State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company,known as the largest automobile insurer in the United States,submitted a complaint to the National Arbitration Center ,requesting sixteen domain names to be transferred to them. The sixteen domain names are : statefarmjacksonville.com, statefarmhomestead.com, statefarmhollywood.com, statefarmgainesville.com, statefarmfortmyers.com, statefarmfloridakeys.com, statefarmfortlauderdale.com, statefarmdaytona.com, statefarmverobeach.com, statefarmtalahassee.com, statefarmstlucie.com, statefarmsarasota.com, statefarmmiami.com, statefarmkissmmee.com .
The complainant,State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company,is the owner of the “State Farm” mark,registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.Therefore,the company contends that the domain names are confusingly similar to its trademark.
Moreover,in the complaint,the company says that all the sixteen domain names resolve to a website featuring click-through links that further resolve to the websites of Complainant’s competitors in the insurance industry.
Having established that the respondent registered the domain name in bad faith,that the sixteen domain names are confusingly similar to the complainant’s mark and that the respondent does not have rights or legitimate interest in the disputed domain names ,the Panel ordered that all the domain names to be transferred from the respondent to the complainant.

On Friday, 24 July 2009, Lead Networks Domains Pvt. Ltd. (”Lead Networks”) began the process of commencing an arbitration proceeding with the American Arbitration Association (”AAA”) challenging ICANN’s decision to allow the RAA to expire without renewal because of Lead Networks’ failure to comply with the requirements of its RAA http://www.icann.org/correspondence/burnette-to-malik-14jul09-en.pdf [PDF, 74K].In its filing to initiate arbitration, Lead Networks requested that ICANN and the arbitration panel stay the non-renewal until an arbitration decision is rendered. Although Lead Networks allowed the RAA to expire before seeking to arbitrate, ICANN has determined that a temporary stay is warranted in this case to protect affected registrants and users. Lead Networks will be reinstated as a registrar effective Tuesday, 04 August 2009.

Guidance is provided below for registrants who may be affected by this arbitration action.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. How are registrants affected by Lead Networks’ arbitration filing?

A. Your domain names will remain with Lead Networks until the arbitration panel renders its decision or until you choose to transfer your domain name. In other words, during the arbitration, Lead Networks will operate as an ICANN-accredited registrar pursuant to the RAA and shall be required to comply with all contract provisions, the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy ( “UDRP”), and the transfer policy.

Q. What happens if I have a pending UDRP administrative proceeding involving a domain name sponsored by Lead Networks?

A. Continue with the proceedings, as you do not need to do anything additional right now. Lead Networks will continue to be obligated to perform under the RAA and, thus, will be required to enforce the decision once panel provides its ruling.

Q. What happens if I won a UDRP administrative proceeding involving a domain name sponsored by Lead Networks?

A. In accordance with the RAA, Lead Networks is required to enforce the arbitration panel’s decision unless the registrant provides evidence of a lawsuit against the complainant in a court of mutual jurisdiction within 10 business days of the issuance of the UDRP decision. If Lead Networks has not enforced the decision, please immediately submit a report pursuant to the UDRP Intake Report System at http://www.internic.net/UDRPIntakeReportSystem.html. Please be sure to complete all fields and follow all prompts.

Q. What action is ICANN planning to take?

A. During the arbitration process, ICANN intends to aggressively defend its decision not to renew the RAA with Lead Networks.

Q. How long will it take to complete the arbitration?

A. Arbitration is unpredictable. ICANN hopes and will request that the arbitration panel conclude the arbitration as quickly as possible, but it could be several months before an arbitration decision is rendered.

Q. What affect does the arbitration filing have on ICANN’s previously announced bulk transfer process?

A. ICANN will continue to complete the process pursuant to the De-Accredited Registrar Transition Procedure (posted at http://www.icann.org/en/processes/registrars/de-accredited-registrar-transition-procedure-01oct08.pdf [PDF, 119K]) in order to be prepared to authorize a bulk transfer of the names upon conclusion of the arbitration, if necessary and such a transfer would promote the community interest.

Q. I have read everything above, but still have some questions about my domain name. Whom should I contact?

A. You should contact Lead Networks first with any issues. If you are still not able to get answers to your questions, please contact ICANN’s contractual compliance team at compliance@icann.org.

The Rick Latona Auctions NO RESERVE online auction starts Thursday, July 23, 2009.  Room is still left for submissions.Summer slowdown got you down? It’s hot out there if you are in the northern hemisphere. That’s why we are throwing our domain stimulus package in the form of a no reserve auction.

We are running the best 100 names that get submitted. There won’t be 101 names or more in the auction. We still have room left; in fact, we’ll have room left up until the very start of the auction. If a better name gets submitted, the worst name drops out.

The auction will last one week and it starts Thursday so submit your names!!

Registration and bidding will be at www.proxibid.com/ricklatona starting July 23. All technical questions regarding Proxibid registration and bidding can be answered by calling toll free 877.505.7770 from inside the US or +1.402.505.7770 from outside the US.

DOMAINfest Global is on the move, well to a new venue anyway, and in 2010 will be held in Santa Monica, California, at the luxurious Fairmont Miramar Hotel from January 26 to28.

To enhance the intimacy and networking at DOMAINfest Global, the entire hotel has been reserved exclusively for this conference.
Online registration will open August 15 with an Early Bird discounted registration rate of $895 available through September 30. The registration rate increases to $1,095 on October 1.

The 2010 conference will focus on the importance of domain names in online marketing, with additional focus on how to use domain names to get the most out of the pending economic recovery. The conference theme and specific agenda session topics will be announced in the coming weeks.

The event also will feature two live Moniker ® domain name auctions, powered by SnapNames Live™ technology.

