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Stolen domain name EQN.com returned to rightful owner

by — Policy & Law 3 Comments

Thief doesn’t show up to defend lawsuit.

Picture of thief at laptop computer

Verisign has transferred the domain name EQN.com to its previous owner after a judge ordered the transfer.

Blackshore Properties, Inc. of San Marino, California acquired EQN.com in a NameJet auction in 2011 for $4,950. A thief subsequently stole the domain name from the company and transferred it to Chinese domain name registrar 22.cn in 2016.

Blackshore filed an in rem lawsuit in October last year in U.S. District Court in Virginia where .com registry Verisign is located. The thief (not surprisingly) didn’t show up to defend the domain, so the judge ordered Verisign to return the domain name.

The registrar for the domain switched from 22.cn to Enom around February 1, 2019. Enom doesn’t publish Whois records but the transfer likely indicates the domain has been returned to the legitimate owner.

David Weslow of Wiley Rein represented Blackshore Properties.

Lawsuit filed to recover EQN.com domain name

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Domain was stolen in 2016, according to lawsuit.

A California company has filed a lawsuit (pdf) to recover the domain name EQN.com, which it says was stolen from its Enom account.

Blackshore Properties, Inc. of San Marino, California acquired EQN.com in a NameJet auction in 2011 for $4,950.

According to DomainTools historical Whois records, the domain name was transferred to a Chinese registrant at domain registrar 22.cn between May 5, 2016 and September 23, 2016. The lawsuit alleges that this transfer was theft.

The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Virginia where .com registry Verisign is located. Assuming no one shows up to defend the in rem lawsuit, the just will likely enter an order of default judgment and order Verisign to transfer the domain name.

Valuable three-letter .Com domains stolen

by — Policy & Law 11 Comments

NNN.com, Wok.com among domains man claims were stolen.

A Japanese man alleges that valuable domain names were stolen from his registrar account and transferred to another registrar. These aren’t run-of-the-mill three-letter domains, either. Among the domains he says are stolen include nnn.com and wok.com.

Yoshiki Okada filed (pdf) the in rem action in U.S. Federal District Court in Virginia where the .com registry Verisign is located. Okada claims that eol.com, fde.com, jol.com, nnn.com, olp.com, tang.com, wok.com, wtv.com, and zhang.com were stolen from him.

It’s unlikely that the alleged thief will show up to represent himself in Virginia. In most cases, the judge in this type of lawsuit will accept a default judgment and order Verisign to transfer the domains. The exception is when a stolen domain has been re-sold, in which case the buyer might try to defend the domain name.

 

Former SNN.com owner goes to court to recover domain name

by — Policy & Law 4 Comments

Original registrant files lawsuit after failing to recover domain name through UDRP.

The former owner of SNN.com, who says his domain name was stolen, has filed a lawsuit (pdf) in Virginia to try to recover the domain name.

The suit was filed by Delbert Terrill, who registered the domain name in 1995, along with domain name registrar Brandon Gray Internet Services, Inc dba NameJuice.com.

(If that registrar name looks familiar, it’s because it was suspended by ICANN for the “Domain Registry of America” domain slamming issue.)

The lawsuit alleges that someone used a fake passport & business license to steal the domain name and transfer it to a different registrar.

Terrill tried to recover the domain name through UDRP earlier this year. It failed after not providing evidence of common law rights in the term “SNN”.

Also, unusual in cases of alleged domain theft, the current registrant of the domain responded in the dispute. The registrant claimed it acquired the domain legitimately.

June’s top DNW stories

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Here’s a rundown of the top stories and podcasts on DNW from last month:

1. Timing is everything: why .XXX dwarfs other adult top level domain names – The .XXX namespace and others recently sold by ICM Registry paint a picture of how difficult it is to market a new TLD in a crowded environment.

2. Yes, your domain name registrar has made it impossible for people to contact you – The general internet public is just learning about the Whois ramifications of GDPR.

3. Man gets 20 years in prison for trying to steal a domain name – A man is headed to prison after an unusual physical attempt to steal a domain name.

4. Web.com to go private in $2 billion acquisition – The final price could be higher if competing offers come in.

5. Namecheap starts sending expired domains to GoDaddy Auctions – Namecheap is the latest domain name registrar to sign up to sell expired domains through GoDaddy.

Podcasts

All About .Me – I chat with .Me registry CMO Natasa Djukanovic about how the .Me domain name came to be.

Three companies using new TLDs – Three individuals who registered new TLDs for their businesses explain why.

The Amazon FBA business model – Learn about FBA, a unique ecommerce opportunity.

John Pollard: How to grow the usage of domain names – Donuts’ EVP of Registry explains how he believes domain names can find new uses.