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They pay a small administrative fee (a couple thousand dollars) to ICANN to review the case. If they win, they get the domains and transfer to their registrar where they then pay normal yearly registration fees. The previous owner gets nothing.

If you're referring to already-registered domains that Apple acquires outside of the UDRP... Yes, they pay the domain owner. If a domain isn't available to register, you can always try to buy it from the owner, and there are many places that list domains available for sale. If you are interested in a domain for development and it is parked, you should ALWAYS attempt to buy it! Yes, it may cost you a few bucks one-time but can be worth it.

It doesn't have to be that expensive. I recently paid $500 for Peepr.com which I am developing, and sold stockclub.com, which I wasn't using also for $500, both through SEDO.

(No, Peepr.com is NOT going to be porno, LOL!)

ok but lets imagine i register NOW a new domain like iphone4sporn.com... what will do apple? pay 2000$ and wait for win the case, or pay me same amount and i give them my domain immediately???
 
ok but lets imagine i register NOW a new domain like iphone4sporn.com... what will do apple? pay 2000$ and wait for win the case, or pay me same amount and i give them my domain immediately???

Don't do it! If Apple ever go down the route Microsoft did, they could implement a zero tolerance policy for repeat/prolific offenders. That means you get hit with a $100,000 fine!

For one Domain, I would imagine they will issue a letter (cease and desist). There will be no cash for you. That only happens when the domain owner has prior rights to the name.

Should you refuse...then UDRP will probably be used....again - you get nothing.
 
Not

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


They don't want Porn industry use their iPhone name...Kind of prevention tactic rather promotional intension
 
iphone5.com, iphone5s.com, iphone6.com and iphone6s.com are already registered and it doesn't look like Apple has those either.
 
Really? Apple should have known better to register that domain instead of wasting time and even more money. Pathetic. Instead they resort to bossing around people for doing their job. (I would know hehe)
 
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.

iPhone is a trademark termed and thus legally Apple can demand the domains and doesn't have to pay anyone anything. That is likely why they started with this dispute board. It's the easiest and cheapest way to shut the whole thing down. Everyone knows that Apple owns this trademark so as soon as Apple says "that's not one of our sites" it's game over.

That it is porn is moot. I could set up a repair service and put up the site www.ifixyouriphone.com and Apple would have me shut down for illegal use of their trademark.
 
You know it is illegal to infringe on a Trademark, right?

They absolutely mislead the user. A lot of users are not Internet savvy. If they type "iPhone4s.com" into their browser...what do you think they expect to see?

People can register domains - but if they register using someone else's brand/trademark then they are infringing. They are using Apples global brand presence to attract traffic to their sites.

Apple are merely exercising their duties in going after them.

When a domain name has no meaning/relevance to the content or products and services on the site...this is classed as being registered in bad faith under UDRP.

Apple will win - and rightly so.

And for those saying "This costs a lot"...it does not, compared to traditional litigation. It will cost Apple no more than $10K to reclaim them all.

I know the current laws. That is not what I am criticizing. I know they will win. But if I register e.g. iPhone6.com, that is not a registered trademark, yet. I could argue it goes along the line iHEARTu since 6 in German (Sechs) is pronounced the same way as sex which has the intercourse connotation. Using the "i" by apple as trademark in front of their products has the problem that it is also the first personal pronoun singular and therefore per se cannot be covered under copyright. Apple had the chance since they started the iPhone to buy all iterations possible such as -1, -2, -3, -3G, and so on for all models they plan on launching.
And don't tell me it is misleading... Go to any of the porn sites on the web and you see exactly that it is not Apple affiliated. "I phone you" as synonym to "I call you" makes it hard to establish any copyright on any [...]iphone[...].com That would be like Microsoft going against building suppliers for using the word "Windows." Simple matter is - if apple is so creative, they should give their phone a more original name than putting a one-letter-word in front of "phone" so they could actually argue their case.
 
So if you register a domain before some company copyrights the words...who wins?

It wouldn't be a copyright in this case but a trademark. Generally. And it depends on the domain. If you can make a legit claim to the term because it is the name of an established business or even your personal name then you might win.

HOWEVER depending on the 'mark in question the courts could side with the other boys. Especially if the 'mark existed before you created your domain and is well known enough that you should be aware of its existence. Even though you might be using it for something else, there is still the risk that you could try to strong-arm a sale to make more money so they might cut you off before you get the idea. It's all very complex and a bit kooky
 
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.

iPhone is trademarked. Apple is a technology and media company. Porn is media. They have a case.

Some of the names are silly, but iPhone4S.com is a no brainer.
 
I see your point, but apple needs to prove when they copyrighted the name iphone4s because if they registered the name before they came out with the product, then who has more rights?

this is not a copyright issue. You don't have to prove you thought of it first etc etc.