Building on the trend initiated with DOMAINfest Global 2008, guests will include a growing number of professionals from outside of the domain industry. Guests will include brand executives, advertising and affiliate network suppliers, senior commercial bankers, private equity representatives, venture capitalists, trademark and legal counsellors, website developers, advertising experts, SEO/SEM specialists, and others. The top domain industry publishers, parking companies, registrars, aftermarket resellers, hosting companies, and others will also be in attendance.

“Our industry is ready for new growth as the global recession begins to subside,” said Oversee.net President Jeff Kupietzky. “As an asset class, domain names are clearly growing in value, and their position in the online marketing function deserves the attention and discussion we’ll give them in Santa Monica.  If you make it to only one domain name industry event in 2010, this one should be it.”

Sponsorship opportunities are available for anyone who is interested. With more than 600 professionals from 26 countries attending DOMAINfest Global in 2008, it is a good way to promote your company. Information about sponsorship and exhibitor opportunities for the show are available at www.domainfest.com, along with more information on the conference, or by email at sales@domainfest.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

cars.cm            $35,500

jobs.cm            $10,000

loan.cm              $5,000

drugstore.cm      $5,000

games.cm           $5,000

juegos.cm           $5,000

401k.cm             $8,250

abc.cm               $1,200

apartmentguide.cm   $1,200

buy.cm              $1,700

boston.cm         $4,600

date.cm             $1,000

elsalvador.cm   $1,000

bodybuilding.cm   $3,600

fling.cm            $1,800

forrent.cm         $1,000

king.cm            $1,000

maps.cm           $2,400

musica.cm        $1,900

canada.cm        $2,300

lasvegas.cm     $3,200

australia.cm      $1,500

Here is a complete list of domains of this auction including reserve prices:

cars.cm                                $20,000
casino.cm                            $20,000
poker.cm                             $20,000
creditcards.cm                   $10,000
jobs.cm                                $10,000
drugs.cm                             $5,000
drugstore.cm                      $5,000
forex.cm                              $5,000
games.cm                            $5,000
jeux.cm                                $5,000
juegos.cm                           $5,000
loan.cm                               $5,000
shopping.cm                      $5,000
401k.cm                              $1,000
aaa.cm                                 $1,000
abc.cm                                 $1,000
academy.cm                       $1,000
ae.cm                                   $1,000
apartmentguide.cm          $1,000
australia.cm                       $1,000
billboard.cm                      $1,000
bodybuilding.cm               $1,000
boston.cm                          $1,000
budget.cm                         $1,000
buy.cm                               $1,000
canada.cm                         $1,000
coach.cm                           $1,000
cupid.cm                           $1,000
date.cm                             $1,000
digitalcameras.cm          $1,000
elsalvador.cm                  $1,000
fling.cm                             $1,000
forrent.cm                        $1,000
gap.cm                               $1,000
gateway.cm                       $1,000
guess.cm                           $1,000
gunbroker.cm                  $1,000
king.cm                             $1,000
lasvegas.cm                      $1,000
launch.cm                         $1,000
maps.cm                           $1,000
musica.cm                        $1,000
nick.cm                             $1,000
playboy.cm                       $1,000
switchboard.cm              $1,000
virgin.cm                          $1,000

To bid on the auction you need to go to proxibid.com/ricklatona.

All registration and technical questions regarding Proxibid registration and bidding can be answered by calling toll free 877.505.7770 from inside the US or +1.402.505.7770 from outside the US.

Sony,one of the leading manufacturers of electronics, video, communications, video game consoles, and information technology products,submitted a complaint to the National Arbitration Forum,claiming rights over sonycreativesoftwear.com domain name. The respondent,represented by Versata Software used the disputed domain name to operate featuring adult content.
Having registered the “Sony” mark with the USPTO,Sony proved that the domain name sonycreativesoftwear.com was confusingly similar to its mark.
Moreover,because the respondent failed to submit a response,the Panel found that Versata Software had no rights and legitimate interests in the disputed domain name.
The Panel also decided the domain name was registered and used in bad faith.
Therefore,it was decided the disputed domain name,sonycreativesoftwear.com,to be transferred to Sony.

The well known company,Victoria’s Secret,which is an American retailer of women’s wear,lingerie,shoes and beauty products, won the domain name victoriasecretshoes.com through arbitration. In the complaint submitted to the National Arbitration Forum,the company claims rights over the disputed domain name,saying that  victoriasecretshoes.com is confusingly similar to their mark and also,that the respondent registered and used it in bad faith.
Because the respondent used the domain name for an website offering a number of links to several commercial websites including websites offering products in competition with complainant’s goods,no wonder the respondent is thought to have registered and used the domain name in bad faith.
Having established all the elements needed in these kinds of cases,the Panel decided the disputed domain name,victoriasecretshoes.com,to be trasferred to complainant.

Synchronous: .it in real time

From 28 September 2009 it will be possible to register .it domain names in real time. The publication of the new Regulations, approved by the Rules Committee on 5 June 2009, is the first step towards the start of the new synchronous registration system. For two years the synchronous system will work alongside the current asynchronous system.

To register, change, or cancel a .it domain simply contact a Registrar who will be able to work directly on the domain database, with no need to send any paper documentation to the Registry.

2009 timetable

19 June

* Publication of the New Regulations and Guidelines. The Regulations will come into force 30 days after publication.

1 July

* Publication of the Registry/Registrar contract

20 July

*

The New Regulations and Guidelines will become effective.
* Registrars can sign the new contract and begin the accreditation procedure. Accreditation entails passing a test through which the Registry can assess the technical expertise of the Registrar in using the synchronous system.

28 September

* The synchronous system will become operative: it will be possible to register, change, or cancel a dot it domain in real time.

For further details: info@nic.it