wolfb - feeds and RSS

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contact the EFF. they may or may not be able to help.

http://www.eff.org/

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Thank you, fantastic idea. I just emailed them. Now I am happy I donated a few dollars to them last month .... they are the only ones that care about this things nowadays.

Thank again

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https://www.marcanet.com/web/registro_marcas1_resultado.asp?pag=1&ns=true&marca=deusto

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Gracias, y alo tenía, es el enlace a el registro de marcas español, y como ves, las marcas "deusto" son todas del 2002. Pero mi dominio sigue suspendido ......

Por si no se ve claro, el enlace es este

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fight it or this will happen again and again !

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good luck, hope they get hosed.

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you registed the domain in 1997 so you own the trade mark so they are infringing your trademark

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The same thing happened to nissan.com. I believe there is a lawsuit pending.
It's bullshit anyways, you had it fairly registered. I'm pretty sure you'll win this case man...

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digg traffic should help bring you support; make the most of it. protect your rights, its hard to argue with an 8 year site registration record

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That's a disgrace. You really should fight them with all you've got, they got there too late and it's just tough for them. Good luck!

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Digg? - Dugg!

Good luck m8, should be an easy win, especially if the eff decides to get involved....

Hope all goes well, but keep in mind this might just be a war for OUR rights as well....

GOOD LUCK!

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No perderás
esos hijos de puta no se pueden salir con la suya...
Mucha suerte y ánimo

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Or sell it to them for an ungodly amount of money, like everyone else does. But send out a newsletter/rss post informing your subscribers, and require the company to give you 15-30 days before you transfer the domain...to be sure you've got all your people off it.

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Just ask them what you think your domain is worth for you. They will settle because it will be cheaper then their legal fees.

twowordz

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Dont sell it or even hint that you would do so, as that can be used as evidence against you and your intentions.

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I'm with you all the way. Try making an online petition, and getting both the Digg users and your website visitors to sign it. It may help.

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indeed, very very very bad idea to propose them to sell... as this will be proof that you are in it for the profit, and not for the domain name. If you send them a proposal, you might as well just hand it over now, because you'll definitely lose in that case...

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Use the Wayback Machine (google it) and print out every single copy they have (they've got your site snapshotted several years back, I just checked) and use it to prove you've used the domain in good faith and without trying to extort or undermine that company.

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Expect to get a fair degree of traffic and considerable attention from online media outlets.

I highly recommend the EFF. Remember, right now Duesto's actions are merely threats and for now are baseless.

Contact me privately if you need further assistance.

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Fight them to the bitter end. Try and find a lawyer who will do it pro-bono(for free) then you will have someone to represent you if they force this thing into court.

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brotha,
rise up and fight "the man". In the case of company vs squatter there should be no contest, but in the case of arrogant company vs. good citizen, you should win. If it were me, I'd sue them for damages. Corporations need to know that we're not going to take this kind of crap anymore. Power to the people, thats what the internet stood for, and we can't let 2-bit crooks like these erase it through government or politics.

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land names could not be registered as the trademarks, I guess.

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I don't see anything wrong with wanting to sell. A lot of people register and sell domains for a job. If you did register it in 97 then you owned the domain before they registered the trademark. They should not be able to just take it away from you.

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srry this has happed to you i hope you win

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This no longer the "dot com boom" there is no way they can win as long as you were using the site and not squating. It is easy to prove you had it first if you log in to where ever you registered your domain im sure it has the date printed all over the place. Good Luck!

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They can not sue or take the name of the domain name. You purchased it in 1997 and there company started in 2002? There is no trademark infridgment because you purchased it 5 years before the company was developed.

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They have no case, fight it all the way.

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Counter sue and take YOUR name back.

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Virtual Works, Inc. v. Volkswagen of America, Inc.

§ 1125. False designations of origin, false descriptions, and dilution forbidden (look at D).

That's American law though, won't help you with WIPO or spanish law.

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"The same thing happened to nissan.com. I believe there is a lawsuit pending.
It's bullshit anyways, you had it fairly registered. I'm pretty sure you'll win this case man..." Nissan.com won the lawsuit against Nissan.

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Well, it's like the rolling stones once said "Time is on my side, yes it is.."
Well, not my side but yours. The EFF should help out a lot, and I'm not sure how the legal system in Spain works, but if you can prove that you've owned this longer than these shmucks have been around, and that they've overlooked this from 2002 untill now, why would you need a lawyer? Seems pretty open and shut.
Whatever happens. I wish you the best of luck.

