TechCrunch demands NewTechCrunch.com domain; site owner tries to rebrand.
TechCrunch’s parent company AOL has filed a complaint with National Arbitration Forum to take down the copycat blog NewTechCrunch.com.
As of right now, NewTechCrunch.com does not resolve. But until recently the domain resolved to a web site that included articles about laptops, tablets, and phones (see photo from Archive.org, March 11).
Likely due to TechCrunch’s actions, the owners of the site are now trying to rebrand it as Techij.com. A news announcement in broken English from this month reads “No more NTC, Now We are Techij“. There’s also a scrolling announcement on the web site announcing the change.
Prior to the rebrand, the owner had shamelessly tried to copy the TechCrunch brand, including using a green color palette. The owner also had a Pinterest page for NewTechCrunch.
The owner of the web site created multiple “articles” and solicited direct advertising:
Already have a Business, Events, Products & services and looking to spread or promote them? Then Don’t Worry because NTC have some hot advertising zones, and Paid reviews offering at very cheap rates. For more detail Contact us at Advertise@NewTechCrunch.com
The current whois record for NewTechCrunch.com lists an owner in Pakistan. The domain was most recently registered in July 2012, but prior to that was registered by someone in China.
I believe this is the first time AOL has turned to the uniform domain name dispute resolution policy (UDRP) to demand a domain name that infringes on the TechCrunch brand. It has filed multiple UDRPs on behalf of its other blogs, including Huffington Post.
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