notice for the dispute, eight days after the son's 11th birthday. Finally, despite Saville-Smith's initial protests, he eventually admitted he had knowledge of the Sedo pages with advertising to WIPO.

With that evidence, WIPO ruled that narnia.mobi was registered in bad faith and ordered it to be transferred to the C.S. Lewis estate. Although the family can appeal WIPO's decision, the Saville-Smiths told The Scotsman that they couldn't afford to continue the legal fight. "We are shocked by the decision," Gillian Saville-Smith said. "We put up a spirited fight because we wanted to prove that you do not have to hand something over just because someone richer and more powerful tells you to do so."
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http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/pos...ia-domain-transfer-makes-11-year-old-cry.html

IDN, Jul 25, 2008 IP

Tim Rogers Guest

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#23

It's a bit harsh really. It's likely that nothing will even be done with the domain, they just take it because they can

Tim Rogers, Jul 25, 2008 IP

Professor Well-Known Member

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#24

Thats why I stick to buying generics!

Professor, Jul 25, 2008 IP

tobycoke Well-Known Member

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#25

will leave an 11-year-old child without a birthday present
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I don't believe for a second that the child was only going to get a domain name for his birthday.
Shame on Dad for exploiting his kid in this domain squatting scheme.

There is a longer thread at DP here:
http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=947571

tobycoke, Jul 25, 2008 IP

Harald Johnsen Guest

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#26

tobycoke said: ↑

Shame on Dad for exploiting his kid in this domain squatting scheme.
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I could not agree more. Poor kid.

Harald Johnsen, Jul 25, 2008 IP

197666 Peon

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#27

Would this have happened in the US as well? Or just a European thing?

197666, Jul 25, 2008 IP

tobycoke Well-Known Member

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#28

197666 said: ↑

Would this have happened in the US as well? Or just a European thing?
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It could happen anywhere. When you buy a domain you agree to ICANN rules
(Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) and to their dispute resolution process. http://icann.com/

tobycoke, Jul 26, 2008 IP

puremonopoly Active Member

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#29

markn26 said: ↑

The boy should have posted about it in the domain appraisals forum so that I could have said "less than reg fee - trademark issue"
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lol... ^_^

... ..he would have been able to keep it if he made the site as a fansite and didn't copy infringe any content.. 0_o ...maybe he should buy narniasucks.mobi next

puremonopoly, Jul 26, 2008 IP

wussadotcom Banned

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#30

rapidhunter said: ↑

haha, who buys a son a domain? thats really wierd for a b-day present -_-
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Well I think thats ok..

wussadotcom, Jul 26, 2008 IP

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Boy ordered to give up Narnia website - .Mobi

Essociate Peon

IDN Active Member

Tim Rogers Guest

Professor Well-Known Member

tobycoke Well-Known Member

Harald Johnsen Guest

197666 Peon

tobycoke Well-Known Member

puremonopoly Active Member

wussadotcom Banned

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