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Damn, I think it really stinks what they're trying to pull of. I'll put your story on my site ( http://www.snowball.be ) too, so more people will know about it!

Good luck with this!

gill cleeren

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See how much it's worth http://www.business-opportunities.biz/projects/how-much-is-your-blog-worth/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwolfb.com%2F

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i would send a letter to the WIPO making them liable for any losses you have for your domain being off-line. DON'T offer it for sale.

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Tell them that under Spanish law that because they are "Hijo de puta" they can get stuffed.

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#whois deusto.com

Creation Date: 05-Aug-1997

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You've got my full support from over here in the UK, you shouldnt let these fools steal your domain, fight it until the end!

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a friend of mine is a law student and he told me that EU-law says that you own the adress, and they have no right to take it from you.
i dont know if that's true tho, because he's a slacker lol, but i dont see a problem here because you registered the domain in 1997 and you dont have bad intentions.

but who has the right to suspend your domain anyway, i dont get it.
weird net world... :/

but i dont think fighting them is a good idea. maybe a petition on digg would be a good idea?

good luck!

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Good luck in your fight. It is a good thing that this is being handled by the WIPO Dispute Resolution, because they are very fast, and fairly inexpensive. While you might want to get a lawyer, a lawyer is not always necessary for this type of case. There are some things you want to be aware of.

Very important! I am not a lawyer, in any nation. This is not legal advice, but is provided for entertainment value only.

The Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy and the Rules are listed here:
http://arbiter.wipo.int/domains/rules/index.html (English)

http://arbiter.wipo.int/domains/rules/index-es.html (Spanish)

Either set of rules is official, but you should use the one you recieved the complaint in.

The Rules (Reglamento) are very important, especially Rule 5, which controls how long you have to respond, and how you must respond.

The factors you have to meet to keep your domain name are in the Policy (Política uniforme), especially Rule 4.

Under Rule 4(a), the Complainant must prove _all_ of the following:
(i) That your domain name is identical or confusingly similar to their trademark. Alright, they probably have you on this one.
(ii) That you have no rights or legitimate interests in the name. You are probably good on this one. It is a general word, and a term for a neighborhood of Bilbao. You have as much right as anybody to that word. Moreover, you registered the domain name long before they registered the word as a trademark, so you have been building an audience at this domain name.
(iii) Your domain name has been registered and used in bad faith. 4(b) has four factors for bad faith. If you got the domain for the purpose of selling it, if you got it for the purpose of keeping the "rightful owner" from having it, you wanted to disrupt the business of a competitor, or you are trying to take advantage of their trademark, then they could find bad faith. They would only need one of those, they don't need all four. Moreover, if you've done anything that might show bad faith, that's not on the list, they can use that against you, too.

Not only does your opponent need to prove the above, but you have affirmative defenses in 4(c). If you can prove those, you can win. They are:
(i) You were using it to truly offer goods and/or services prior to notice of the dispute
(ii) You, yourself, have been commonly known by that name
(iii) You are making legitimate fair use of the domain name, with no intent to confuse or tarnish the reputation of the trademark holder.

Your best bet is probably to show (i), since you were running the website and offering services.

Good luck in your fight. Don't forget, you usually only have 20 days after getting the complaint to make your answer. (That's covered in the Rules under rule 5.) Make sure you give them everything they ask for, and in a timely manner. Your dispute is going to be handled by three guys sitting around and reading your answer. Tell them the truth, and tell them what's important, and you should do fine.

K

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The key is why you registered the domain name. When a company states that you took their domain name and squatted it is because in teh past "squatters" take names they think will be valuable for that purpose only. If the name of your site had some sort of association with the point of the website or something that is simply significant to you then they cannot take your name. They must show ill intent on your part.

Sell it to them for $1 million and explain to them how it will save them bad press and lawyer money. If they choose to attack you in this way explain to them that you will start a grassroots internet revolution. You have already started it with this blog and posting it on Digg.

Keep it up. Try to get it on Slashdot.

Keep up the fight!! VIVE LA REVOLUCION!!

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Published in Mangas Verdes

Suerte, y un saludo.

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Have you not tried to contact any lawyers for pro-bono work? I would think many lawyers would love this type of case. Open and shut specially with the nissan.com case as precedent. Get a lawyer now man. Shut that company up quickly. Don't wait for someone else to help you. Start knocking on some doors and doing some footwork. Good luck.

