Apple Files Claim to Seize iPhone4S.com and Related Domains from Porn Operators

[MacRumors]

As noted by Domain Name Wire, Apple has filed a complaint under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy in an attempt to gain control of the iPhone4S.com domain name and six other iPhone-related domain names. All seven of the domains currently forward to pornography sites, meaning that readers should obviously exercise caution in visiting the sites.




The complaint is case number D2011-1897 with the World Intellectual Property Organization.

Apple did not gain control of the iPhone4.com domain name until July of this year, a transfer that appears to have been made outside of any formal dispute resolution process. Apple does occasionally turn to UDRP complaints in order to win control of domain names related to its products, although it is unclear why Apple chose that route in this case.

It is possible that the domain name's owner demanded more compensation than Apple was willing to offer or perhaps was unresponsive to Apple's attempts at contact. Alternatively, Apple may simply have proceeded directly to a UDRP complaint due to a sense of urgency given the nature of the sites involved.

Article Link: Apple Files Claim to Seize iPhone4S.com and Related Domains from Porn Operators

[koobcamuk]

Thanks for the free porn links!

[skinnylegs]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A334 Safari/7534.48.3)

Silly porn boys.....

[1wildcat1]

My eyes...

[pwhitehead]

Apple shouldnt be able to pull big brother authority and take something from someone just because they registered the url first. This is called strong arming the consumer. Apple should offer a payoff settlement and be done with it.

[nfl46]

I can't...lol.

[samcraig]

I understand going after iPhone4s.com

The rest I see as silly.

[roow110]

What is Apple planning on doing with porn4iphone.com? Is pornography the next industry Apple wishes to dominate?

[HarryKeogh]

Wait a sec, there's porn on the Internet? Then what the hell am I doing here?!

[adztaylor]

Originally Posted by samcraig

I understand going after iPhone4s.com

The rest I see as silly.

Agreed.

[Caliber26]

I am very grateful for all the mobile sites that make this content readily available on my iPhone.

[nexsta]

haha the porn industry dominates the internet. A bit sad tho...

[coder12]

I would have NEVER expected to find that under iphone4s.com! :O

[applefan289]

lol Wasn't that Apple's vision from the beginning?

[NightFox]

Originally Posted by roow110

What is Apple planning on doing with porn4iphone.com? Is pornography the next industry Apple wishes to dominate?

I think they're going to offer these to iCloud users as an optional alternative to .me domain email addresses

[HelveticaNeue]

Obviously Apple wants to do this because they are planning to launch their own porn site for iOS. That's why they are so adamant about no porn on the app store .. because they are planning their own porn newsstand app or perhaps Fap Store?

Can't wait to see THAT keynote!

[CTYankee]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A334 Safari/7534.48.3)

Originally Posted by adztaylor

Agreed.

Trademark holders have to actively defend their mark. If they don't it can hurt their chances when real cases come up. It isn't so much apple going after ridiculous infringers as it is doing what the law requires.

They can also go after them just to keep their brand from being tarnished.

If you think this is silly. Ever wonder why you hear "big game" and not "Super Bowl" anymore?

[parasitius]

before 3 weeks ago it would be common sense to ANYONE that iphone4s is a hacker abbreviation of "iphone for sex"

how unfair.

[KeithKman]

Originally Posted by pwhitehead

Apple shouldnt be able to pull big brother authority and take something from someone just because they registered the url first. This is called strong arming the consumer. Apple should offer a payoff settlement and be done with it.

I had a similar problem when I registered a domain before Shell Oil could. I was sent a letter overnight from Texas basically telling me to hand it over or I would be sued for $100,000. I was getting over 300 hits per hour to the domain URL I registered. It was great. lol.

I contacted my lawyer who looked into it. The term is called "Cyber Squatting". Look it up. The laws have changed since the early to mid-90's when people were buying up domains and then selling them to major corporations. Now, if a word or the company name is copyrighted, that also applies to domain URLs. Back in the early to mid-90's it did not.

So in short, even if the corporation or company does not register the domain URL first, they still own it if they have a copyright for the name. The only time it does not apply is if the person registered the domain a long time ago and uses it for a legitimate business. My best example would be www.Nissan.com. Nissan USA (cars) has tried suing the owners of Nissan.com for some time now but have lost since Nissan.com is owned by a family with the last name of Nissan and have had a legitimate business since before 1994 when the domain was registered.

[LDMartin1959]

The folks who think that Apple going after those porn domains is pointless, stupid or "strong-arming" apparently don't know much about trademark law. Did you know that "Aspirin" used to be a trademarked name? But it is no longer because the owner of the trademark failed to pursue enforcement of the use of the trademark against those who were using it in violation of their ownership of the mark.

The same would hold true with the trademark names Apple owns. It matters not legally if it is "only" in a domain name pointing to porn which has nothing to do with the iPhone product. If Apple fails to protect their trademark by pursuing those who use it without their permission, they can loose that trademark.

[ThanksSteve]

Apple has a few dollars in the bank. How about buying up all the iPhone5, iPhone5, iPad3, etc for the next 20 years? What will it cost them? $200. WHy wait for expensive lawsuits. They can also buy the other variations that are mention here.

[Dae]

*rushes to register iphone5xxx.com and iphone6sluts.com*

[eagandale4114]

You know they say that iPhones are sexy.

[samcraig]

Two things -

What about iphone4sex.com ?

And I guess we know what the S means now....

[ZipZap]

So if you register a domain before some company copyrights the words...who wins?