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<tr><td class="txtNoir12" width="270"><b>par Stéphane VAN GELDER</b><br><span class="txtNoir11"><a href="mailto:stephane.vangelder@domainesinfo.fr">stephane.vangelder@domainesinfo.fr</a></span><br></td></tr></tbody></table>
<br><span class="txtTitre20_actu"><b>Dell s'attaque au domain tasting</b></span><br><img src="img/p.gif" border="0" height="10" width="1"><br><span class="txtNoirGeorgia16"><b>Le géant de l'informatique a porté plainte contre
plusieurs registrars qu'il accuse de s'adonner au domain tasting et, de ce fait,
au cybersquatting de sa propriété intellectuelle.</b></span><br><br>
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<td class="txtNoir12" colspan="3" align="center" bgcolor="#d8d9d9" height="22"><b>POINTS
ESSENTIELS</b></td></tr>
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<td class="txtNoir12" valign="top" width="130"><img src="img/p.gif" border="0" height="4" width="130"><br>• <b>Dell accuse 3 registrars :</b><br>Dell accuse
<b>BelgiumDomains, CapitolDomains et DomainDoorman</b>, d'enregistrer puis
relâcher par cycles très réguliers des noms en passant par des sociétés écrans.
Entre 30 à 60 millions de noms seraient enregistrés par mois, avec entre 50 000
et 200 000 noms conservés.<br><img src="img/p.gif" border="0" height="4" width="1"><br>• <b>A qui profite le crime ?</b><br>La question du manque
d'implication de l'ICANN est posée. Rappelons qu'une taxe est perçues par
l'ICANN sur chaque nom enregistré. Google, qui n'est pas cité par Dell, gagnent
par ailleurs des fortunes grâce au trafic généré à partir de noms cybersquattés.
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<td style="padding-right: 15px;"><img alt="" src="img_stock/articles/LogoDell.jpg" border="0" height="37" width="107"><br></td></tr>
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<td colspan="2"><img src="img/p.gif" border="0" height="5" width="1"></td></tr></tbody></table>La plainte déposée par Dell devant un
tribunal de Floride en octobre n'a été rendue publique que la semaine dernière.
Depuis, elle provoque une polémique intense parmi les experts du nommage sur
Internet. <br><br>L'affaire en elle-même révèle des statistiques intéressantes
sur la pratique du <a href="http://www.domainesinfo.fr/definition/290/domain-tasting.php">domain
tasting</a> telle que la voit Dell. <br><br>Le journal américain <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/28/AR2007112801679.html?hpid=moreheadlines">Washington
Post</a> explique ainsi que Dell accuse en fait trois registrars,
BelgiumDomains, CapitolDomains et DomainDoorman, de passer par un certain nombre
de sociétés écrans domiciliées dans les caraïbes pour enregistrer des noms et
les relâcher par cycles très réguliers. <br><br><big><b>Jusqu'à 60 millions de
noms "goûtés" chaque mois</b></big> <br><br>La plainte cite ainsi l'exemple du
nom <a href="http://www.domainesinfo.fr/definition/118/typosquatting.php">typosquatté</a><b><a href="http://dellfinacncialservices.com">dellfinacncialservices.com</a></b>.
