A women whose only claim to fame is having some crazy Guinness record would have lost if the domain owner had fought this. Always show up for the fight.

Ahoi!
Dietmar

Yes you can. Look up the meaning of “in rem”.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_rem

The ACPA specifically authorizes that type of action in which, yes, the domain name is the defendant. The actual caption of the case is Cathie Jung v Cathiejung.com.

A party may have standing to defend in such an action based on an interest in the property. For example, you might find an action like “US Customs Service v 50 Cases of Rum” in a seizure proceeding. The importer whose rum it is may appear to contest the allegation that, say, import duties were or were not paid.

“ongoing cases that are just out of reach of the public eye”

Ongoing cases are matters of public record and there are those whose business it is, specifically, to keep an eye on them. Howard is one of those people, so this kind of argument by “I know stuff that you don’t know” just doesn’t wash.

It’s absolutely clear that the domain registrant here was using someone else’s reputation in a specific area to profit from precisely that reputation. If you read the other filings she lost out on media inquiries from folks who thought it was her website. The website even identified itself as being hers. This is not some sort of “edge case” of debatable merit on some fine point of law. I will grant you that her claim to fame is unusual, but that’s how she’s made a living, and it is that very peculiarity that renders it clear that the domain registrant was a lowlife scumbag, to use the technically precise term.

Similarly, people are forever posting notices at the bottom of a website claiming that “website.com” or some made up fictitious business name owns the copyright. Makes no sense. Only a person or an an entity can own property.

I could go into great detail as to what I do for a living, what I’ve done for a living, and specific examples of ongoing cases that are just out of reach of the public eye…but I won’t.

Just look at the world around you, brother…as a very talented bard once crooned, “Times are a changin’…”

Who the hell made you such an expert on predicting the future of domains?