Podcaster Loses "Cybersquat" Of Simpsons Movie Sit

[Bone]

I picked this one up being a listener of the "Keith and the Girl Show".

Podcaster Loses "Cybersquat" Of Simpsons Movie Site

GENEVA (Reuters) - A U.S. podcaster on Wednesday lost the right to operate a Web site using the name of "The Simpsons Movie" to attract fans of the cartoon series to sites related to his own Internet output.

An arbitrator for the United Nations' patent agency, WIPO, ruled that New York-based Keith Malley must cede control of the "thesimpsonsmovie.com" site to Twentieth Century Fox, the News Corp. <NWS.N> unit which owns the Simpsons trademark.

The movie starring the cartoon family premiered July 20 in Springfield, Vermont, ahead of its release on Friday.

The World Intellectual Property Organization ruling found that Malley had registered the domain name to divert business to linked sites promoting and selling merchandise associated with the popular "Keith and the Girl" podcast he produces.

The arbitrator said the creation of the Simpsons Movie Web site amounted to "bad faith registration and use" of the address -- a practice known as "cybersquatting."

The case, which highlighted the difficulties involved in managing the Internet, was brought by Twentieth Century Fox in May. WIPO has since 1999 operated a dispute settlement system under which cyberquatters can be challenged and have their sites closed down or transferred to a more legitimate owner.

Malley, a 33-year-old who operates the podcast with his singer girlfriend Chemda Khalili, offered no defense, WIPO said.

Over the past eight years, the U.N. agency has handled some 10,500 cases of cybersquatting, many involving famous commercial brands from oil firms to hotel chains, prominent film stars and actors, writers and internationally-known sports clubs.

Earlier this year WIPO said the Internet's governance was under threat from pirates who have adopted a range of techniques to get hold of domain names and create a free-for-all market in them.

Squatters register variations of top-level domain names, or "TLDs" like http://www.reuters.com, to which they have no genuine claim, by using the proliferating national or type identifiers -- like .au (Australia) or .aero (aviation).

In the Simpsons case, WIPO said, Malley at first used the "movie" site to link to another "that featured off-color and in some cases sexually-explicit depictions" involving characters from the television series.

A lawyer for Malley had indicated the comedian would be prepared to sell the site to Twentieth Century Fox for $50,000, WIPO said. The offer was refused by the film company.

Fox in all it's wisdom and deep pockets couldn't think to register thesimpsonsmovie.com for their url (the very name of their film) when they put the movie into production?

Thoughts on Cybersquating anyone?

I do have to say I find the whole thing genius on Keith's end. Use the url to divert traffic to the podcast, then when FOX raises a stink over it's own stupidity, it's just more promotion for the Keith and the Girl show!
It's a win win for the podcast.

[Hardcoregirl]

Hrm...I'm not too knowledgeable on the geek side of it, but it seems to me if you register a domain name first...they should have to buy it from you.

I hate those sites that pop up when you misspell something or put the wrong ending .net, .com .org...I figure they are ripping some people off somewhere and thats not right either.

[Bone]

Hrm...I'm not too knowledgeable on the geek side of it, but it seems to me if you register a domain name first...they should have to buy it from you.

I hate those sites that pop up when you misspell something or put the wrong ending .net, .com .org...I figure they are ripping some people off somewhere and thats not right either.

Wow listen to their live show right now, where they are talking about the whole thing. Seems he bought the site in 99' and was using it as a parody site. You can see the original site @ http://www.katg.com/thesimpsonmovie
He's saying now he is going to appeal the decision. The show I'm listening to should be up as a podcast in the 24hrs.
You can find the Keith and the Girl Show here
Take a listen to the show. They are one of the inspirations for me doing the Bone's Lair Show.

[iblis]

my 2 cents...

if you register it, you should have the rights to it.

i mean, you've paid the registrar for the domain. as long as such is paid, it should be yours. i could understand there being a case if there were libel involved, sure, but otherwise...?

stupid people are invading my internet, and i'm fucking tired of it. go back to your typewriters and your gramophones, you damn luddites. as long as some moron thinks all of this information flows through tubes, we're in deep shit.

</rant>

edit: of course, if enough people get pissed off, it's not like they couldn't start their own namespace. i mean, BIND is free/open source, and it's not like any tech with a clue can't figure out how to use it.

[X]

my opinion strictly, just happens to be like most others.

URL's are the new Real Estate.
nobody bitches when some guy buys a piece of shit few acres, sits on it for 20 years then sells it to walmart so they can make a new supercenter.

well its the same thing.

if you have the money that the simpsons franchise has, and have toyed with the idea of making a simpsons movie for, geez, as long as the internet's been a popular toy, then that site should have been registered in 1995.