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I echo many of the comments that this is a very unfair act. I don't know much about this publishing company but it seems the name is largely in the public domain and not really specific or unique. It also seems that the suspension was done with little use of the brain by of whomever. I hope all goes well in your fight to overcome this idiocy!

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so which one of you posters is actually a lawyer with IP experience.... none that is what I thought. Anyway there are a few questions to answer from a legal perspective none of which are relative if you will be willing to sell them the domain name. Otherwise you should know that unless you registered the name as a trademark, you don't have trademark protection. Another question is what are you using the domain name for? Why did you register that name, was it for your own purpose or to frustrate some other person or business? A WIPO action is not a court case it is just a third party that handles complaints. They have their own hearing process to determine ownership. Rights to a domain name and trademark rights are separate issues. They can have trademark rights and still not have rights to the domain name. My advice is to just sell the name to them to save yourself the headache.

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send them a letter back saying, $10,000,000 or fuck off.

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As it's the name of a neighbourhood, they word-marked 'Planeta Deusto' and not just 'Deusto', and the fact that domains are a seperate kettle of fish, they don't actually have a leg to stand on.

Good luck, buddy.

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Also, I just read some of the other comments:

Don't offer to sell it to them. Making an offer to sell can sometimes be interpreted as "bad faith." Don't give them an excuse. Now, if they make an offer to you, and you want to take it, that's fine. But they need to make the first move.

If they are doing this under the WIPO UDRP (Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy) then this isn't going through the courts, yet. That means that it is cheaper for both of you. If they win, your domain registrar has to turn over your domain to them. It is part of the agreement you had with your domain name registrar. (It is part of the agreement everybody has with their domain name registrar.)

Now, just because one side loses in the dispute resolution, doesn't mean that the fight is over. Either side can "appeal," by bringing a case in your national court. Disputes are required to go through WIPO first, but after that, anything a court says trumps WIPO.

Again, good luck.

K

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In the US, you have to file a trademark on a domain name, otherwise a company can come along and claim it. BUT, they have to show that they need it under certain guidelines. (http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/tac/notices/guide299.htm)

I don't know how it works in Spain though. I would gather up any material you have used (online or print) that shows how you've used the domain name. That may be enough to show that you're legitimally using it.

GOOD LUCK!

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Pfft dude fight it if you can if not sell it to them .. who cares about morals and such .. its money in your pocket right? and that money can go to a good cause or somthing.

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Good luck with your fight against the corporate scum. Its high time that someone showed the companies that can afford to take on the services of hot-shot lawyers that money doesn't determine who is right and who is wrong.

Kick their ass to court and back into the hole they came from

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I'll send a few bucks if you decide to fight it...
Just post your info

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I would sue them or demand a million or something from them for the domain name. Demand money for it. If they dont pay, offer to sell the site elsewhere and get a lawyer.

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EFF might be able to help. I'm not sure if they do international cases though, they are usually very USA oriented. But if you go to court... Again not sure how it works over there, you might be entitled to a govt provided attorney.

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DO NOT ASK THEM FOR MONEY.
That's a sure fire way to lose the domain.

If they went through the WIPO, then you're in luck. Stick to the WIPO rules and you'll likely be able to keep the domain. You simply have to follow the rules precisely.

Explain that the word is a generic name, show that you've had the domain since 1997, show that it has been active and not just a placeholder for that time period (archive.org can help you out here), and you'll likely win. It's a pain in the ass, but the good thing about the WIPO is that they are very stringent about their rules. The bigger guy doesn't automatically win in all cases.

Remember, the WIPO is not a court of law. They do arbitration only. Their decision is not binding, but it's damn close. So if you win or lose (and you stand a good chance of winning if you're careful), this doesn't mean they can't sue you or you can't sue them in court anyway. But usually that does not happen.

But under no circumstances should you ever mention asking for money. You WILL lose the domain if you do that, because that is considered evidence that you are acting in bad faith. If they OFFER money and you try to negotiate a price, then that's fine, but *THEY* must offer you money, you cannot ask for it first.

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I had the domain quiddity.com for a while, and got three big "offers." One was legitimate, and I ended up selling to them, although I resisted at first. Another was interested but would only offer future products as payment (barter!). The third was the manager of a band in South Africa, and demanded that I give over the domain for free, otherwise I was a squatter or worse.