Déposé le 25 mai par DomainDoorman, il aurait été effacé le 30 mai pour être
reprit quelques minutes plus tard par BelgiumDomains, puis relâché le 4 juin,
avant d'être à nouveau reprit par CapitolDomains, puis relâché le 9 juin… pour
repartir sur un nouveau cycle avec le ré-enregistrement immédiat du nom par
DomainDoorman. <br><br>D'après Dell, ces registrars enregistrent de 30 à 60
millions de noms par mois et en gardent entre 50 000 et 200 000. <br><br>Pour
Dell, c'est un abus de la procédure comptable du <i>domain tasting</i> mise en
place à l'origine pour permettre aux registrars de gérer les impayés, puisque
dans le cas présent, les registrars impliqués ont en fait trouvé le moyen de
garder des noms à vie sans jamais les payer. <br><br>Visiblement très irrité par
ces agissements, Dell ne porte pas plainte pour cybersquatting mais pour
contrefaçon. Une nuance de taille puisque si le cybersquatting permet d'espérer
des dommages et intérêts de 1 000 à 100 000 USD par nom, la limite supérieure
pour la contrefaçon est de USD 1 million par infraction constatée (donc par nom
"goûté") ! <br><br><big><b>A qui profite le crime ?</b></big> <br><br>Si l'ire
de Dell peut paraître compréhensible à prime abord, certains se posent quand
même des questions sur les motivations réelles du spécialiste de l'ordinateur
discount. <br><br>Ainsi dans <a href="http://www.circleid.com/posts/711308_domain_tasting_bad_actors/">Circle
ID</a>, un site spécialisé sur le nommage Internet, on se demande pourquoi Dell
ne cite pas des gens comme Google, qui gagnent des fortunes grâce au trafic
généré à partir de noms cybersquattés. <br><br>La question de l'implication, ou
plutôt du manque d'implication, de l'ICANN est aussi posée. Le régulateur n'a
toujours pas décidé quoi que ce soit vis-à-vis du domain tasting et certains se
demandent si la raison de cette immobilisme apparent n'est pas à chercher du
côté des taxes que l'ICANN perçoit sur chaque nom de domaine
enregistré…<br></td></tr>
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<td class="txtNoir11">Publié le lundi 3 décembre 2007
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<td class="txtNoir11">Copyright © <b>DomainesInfo</b>. Tous droits réservés.</td>
<td class="txtNoir11" align="right">Imprimé le 03/12/2007</td></tr></tbody></table><font size="+2"><b><br>Dell Takes Cybersquatters to Court</b></font><br>PC Maker
Alleges Domain Registrars Profited on 'Confusingly Similar' Names<br>
<p><font size="-1">By Brian Krebs<br><a href="http://washingtonpost.com">washingtonpost.com</a> Staff Writer<br>Wednesday,
November 28, 2007; 4:06 PM<br></font>
</p><p>
</p><p>Personal computer giant Dell Inc. is pursuing a major "cybersquatting"
lawsuit against several companies that buy and sell Web site addresses, alleging
that the entities earned millions of dollars from Internet traffic intended for
Dell and dozens of other Fortune 500 companies.</p>
<p>In a case quietly filed with the U.S. District Court for Southern Florida in
October and unsealed last Wednesday, Dell took aim at a stable of registrars --
companies that are licensed to register and sell new domain names to the public
-- allegding that they are responsible for registering and profiting off of
nearly 1,100 domains that were "confusingly similar" to Dell's various
trademarks. </p>
<p>At issue are Web addresses made up of slight misspellings of well-known
trademarks, a form of cybersquatting called "typosquatting." Typosquatters
typically register domains that surfers are likely to hit if they misspell a Web
site name. Users are then taken to sites filled with advertising that generates
pay-per-click commissions for the domain holders. </p>
<p>According to Dell's attorneys, the defendants' portfolio of some 1.8 million
domain names is not limited to Dell's marks, but rather "reads like a who's who
of corporate America."</p>
<p>The complaint names three registrars as defendants -- BelgiumDomains,
CapitolDomains, and DomainDoorman -- as well as what Dell claims are nearly a
dozen Caribbean shell companies that allegedly served as the entities
registering the domains. The suit also names Juan Pablo "JP" Vazquez, a Miami
resident who is alleged to be connected to those companies. </p>
<p>Dell's suit charges that the registrar companies named in its suit
constructed an elaborate chain of front businesses to profit from "domain
tasting" -- the practice of snatching up large numbers of Web addresses, testing
their value and returning any domains that fail to drive traffic. </p>
<p>Domain tasting is made possible by a policy established by the <a href="http://www.icann.org/" target="">Internet Corporation for Assigned Names
and Numbers</a> (ICANN) -- the nonprofit organization that oversees the global
domain name system. Under the rules, registrars have up to five days to sample
domains before committing to purchase them, typically at a cost of $6 apiece
annually.</p>
<p>In effect, the ICANN policy gives prospective domain buyers the right to a