This is trademark and Apple has had the trademark on iPhone since 2007. That is the only part of the name they need to worry about and they have it in the bag.

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I always wonder why Apple still doesn't own apple.co.uk. It's a legitimate website so they wouldn't have any grounds to challenge ownership,

Actually they would. If the site had anything to do with computers.

"Apple" by itself if a very generic term that can represent a lot of things and thus by itself can't be trademarked in a universal sense. The market plays a part in trademarks that use general terms. This is what we saw with the whole Apple Inc v Apple Records. Apple Records tried to nix Apple Inc and force a company name change saying they had the trademark for Apple as a business name. But in fact they only had it as a business name in the music industry. Apple was in the electronics market. Thus Apple Inc can use the term and protect the term as an electronics 'mark and Apple Records as a music industry 'mark. But that's it.

This company is something totally different from either and thus trademark doesn't come into play. And as they aren't using the domain in relation to either other companies market or trying to sell the domain to either one, there's no real issue to cry foul over. It is 100% clear that this company has nothing to do with Apple Inc or Apple Records.

by contrast "iPhone" is not a generic term. It is a specific term that represents a very specific item (especially not that Cisco dropped their temporary sharing of said term via discontinuing their product). So Apple can and does have a trademark on all uses of the term.
 
They should probably exclude the playboy app available to an iphone/pad near you then.

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/playboy/id340150554?mt=8

Or is this so lame as to not be considered porn?

Obviously, the meaning of porn and Apple's actions are subjective to each person. I understand that you are saying Playboy is one form of pornography, but Apple has control of iTunes, not the domains aforementioned in the article. Is it right? I don't know, but I do not consider Playboy 'traditional' porn and neither does Apple. However, maybe if Apple can discretely profit from 'porn,' then it's ok?
 
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I know the current laws. That is not what I am criticizing. I know they will win. But if I register e.g. iPhone6.com, that is not a registered trademark, yet. I could argue it goes along the line iHEARTu since 6 in German (Sechs) is pronounced the same way as sex which has the intercourse connotation. Using the "i" by apple as trademark in front of their products has the problem that it is also the first personal pronoun singular and therefore per se cannot be covered under copyright. Apple had the chance since they started the iPhone to buy all iterations possible such as -1, -2, -3, -3G, and so on for all models they plan on launching.
And don't tell me it is misleading... Go to any of the porn sites on the web and you see exactly that it is not Apple affiliated. "I phone you" as synonym to "I call you" makes it hard to establish any copyright on any [...]iphone[...].com That would be like Microsoft going against building suppliers for using the word "Windows." Simple matter is - if apple is so creative, they should give their phone a more original name than putting a one-letter-word in front of "phone" so they could actually argue their case.

But it is not Copyright...it is Trademark law. Similar, but different. The letters iphone4s are trademarked (I would hope). A quick check of the USPTO says not! Wow! EDIT: as pointed out - they have "iPhone" trademarked since 2007. Iphone4s.com was registered in 2008.

Anyway - When someone has a TM, they are obliged to defend that mark. As pointed out earlier in the posts...they must do this to preserve their rights.

To your point - If you can prove that you are using the name legitimately, then you win. Simple as that.

However - This adult content site is not, and therefore infringing. They are using an Apple Trademarked name to attract traffic. Whether you agree or not...it is the law.

BTW - misleading IS when you end up on an adult content site, when you are trying to buy or view a phone. Just because the content is not Android or some other competitive product of Apple's...does not mean it is not misleading.

Could Apple have registered these ahead of time? Of course they could. That still does not give others the right to register for personal gain.

Tell me this site would have the same domain name, had Apple never invented the iPhone. That alone means they have no case, and I am not sure why you disagree with Apple for doing what TM holders are required to do.
 
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Originally Posted by MacRumors
...readers should obviously exercise caution in visiting the sites.

hahah. you serious?

In this context, maybe "caution" means making sure that nobody can see you while you're surfing those sites.

Also check for webcams running nearby - you don't want to become tomorrow's "feature" on them.
 
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Amazing!

I'm amazed with all their billions in the bank they never purchased all the iphone 4,5,6, etc, etc along with the 'S' sites!
 
Not by a lot of measures. Certainly not by traffic. That goes to Netflix.

I believe it's number of sites devoted to it. Sure, non-porn sites aught to generate more traffic, but that's partially because of how many sites there are out there devoted to porn. It's hard to get much traffic under so much competition.
 
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.

Sorry, but being "first" doesn't absolve a domain owner of their responsibilities with regards to intellectual property laws. The UDRP system is setup for circumstances just like these.

Speaking as someone who has had some experience with the entire process, we're damned better off with proper recourse available to fight the little scumbags who play games such as these. Don't disparage Apple for exercising its legal rights.

More importantly though, the UDRP process doesn't just force ICANN to turn over control of the domain names. It's a well-developed process that's been honed by countless disputes over the years.
 
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