Howdy All,
Been lurking for a while.
I have a couple of thoughts after reading several of the posts about this thread. By the way, I'm not a trademark attorney but I have read a lot about this issue and I think I'm safe to make the following general statements.
1. The true owners of Majordomo could challenge the activites of the registrants of the domain name majordomo.com, and would most likely win if they went to court, based on having used the name Majordomo in the capacity they have for several years. (Of course it's even better if the trademark was registered, but nonetheless, it's doubtful that the registrants of majordomo.com would be allowed to register that as a trademark since it so obviously conflicts with the Majordomo software and its owners use of that name. My reason for pointing this out is that the InterNIC will not act on a dispute complaint without proof of trademark ownership, in the form of a federal registration.)
2. The InterNIC's registration dispute policy, which can be read at http://rs.internic.net/domain-info/internic-domain-6.html states the following:
"The applicant (³Registrant²) is responsible for the selection of its own domain name (³Domain Name²). The Registrant, by completing and submitting its application, represents that the statements in its application are true and that the registration of the selected Domain Name, to the best of the Registrantıs knowledge, does not interfere with or infringe upon the rights of any third party. The Registrant also represents that the Domain Name is not being registered for any
unlawful purpose. "
I think it's clear that the registrants of majordomo.com were not entirely forthcoming with their intentions, and/or did not read the InterNIC's policy prior to registering that name. There is very limited case law about this issue, but based on what I've read I think the registrants of this domain name would lose their case, and are just asking for trouble even using that domain name.
In addition, the policy seems to suggest that the alternative of obtaining a court order to halt improper use of a domain name would bypass the InterNIC's own procedure for dealing with disputes (i.e. requiring the trademark be registered. It is theoretically possible, unless I'm missing something important, that the owners of the Majordomo software could sue even if the name isn't registered. If they won and the court ordered the defendant to stop using the domain name, that's that.)
"4. Revocation. Registrant agrees that Network Solutions shall have the right in its sole discretion to revoke a Domain Name from registration upon thirty (30) days prior written notice, or at such
time as ordered by a court, should Network Solutions receive a properly authenticated order by a federal or state court in the United States appearing to have jurisdiction, and requiring the
Registrant to transfer or suspend registration of the Domain Name. "
Just my thoughts. I think it was extremely risky to register that domain name, and completely unethical. It's quite misleading; I remember looking for the site of the creators of Majordomo and finding www.majordomo.com and assuming that would be the site. Of course when I got there, it was clearly not. I was not impressed.
Kirsten O.
rivrmoon@drizzle.com
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"...awakening is never the product of force but arises through a resting of the heart and an opening of the mind."
--Jack Kornfield, _A Path With Heart_
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