free trial. In its lawsuit, Dell alleges the defendants took domain tasting to
the next level, setting up a network that cycled infringing domain names from
one registrar to the next in order to hold onto the domains indefinitely without
ever paying for them, all the while profiting from pay-per-click ads on the
sites that often served visitors with ads for Dell's competitors.</p>
<p>According to one example cited in Dell's lawsuit, on May 25, 2007,
DomainDoorman registered "<a href="http://dellfinacncialservices.com">dellfinacncialservices.com</a>." On May 30, the registrar
deleted the domain from its stable of Web site names. Minutes later, that same
Web site name was snatched up by BelgiumDomains, which then dropped the name on
June 4. That same day, <a href="http://dellfinacncialservices.com">dellfinacncialservices.com</a> was grabbed by CapitolDomains,
which in turn relinquished it on June 9, the same day that site was
re-registered again by DomainDoorman. </p>
<p>The complaint further charges that the registrars created and controlled a
series of shell corporations in the Bahamas to act as the entities registering
the domains, including Caribbean Online International, Domain Drop S.A.,
Domibot, Highlands International Investment, Keyword Marketing Inc., Maison
Tropicale, Marketing Total S.A, Click Cons Ltd., Wan-Fu China Ltd. and Web
Advertising Corp.</p>
<p>David Steele, an attorney representing Dell in the case, said the defendants
tasted on average between 30 million and 60 million domains each month. In any
given month, Steele said, the registrars collectively purchased between 50,000
and 200,000 of the domains they tasted. </p>
<p>"The only thing better than registering a domain for five days, deleting it
and getting a refund is to never having to purchase it at all," Steele said.</p>
<p>Vazquez's lawyer, Richard Baron, described his client as little more than a
"gopher" for the principals of the registrar operation, whom he said reside in
Argentina. Baron, who has acted as attorney of record for the registrars named
in the complaint in previous legal disputes, said he had no plans to represent
them in the Dell complaint. But he said Steele and Dell's attorneys are going to
find it tough to prove that the registrars and registrants were one and the same
business. </p>
<p>"In my opinion, they have a huge hurdle to tie the names of the registrants
to the registrar, and that's the linchpin of the case," Baron said. "Without
evidence of that kind of collusion, they have next to nothing." </p>
<p>In addition to the cybersquatting claims, Dell has filed counterfeiting
charges against the registrars, a novel legal claim in a domain registration
dispute, said Michael Froomkin, a law professor at the University of Miami who
<a href="http://www.icannwatch.org/" target="">has written widely on the
Internet's domain system</a>. </p>
<p>"I am not aware of a single case which argues as this one does that
typosquatting is effectively a counterfeit" of the trademark holder's product,
Froomkin said. "I suspect they're pushing the law here, maybe because
counterfeit claims allow far greater statutory damages."</p>
<p>Under federal cybersquatting laws, the minimum a court could award Dell would
be $1,000 per infringed domain name, up to a maximum of $100,000 per domain.
Froomkin said that those same domains, if considered a violation of federal
counterfeiting law, could bring damages up to one million dollars per violation.
</p>
<p>It's not yet clear whether the court will buy Dell's counterfeiting claims.
But those claims were apparently heady enough to convince a federal judge to
seal the case records while federal marshals seized hard drives and other
computer equipment from Vazquez's home in Miami last month. The judge also
issued a temporary restraining order that bars the defendants from domain
tasting, making money off of or deleting any domains that may infringe upon
Dell's trademarks.</p>
<p>"We'll do whatever it takes to protect the trust that customer put in our
brand and our Web site," said Colleen Ryan, Dell's spokesperson. "We're
encouraged that others in our industry, the courts and policymakers also are
taking steps to defeat these bad actors and showing no tolerance for their
maneuvering."</p>
<p>Warren Adelman, president and chief operating officer for registrar
GoDaddy.com, a company whose principals have been highly critical of the domain
tasting business, said the practice confuses consumers.</p>
<p>"We've heard from so many consumers who found a name they were looking for
was available only to come back a few hours later to buy it and find it was
registered by some company with a weird name in a weird location," Adelman said.
</p>
<p>Adelman said 55 million domains were registered in October by registrars
involved in tasting, and all but roughly 2 million of them were dropped after
the five-day grace period. </p>
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