National Arbitration Forum press release practices
Friday, April 21st, 2006
National Arbitration Forum is ceased its questionable press release practices.
I’ve been critical of National Arbitration Forum, which handles domain name UDRP disputes, for its practice of issuing press releases related to its arbitration decisions. Most (if not all) of these releases have been released when NAF has found in favor of big name companies in domain name disputes (e.g. Amazon.com, high profile celebrities). My belief is that if an arbitrator sends out press releases when it finds in favor of high profile companies and people then the arbitrator might lean toward ruling against a domain name owner.
During Domain Roundtable in Seattle I met a lawyer from NAF. I explained my issue to her and I have good news to report. Apparently there was a battle within NAF between the PR department and legal side about issuing these press releases for the exact reason I stated. NAF no longer issues such press releases as of a couple months ago.
It’s good to hear that NAF is doing the right thing.
Further Reading:
Just to clarify, I am the attorney referenced in this piece. The National Arbitration Forum is not ceasing to issue press releases. We are being more selective about the press releases we choose to issue and are working to issue press releases highlighting both Complainant AND Respondent victories.
I look forward to seeing some of the respondent victory press releases in the future.