Cyber-Squatters
Mary's Futons can be mis-spelled 3 ways, by leaving off
one 's' or both. We have been able to negotiate for the
return of www.maryfutons.com.
But Texas International Property Associates has
refused to return www.marysfuton.com and
www.maryfuton.com. This company makes lots of
money from the mis-spelling of our name.
And it seems they do this to all kinds of other
companies, large and small. The difference is
big companies have high powered attorneys, and
smaller companies have less money to spend on justice.
Settling a dispute like this can cost $50,000 to $100,000!!
And now, to add injury to insult, this Texas company is suing
Mary's Futons!! Because they want to keep our name, and the
2 cents per click they get EVERY time they mislead someone.
Mary's Futons brought this case to the National Arbitration
Forum and WON! But as of this date Texas International still
profits from our name.
Read About Texas International Property Associates
June 24, 2007
Section: BUSINESS
'Squatters' cash in on human error, URL typos create
confusion, angst.
McClatchy News Service
DALLAS -- There's still money to be made in mistyping.
Internet surfers who stumble when typing an address into
their browser can find themselves at sites that look vaguely
like their intended destination but they are actually the domain
of "typo squatters."
Errant visits and confused clicks on th sites' assorted links can
mean cash -- likely just pennies or less for each, but big money
over time -- for the squatters from pay-for-clicks providers
such as Google Inc.
Though tougher laws have helped cool the cybersquatting
tactic since the early days of the Internet, apparently it's still
worth it for Dallas' Texas International Property Associates,
owner of an untold number of Web sites that await fumbling
fingers.
Exxon Mobil Corp. sued Texas International Property
Associates in May for creating the domain name
www.xomsavingscsplans.com. That's just a "." away
From Exxon Mobil's employee benefit site,
www.xomsavings.csplans.com
Texas International Property Associates' site
offered nothing more than links to categories such
as dating, cars and entertainment.
Exxon Mobil is among some dozen companies--
Including American Airlines Inc., Z Gallerie Inc. and
Genzyme Corp. -- that have taken legal action against
Texas International Property Associates to force it to
surrender a typo Web site. Most have won the rights to the
sites after successfully arguing trademark infringement.
Texas International Property Associates has lost 12 domain
arbitrations through the National Arbitration Forum since
April 2.
In its suit, Exxon Mobil requests permanent injunction against
the company. Exxon Mobil declined to comment on its pending
litigation.
Calls to Texas International Property Associates' office
weren't returned. Dallas County records show the company
was created by Daubin Inc., which was launched by Joey
Dauben of Waxahachie, Texas.
Dauben -- a 26 year-old who ran for Waxahachie City
Council and lost las month -- declined to comment and
referred calls to attorney Gary Wayne Tucker.
Tucker, who had represented Texas International Property
Associates in cybersquatting disputes, didn't return calls for
comment. Tucker can't practice law in Texas, according to
the records of the State Bar of Texas, as he has been
suspended for not paying dues since Sept. 1, 2005.
Cybersquatting gained prominence during the Internet boom
of the late 1990s, when entrepreneurial individuals
purchased obvious Web site names and forced companies
to buy them back, sometimes for considerable sums.
Cybersquatting laws damped the activities considerably said
Vinson & Elkins LLP attorney Dean Harvey. "you do continue
to see some of it -- it's a little like identity theft," he said.
The World Intellectual Property Organization, one of the several
groups that arbitrate disputes over domain names, said that
disputes rose 25 percent in 2006. Part of the reason is that owners
of domain names have found ways to hide their identities; also, the
number of companies that register domain names has grown.
Most of the more obvious domain names are already owned,
making the "typo" strategy one of the few growth areas for
cybersquatting.
Some registering companies offer free "domain tasting" that
lets companies own sites for free -- and gauge their profitability
by the amount of errant traffic they collect -- for a few days. With
domain names going for as little as $6 a year, it's easy to pick a
popular site and try out potential typo variants, lawyers say.
"You're always going to have people misspell and mistype stuff,"
said Will Rava, an intellectual property lawyer and partner at Perkins
Cole in Seattle who works with cybersquatting cases. "If you have the
right domain names and get enough of them, you could make a little bit
of money. The typo squatters are more clever today."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright (c) The News-Press. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of Gannett Co,. Inc.
by NewsBank, Inc.
one 's' or both. We have been able to negotiate for the
return of www.maryfutons.com.