People will try all sorts of tricks on you. Just stick up for your rights.

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Fight it baby, FIGHT IT! Run those rat bastards into the ground.

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+Digg

They may have more money, but you had the domain 5 years before them. Don't go "$10,000,000, or fuck off" you will lose the domain.

+Petition

Go to petitiononline and make a new petition, and add it to your blog link, and you WILL get support from the DIGG users, as well as your own users.

Good Luck!

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We all are with you... Fight!

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Fight it! You can win it. http://www.eff.org

Once you won. Tray to sel it to them for some miljons euro and the 'must' that they leavce for at least 2 years a link on the mane page to your new site. And add to that 'or I will sue you for the downtime'...

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Suerte amigo. No dejes que esos cabrones y sus abogados te mangoneen.

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I'm with you. Good luck.

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You're getting railroaded. Fight it, man.

I wish you all the luck in the world.

-Grant "Bassguy" Brunner

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Put it to them, don't let them get away with this.

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Good luck, and take care! Keep it up!

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They shouldn't be allowed to do this and I hope they won't get away with it.

You had the name and the domain first and you can prove that, so if they win then there is a massive miscarriage of justice.

Fight, and cause them as much respectible damage as possible (Articles in papers etc).

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Good luck! Fight them all the way to the end.

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I came here from digg... just wanted to say good luck!

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happens all the time nowadays. I wish all mid to giant size entities would burn in hell along with any associated liars (lawyers). We need truly p2p, distrubuted, societal structures. This constant pining for top-down power-structures, is something we seem to be destined to repeat, time & time again. As long as we do, we will 'ultimately' regress & force our own extinction. Thats if some natural catastophe doesnt come along 1st.. Time to catch some zzzz's

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F*cking bastards! You will win. Sue for damages later on.

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I hope you win. If you do, sue their ass for suspending your domain... you're losing money and potential visitors and customers the longer this takes to get sorted.

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Don't let this slide. You do need to fight this. Contact EFF or any other lawyer organization that knows about this kind of stuff. You should be able to get compensated for the frivolous lawsuit that they filed and the damage that it has caused you.

No lo dejes que te la quiten. Pelea y venceras!

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i beleve the eff would be a good place to start. but if they cant help do some resurch and dig up the copyright laws in your country. for example in the US you own the copyright after you make something even if you didnt formaly copyright it. i hope this helps.

oh and if you didnt already get an image of the whois info on your domain stating that you have had it regestered scence 1997 you might want to get it now or you cant back up your case.

(oh and talk to your domain regestar they might be able to help prove that you have owned your domain for longer than their traidmark)

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The same thing happened to me a while ago. I took it to WIPO arbitration, won, and on top of it the company was found to be attempting to reverse domain hijack. You can see the information about it here.

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Is it me or has everyone missed the additional problem of having the site taken down? Sounds like you can also sue them for defamation, loss of business, and trademark violations.

** Comment: **
Is it me or has everyone missed the additional problem of having the site taken down? Sounds like you can also sue them for defamation, loss of business, and trademark violations.

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I hope you stick it to "The Man"

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*** Contact EVERY Newspaper, Radio and Television Station in your area with your story.

Bad press makes companies run for the hills.

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Look at the etoy.com / etoys.com problem from years ago if you need some reason to keep up the fight. etoy.com existed first, but etoys.com tried to take away etoy.com in a lawsuit since their customers couldn't spell the domain right. In the end, etoys.com lost and etoy.com survived.

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The EFF would be your best bet.. unless the company offers 1 million USD for your domain, this will let you transfer to a new domain, and advertise like crazy to get back your visitors. ;)

According to the number of digg you got up to now, I guess your story will reach up to 3000-4000, which is the best thing that could happen to you. This way, you will get the needed attention to support your case. Contacting a few big news media site would also be a great idea. I know that as a big corporation, I wouldn't want my name to be involved in this story.. You had the domain since 97 after all.

Good luck, and god bless you


Kiltak
[Geeks Are Sexy] Tech. News

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THis is rediculous, fight it. This will be a precedent.

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I had the same thing happen to me, awhile back with the domain www.premieres.com A magazine in spain or france wanted our domain but they could not rightfully get it because there was no case they being premiere magazine and our domain having an s on the end.

I really hope you win this case it's not fair at all.

