Gaia Capitalist

Virgin Fuels news site domain name reigistration discussion centers on Virgin's contention that I am domain squatting on virginfuels.org.  Cases like these were handled in the courts in the 1990's, with findings that prohibited squatters from profiting. 

Precedence Virgin is basing it's $25 offer for registration reimbursement for transfer of virginfuels.org.

What I am doing as a white hat web publisher of an Internet bioenergy news site is not domain squatting.

Wiki 12.29.06  "According to the U.S. federal law known as the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, cybersquatting is registering, trafficking in, or using a domain name with bad-faith intent to profit from the goodwill of a trademark belonging to someone else. The cybersquatter then offers to sell the domain to the person or company who owns a trademark contained within the name at an inflated price.

The term is derived from "squatting", which is the act of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied space or building that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have permission to use. Cybersquatting however, is a bit different in that the domain names that are being "squatted" are being paid for through the registration process by the Cybersquatters. Cybersquatters usually ask for prices far greater than that at which they purchased it. Some cybersquatters put up derogatory remarks about the person or company the domain is meant to represent in an effort to encourage the subject to buy the domain from them.

As with many controversial issues some argue that the dividing line of Cybersquatting is difficult to draw, and that the practice is consistent with a capitalistic and free market ethos.

Cybersquatters sometimes register variants of popular trademarked names, a practice known as typosquatting.

Cybersquatting is one of the most loosely used terms related to domain name intellectual property law and is often incorrectly used to refer to the sale or purchase of generic domain names such as example.com; where a covetous party has designs on unseating an innocent entity that was first-to-register a generic and valuable domain name."

For one thing, it's a whole new cyberworld.  Everyone knows these days, if you choose not to reserve a domain name - when you have the chance - someone else has every right to buy it and use it for any variety of purposes. This is the name of the game. 

I find the following statement by Mark James, Virgin Enterprises Intellectual Property manager, particularly naive and somewhat offensive in its presumptions.  "We cannot be expected to register every permutation of every possible domain name and should be entitled to rely on our trade mark rights instead." 

Who considers virginfuels.org an obscure permutation of their Virgin Fuels name?

Remarkable.  This is the largest enterprise on earth and they are so confident and comfortable about their trademark and copyrights in cyberspace that they failed to take the simple first step to secure their Internet domain names when they had the chance.  Not only is Virgin saying "We don't have to shell out the $25 each and bother purchasing our domain names. We already own them anyway and no one else is allowed to purchase or use them."

They appear to have no idea how the Internet works.  I bought the name fair and square on the open public market.  Domain names to poor people like me are like stock options to the rich.  We know the value a domain name can have for buzz keyword value in addition to the right site design, structure and optimization. Hard to feel sorry for the entire Virgin Corporate web and Internet department for not getting it together.

Think what precedent could be set if Virgin manages to force me to transfer registration of virginfuels.org?  What are the implications for all Interpreneurs if someone, anyone can come back months, years later maybe and lay claim to a fully developed and optimized site alleging "domain squatting" or trademark infringement.  When do trademarked names become public domain keywords, meta tags and page titles?  How much responsibility does Virgin carry for not noticing virginfuels.org was active, not bothering to check the SEs, not bothering to respond to my Virgin Corporate letter for five weeks?  I publicly launched the virginfuels.org on September 28, 2006.

They certainly didn't need to slam the door on me the week before Christmas.

I created a Global BioEnergy News site providing information about renewable fuels and sustainable energy, and featuring and promoting the great work of SRB and Virgin Fuels.  Definitely not the definition of domain squatting. 

I didn't ask for a handout. I'm not holding the domain name virginfuels.org ransom in exchange for unearned profit.

I offered virginfuels.org to Virgin Fuels as a gift in exchange for consideration for work or a paid job.  Mark James of Virgin Intellectual Property is treating me as if I'm a common criminal.  12.29.06 16:45