Do you want a £750 fine?

[Whois-Search]

As you may know already know Nominet have an option on Fees on the DRS consultation that says:

3. Introduce a system where the losing party pays for the decision

Updating the .uk Dispute Resolution Service

This means if you had a DRS case against you and lost you would have to pay the complainants DRS fee! In a case like mercer.co.uk not only would you have the first DRS fee but also your appeal fee.

At the DRS consultation event today in London: Latest News

There was a guy on the panel there from Diageo who suggested Nominet should introduce an incentive to stop cybersquatting of brand names i.e. loser pays.

Tony Willoughby (also on the panel), however, did say said he couldn't see how it could be implemented.

I (from the floor) tried to use the example of egg.org.uk and said if I had a bill for £750 + VAT for that I wouldn't pay it as a Nominet member - what would they do then? But I just had 20 ip lawyers take the piss and say I shouldn't be making money off a .org.uk or why have I registered it!

Therefore I would strongly suggest anyone that doesn't want to start paying for dodgey names that reply to that consultation before the 16th Feb.

I would also suggest you give them an alternative and give them a reason why for example:

The DRS fee should be £500 + VAT (one expert) and three times that for appeal £1500 + VAT (three experts). £500 allows for names to be sold privately outside of the DRS procedure. Loser pays would also encourage people to register names in fake details and cause even more problems. How will they make this guy in Moscow pay: http://www.nic.uk/digitalAssets/10309_alliance-leicetercommercialbank___10.pdf and what happens if the expert doesn't get paid?

Also as Nominet have also decided not to contact all registrants (or even the registrars to tell the registrants) until AFTER they have changed the DRS policy I have decided to give them a helping hand....See the banner on front of Whois-Search

 

[bb99]

Andrew

I'm sure you could handle 20 IP lawyers taking the piss out of you

Were there any other highlights from the day? Was it mostly attended by IP lawyers then, and if so was the balance of the event towards "hanging domainers out to dry" ??

 

[retired_member6]

You should have just turned around to them and said, "Nominet themselves make a profit out of a .org.uk, I suggest you go back and read your ip book." So Nominet want to open the floodgates to all and sundry to make judges of their cases rich and decrease their turnover within two years, bloody clever aint they.

I've suggested already that Nominet handover domains that are TM possible to the possible tm claimant for FREE. But they won't, why not?

Come on MR in the room IP lawyer, does Nominet make a profit out of a .org.uk or not? Idiots.

 

[hunkydorey]

Stand and Deliver

My understanding that Nominet would contact the current owner if there was a dispute **before ** a DRS

So if you think you're going to lose you can hand it over straight away.

I'd only keep a generic myself if faced with a potential dispute

From Nominet Dispute Resolution Service

In a DRS dispute, we act as a neutral party helping the parties to find a solution by providing ********free******* mediation if we can. If that is not possible, we provide the DRS so that the parties can get an expert decision about the dispute to settle it.

So you'll always have the chance to hand it over free.

Still double check the trademarks and when they were registered, I would consider contesting a TM registered after the domain was purchased (as long as no passing off is taking palce)

 

[olebean]

I (from the floor) tried to use the example of egg.org.uk | Multi Search Results and said if I had a bill for £750 + VAT for that I wouldn't pay it as a Nominet member - what would they do then? But I just had 20 ip lawyers take the piss and say I shouldn't be making money off a .org.uk or why have I registered it!

What do the mean by making money off?

 

[Pred]

My understanding that Nominet would contact the current owner if there was a dispute **before ** a DRS

So if you think you're going to lose you can hand it over straight away.

I'd only keep a generic myself if faced with a potential dispute

From Nominet Dispute Resolution Service

In a DRS dispute, we act as a neutral party helping the parties to find a solution by providing ********free******* mediation if we can. If that is not possible, we provide the DRS so that the parties can get an expert decision about the dispute to settle it.

So you'll always have the chance to hand it over free.

Still double check the trademarks and when they were registered, I would consider contesting a TM registered after the domain was purchased (as long as no passing off is taking palce)

yeah, hunkeydorey, that's my view on it tbh.
if i had regged a domain & turns out someone has a legit tm i would hand over. i would like to think nominet would contact you first, or indeed the complainant.
i try to reg generics anyhow. I would like you ,defend something if i thought they were trying to reverse hijack me which is becoming increasingly prevalent. particularly with tlds, it will happen more i fear in all extensions.
thanks for pointing out whois though as we need to be kept abreast of these changes at nominet.
cheers
Pred

 

[Whois-Search]

Olebean: The poultry and cooking PPC parking pages on my egg.org.uk are making money. Gordon Dick and ***** Taylor explained to them that doing it was going against the "spirit" rather than a requirement i.e. you would get your name deleted. Some of us also pointed out nominet.org.uk even if they will say they are not-for-profit with £13 Million in the bank.

bb99: There were about 60 people there. Claire Milne (telecom expert), Tony Willoughby (ip lawyer), Sarah Montague (BBC + chair), Michael Toth (domainer), A guy from diageo, another big business guy - were on the panel.

Sarah Montague was extremely good at making them answer the questions and keeping order in the room

However yes it was mostly ip lawyers and other "experts" in the room.

The only Domainers I saw were myself, sneezysheese, invincible, 2020media, michael toth and Angus Hanton.

Also apart from Gordon Dick who is on the board anyway there were no PAB members there. This was because they had a PAB composition subcom the day before and had to go back to work.

