In a decision announced last week, Microsoft won 13 domains from a cybersquatter based in Taiwan.
It was a quick case. Microsoft submitted its complaint on September 24th, asking the National Arbitration Forum (NAF) to transfer ownership of the domains from the registrant, Chiou Ji-an. The domains listed in the complaint all include the name of Microsoft’s search engine, Bing:
bing119.com bing1314.com bing168.com bing911.com bingaudio.com bingbaidu.com bingbio.com bingbrazil.com bingegypt.com bingface.com bingfrance.com bingspain.com bingvision.com
The defendant told the NAF arbitrator that “bing” means “soldier” in Chinese and that he planned to develop websites about army soldiers. But none were actually developed as such, despite having all been registered between 2009 and 2011. Some of the domains are parked and listed for sale, and others redirect to a website offering a “revolutionary new way to earn money from your social networks!” (Suuuuuuuuure.)
The NAF wasn’t swayed by the army soldier defense and awarded control of all 13 domains to Microsoft. A Microsoft spokesperson has confirmed to us that it now owns the domains, even though the WHOIS records still list the original registrant as owner.
(tip via TheDomains.com)
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