But Texas International Property Associates has
refused to return www.marysfuton.com and
www.maryfuton.com. This company makes lots of
money from the mis-spelling of our name.
And it seems they do this to all kinds of other
companies, large and small. The difference is
big companies have high powered attorneys, and
smaller companies have less money to spend on justice.
Settling a dispute like this can cost $50,000 to $100,000!!
And now, to add injury to insult, this Texas company is suing
Mary's Futons!! Because they want to keep our name, and the
2 cents per click they get EVERY time they mislead someone.
Mary's Futons brought this case to the National Arbitration
Forum and WON! But as of this date Texas International still
profits from our name.
Read About Texas International Property Associates
June 24, 2007
Section: BUSINESS
'Squatters' cash in on human error, URL typos create
confusion, angst.
McClatchy News Service
DALLAS -- There's still money to be made in mistyping.
Internet surfers who stumble when typing an address into
their browser can find themselves at sites that look vaguely
like their intended destination but they are actually the domain
of "typo squatters."
Errant visits and confused clicks on th sites' assorted links can
mean cash -- likely just pennies or less for each, but big money
over time -- for the squatters from pay-for-clicks providers
such as Google Inc.
Though tougher laws have helped cool the cybersquatting
tactic since the early days of the Internet, apparently it's still
worth it for Dallas' Texas International Property Associates,
owner of an untold number of Web sites that await fumbling
fingers.
Exxon Mobil Corp. sued Texas International Property
Associates in May for creating the domain name
www.xomsavingscsplans.com. That's just a "." away
From Exxon Mobil's employee benefit site,
www.xomsavings.csplans.com
Texas International Property Associates' site
offered nothing more than links to categories such
as dating, cars and entertainment.
Exxon Mobil is among some dozen companies--
Including American Airlines Inc., Z Gallerie Inc. and
Genzyme Corp. -- that have taken legal action against
Texas International Property Associates to force it to
surrender a typo Web site. Most have won the rights to the
sites after successfully arguing trademark infringement.
Texas International Property Associates has lost 12 domain
arbitrations through the National Arbitration Forum since
April 2.
In its suit, Exxon Mobil requests permanent injunction against
the company. Exxon Mobil declined to comment on its pending
litigation.
Calls to Texas International Property Associates' office
weren't returned. Dallas County records show the company
was created by Daubin Inc., which was launched by Joey
Dauben of Waxahachie, Texas.
Dauben -- a 26 year-old who ran for Waxahachie City
Council and lost las month -- declined to comment and
referred calls to attorney Gary Wayne Tucker.
Tucker, who had represented Texas International Property
Associates in cybersquatting disputes, didn't return calls for
comment. Tucker can't practice law in Texas, according to
the records of the State Bar of Texas, as he has been
suspended for not paying dues since Sept. 1, 2005.
Cybersquatting gained prominence during the Internet boom
of the late 1990s, when entrepreneurial individuals
purchased obvious Web site names and forced companies
to buy them back, sometimes for considerable sums.
Cybersquatting laws damped the activities considerably said
Vinson & Elkins LLP attorney Dean Harvey. "you do continue
to see some of it -- it's a little like identity theft," he said.
The World Intellectual Property Organization, one of the several
groups that arbitrate disputes over domain names, said that
disputes rose 25 percent in 2006. Part of the reason is that owners
of domain names have found ways to hide their identities; also, the
number of companies that register domain names has grown.
Most of the more obvious domain names are already owned,
making the "typo" strategy one of the few growth areas for
cybersquatting.
Some registering companies offer free "domain tasting" that
lets companies own sites for free -- and gauge their profitability
by the amount of errant traffic they collect -- for a few days. With
domain names going for as little as $6 a year, it's easy to pick a
popular site and try out potential typo variants, lawyers say.
"You're always going to have people misspell and mistype stuff,"
said Will Rava, an intellectual property lawyer and partner at Perkins
Cole in Seattle who works with cybersquatting cases. "If you have the
right domain names and get enough of them, you could make a little bit
of money. The typo squatters are more clever today."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright (c) The News-Press. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of Gannett Co,. Inc.
by NewsBank, Inc.