Owner of Aida.me registered domain name for his daughter.
Cruiseline AIDA Cruises has lost a UDRP it filed against the domain name Aida.me. It turns out the owner of the domain name registered it for his two year old daughter, Aida.
The owner provided a copy of his daughter’s birth certificate as proof. He also pointed out that he registered domain names for his other three children.
On the surface, this seems like a case that could have been easily prevented had the cruise line merely reached out to the domain owner and asked him what his intentions were with the domain name. But I’m willing to cut AIDA some slack given that the whois record is protected by privacy, which would have made it harder to reach the domain owner. Although there’s a unique Network Solutions privacy email address, these whois privacy addresses don’t always get forwarded correctly.
Interestingly, even your child’s name might be available at a price. Aida.me is listed for sale on Sedo for 4,999 EUR, although it’s possible that a previous owner listed it. [Update: as Acro points out in the comments, it was listed for sale by a previous owner.]
Mark says
I remember in not far past we had an UDRP case in which panelist has decided that registering domain name for family member is not a good faith and such domain holder lost the domain. Looks like now we see more reasonable decision from a panelist that has brain…
John Berryhill says
“He also pointed out that he registered domain names for his other three children”
Yes, but the panel failed to take into account whether he’s been naming his children in bad faith, and didn’t mention that his other children are named “Microsoft”, “Facebook”, and “Verizon”.
ChuckWagen says
That’s odd, the press photo has them listed as Aetna, Acura and Rune Unit.
acroplex says
The domain was listed for sale on Sedo by its former (Chinese) owner, before it dropped in Dec. 2012. The current owner is based in Australia.
Andrew Allemann says
Ah yes, I suppose I could have clicked the ‘meet the seller’ link. Thanks
Kassey says
Did he use a lawyer, or did he defend it himself? I can’t imagine the average Joe has the knowledge to defend it himself, or can afford the money to hire a lawyer. Does he own a lot of domains?
Andrew Allemann says
Lawyer