The other highlight of the 2 hours was...... Grease auditions were going on at the hotel - crowds of screaming girls disturbing us lol

Also......

Ok you might give up a name like alliance-leicesterrrrrrrrrr.co.uk

However would you give up bounce.co.uk mercer.co.uk finecheeses.co.uk? Then pay the £750 when they took it off you.

 

[retired_member6]

However would you give up bounce.co.uk mercer.co.uk finecheeses.co.uk? Then pay the £750 when they took it off you.

How do they want the £750? 50p a week through the courts? You can't pay what you aint got or don't want to pay. I'll wait for invincible to say it's all a part of business costs... :mrgreen:

 

[Whois-Search]

Also what happens if you don't reply to a DRS or can't reply within 15 days?

Get back from holiday and find a Nominet invoice for £750 + Vat......

 

[olebean]

Olebean: The poultry and cooking PPC parking pages on my egg.org.uk are making money. Gordon Dick and ***** Taylor explained to them that doing it was going against the "spirit" rather than a requirement i.e. you would get your name deleted. Some of us also pointed out nominet.org.uk even if they will say they are not-for-profit with £13 Million in the bank.

Unwritten rules?

 

[Whois-Search]

Unwritten rules?

Yes.

You would be surprised the things the so called experts and ip lawyers didn't know. Some of them didn't know about the finecheeses.co.uk case!

Tony Willoughby admitted people make mistakes and they would review them - so I asked him direct who he was accountable to......

 

[yesterday]

A
But I just had 20 ip lawyers take the piss and say I shouldn't be making money off a .org.uk or why have I registered it!

The restriction of supply and useage of .uk domains enforced on everyone by Nominet and the unclear basis of registration of a domain and hence all the arguments, suits IP lawyers and their coterie very well.

It is not us that is making the money out of these disputes.

Laughing at us, yes, they are laughing . . .

20 ip lawyers out for the day, now that's money.

yesterday

 

[grandin]

Laughing

Who-is they were only laughing cause they don't know alot about business and how a consumer buys. If the Nominet contract required legal representation (which is doesn't) then yes they could laugh at the legal representative who didn't advise their client correctly. BUT, we are all mere laymen who take full responsibilty on our shoulders thus let them laugh.

Lawyers are not the best paid in the land....entrepreneurs are, and those entrepreneurs become their clients who feed their mouths....thus they are laughing in the mirror!

Lee

 

[olebean]

20 ip lawyers out for the day, now that's money.

That was the figure that interested me most... Where there is a gravy train there is a lawyer (apparently)

 

[retired_member26]

The only Domainers I saw were myself, sneezysheese, invincible, 2020media, michael toth and Angus Hanton

And you 6 gang of domainers could not beat one IP lawyer?

Of course we reg names for earning money? That IP lawyer is get paid out of corporate revenue which partly comes from online business, meaning domain names.

 

[sneezycheese]

Be afraid - VERY Afraid!!!

And you 6 gang of domainers could not beat one IP lawyer?

...I think it's fair to say that we were that proverbial needle in the haystack.

Bottom line here chaps - Don't respond to the DRS consultation and we'll get shafted!

The coorperate IP Laywers are and will continue to be lobying Nominet very hard on this issue and Nominet seems to be very IP Lawyer centric - i.e. upto now the Lawyers have taken control of this issue, which we now have an oppertunity to change.

If all of us here just keep making stupid comments and don't reply to the consultation, then we'll deserve to get what we get!!!

Of course we reg names for earning money? That IP lawyer is get paid out of corporate revenue which partly comes from online business, meaning domain names.

...The answer to this one will blow your mind - i.e. 'they' want to see a situation where domaining was outlawed and want domains to be freely available (free to reg) when thier clients want to enter new area's of business (e.g. - new brand)!

More to come soon...

Regards,

Sneezy.

 

[grandin]

Fools

Sneezy you said 'The answer to this one will blow your mind - i.e. 'they' want to see a situation where domaining was outlawed and want domains to be freely available (free to reg) when thier clients want to enter new area's of business (e.g. - new brand)! '

Did they really say that, if they did they are fools....no economy would stomach this. We operate in a free economy where stock, land, houses and businesses are traded solely for profit.

It is against the law to damage someones good will in his business and typos certainly do that, thus rightly this practice should be stopped but generic words cannot be stock piled for big corporates.

Lee

 

[retired_member6]

It is against the law to damage someones good will in his business and typos certainly do that, thus rightly this practice should be stopped but generic words cannot be stock piled for big corporates.

Lee

But as we've seen , the threat to any domainer wishing to keep a hold of a domain for ten years is severe as they can just make a brand and steal it off you. And not just a threat to domainer, the current registrant whoever they might be.

 

[sneezycheese]

But as we've seen , the threat to any domainer wishing to keep a hold of a domain for ten years is severe as they can just make a brand and steal it off you. And not just a threat to domainer, the current registrant whoever they might be.

...I couldn't have put it better myself - you have hit the nail on the head!

Regards,

Sneezy.

 

[yesterday]

Upping the price of the domains, may just push me into going full speed into typo domains, given that they are generally much higher revenue than the common generic or "future brand" name.

This all a sign of a monopoly, they could theoretically push prices up to whatever they liked and noone would be able to complain, no real alternative in this market space.

The monopolies and mergers commission should insist that some other party/group of parties buys up and runs .gb domain, and perhaps .eng and .cwm/cym? and .bi (british isles?)

Take the smug smile off the faces of the greedy corporate dictator monopolists that seem to be taking control.

yesterday