Court Wants Explanation for Conflict of Interest over TRAFFIC Auction
Monday, August 30th, 2010
Court asks for explanation, but it’s probably a moot point anyway.
United States District Judge Susan Illston has asked DS Holdings and The United States to file a response to accusations that auctioning off domains previously held by John Zuccarini at a TRAFFIC auction would be a conflict of interest. Zuccarini complained to the court that this would be a conflict of interest since TRAFFIC co-organizer Howard Neu once represented him in the cybersquatting lawsuit that led to the judgment for which the domains would be auctioned.
The order states:
DS Holdings and the United States have moved to authorize auction of the domain names and distribution of the auction proceeds. In opposing the motion, Zuccarini asserts that the proposed auction site, the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Domain Conference & Expo, raises a conflict of interest because Howard Neu, an attorney who represented Zuccarini in the underlying action filed by Office Depot, is a co-owner and organizer of T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Moving parties DS Holdings and the Unites States do not address this assertion in their reply. DS Holdings and the United States are therefore directed, within ten days of the date of this order, to file a response to Zuccarini’s contentions regarding conflict of interest.
Of course this is probably all a moot point anyway. The TRAFFIC show organizers have gone on record saying they want nothing to do with auctioning off Zuccarini’s domain names. Given that TRAFFIC auctions are actually run by Latona’s, and merely use TRAFFIC as a venue, it’s likely that Neu didn’t even know about the plans to auction off the domains at TRAFFIC before he was dragged into it thanks to the court filings.
Elsewhere in the Zuccarini saga, Zuccarini has filed a response (pdf) to Network Solutions’ motion to dismiss his lawsuit over the sale of expired domain names he owned that were later handed to a receiver.
Further Reading:
- Latona’s Agrees to Auction Zuccarini Names Without TRAFFIC Backing
- Court to Auction John Zuccarini Domain Names April 8
- Latona’s to Auction Off Remaining Zuccarini Domains at TRAFFIC
Tags: john zuccarini
One lingering mystery in this soap opera is – who owns DS Holdings LLC?
As a fellow attorney, I can sympathize with Howard Neu greatly. One can never really anticipate where the next needless headache is coming from, but this one is particularly from left field.
If Zuccarini’s claims are factual, then court may have to find for him is this. Atty./Client privilege and such are sacrosanct.
One lingering mystery in this soap opera is – who owns DS Holdings LLC?
>>> good one john
Holding I, II or what ?
Forget conflict of interest, how about conflict of venue, the TRAFFIC auction is officially a bust and laughing stock. They wouldnt even rate a 3rd choice.
@who owns DS Holdings LLC?
That is a really good question… although several people have claimed that they tried to find out, no one to date has found that answer I guess.