Good Luck

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The WIPA must disregard their request and respect your ownership of the domain since 1997. Any other action would be unconcionable, unethical and a breach of private commerce. However, you better get a lawyer (pro-bono if possible) to help you make your case. Large corporations have both time and money on their side and corruption is rampant throughout the world! Best of luck!
USA

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tell them to go stuff it. its ur domain, u have the rights to it. Sue der ass, u will will this no problem.

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offer to settle for a a lot of money or you will take them to court, before you turn it over.. its going to cost them a lot of money to do something.

dugg

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Here from Digg

Hope you win the fight!

Dugg++

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FIGHT! .

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You guys reccomending he ask for millions are being silly. All this company is doing is making a standard strong first move. Ask for a million dollars and they will most likely walk. Why do you think Ryder registered YELLOWTRUCK.COM? Because some greedy moron thought he could extort millions from them. They simply walked. And he got nothing.

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Thank all of you for your comments, I am reading hundreds of emails of support. Thanks to DIGG and the blogosphere for the support. Will report what happens .....

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How come you don't have a paypal link so people can give you cash to help you take the time away from your work to find this, and to pay for legal fees?

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I also tought about something in my lunch time, Why don't you provide a contact email address to the company in your post so we can let them know the way we think? :) I'm pretty sure receiving 30000 emails will get their attention.

Woudln't that be a great idea? I think so. Not sure if this could get you in legal trouble, but it's worth a try.

Kiltak
[Geeks Are Sexy] Tech. News

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Thanks, but I don't need the cash, I work in a shipping company and I make a decent living already. And I could afford, probably, the legal fees. But I simply don't think it is right !!!!

Thanks anyway. The best support is a vote in digg and and a comment like yours. THANKS

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Seriously, contact the American Bar Association. I'd start with the Intellectual Property Section at http://www.abanet.org/intelprop/home.html

Section of Intellectual Property Law
American Bar Association
321 N. Clark Street
Chicago, IL 60610-4714
312-988-5598
Fax: 312-988-6800
iplaw@abanet.org

They should know where to point you.

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Glad you are leaning away from selling the domain. In the past offering to sell or agreeing to sell has actually been used against the domain owner. The case I'm thining about the company (Microsoft I think in fact) was the one to suggest selling for something like $10,000 and when the owner agreed they used that as evidence of bad faith and that he had only purchased the domain with intent to sell it.

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Do NOT ask for money or compensation in exchange for the domain!!! Doing so (as others have stated) will quickly help you lose your domain.

It will be viewed by the WIPO as a indicator that you did, in fact, register the domain so as to exhort money from the company for the domain.

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Attorney Ari Goldberger handles domain dispute cases. His website is www.esqwire.com. ari@esqwire.com

Another attorney is John Berryhill, john@johnberryhill.com

Both of these attorneys have successfully represented domainholders in the past and can likely win the case for you.

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I am concerned this is not the entire story. It is not the policy of the WIPO to suspend domains in these types of situations.

You should consult ICANN's Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy, which is the guideline for WIPO's arbitration.

Here's an abbreviated version of what they would need to qualify:

* your domain name is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which the complainant has rights; and
* you have no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name; and
* your domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith.

Bad faith is:

* circumstances indicating that you have registered or you have acquired the domain name primarily for the purpose of selling, renting, or otherwise transferring the domain...(extortion)
* you have registered the domain name in order to prevent the owner of the trademark or service mark from reflecting the mark in a corresponding domain name, provided that you have engaged in a pattern of such conduct; or
* you have registered the domain name primarily for the purpose of disrupting the business of a competitor; or
* by using the domain name, you have intentionally attempted to attract, for commercial gain, Internet users to your web site or other on-line location, by creating a likelihood of confusion with the complainant's mark as to the source, sponsorship, affiliation, or endorsement of your web site or location or of a product or service on your web site or location.

Now the key word in the qualifications is AND as long as you are using the domain in good faith WIPO will do nothing.

If this is true you do have rights, please be aware of them.

P.S. As to the people who suggested the IP section of the ABA, and the EFF, they are mistaken. Those organizations would do nothing more than to point you at WIPO documentation at best. The anonymous comment about attempts to sell the domain for $10k and having it used as evidence of 'bad faith' is spot on. Be able to back up any sale figures with expenses of transferring the domain and reasonable affect it will have on your business.

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gl mate!

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Put up a fight. It's yours.

Good luck with it.

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keep the good fight. a lot of people supports your cause. especially against a giant corporate structure.

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Good luck mate. I hope you win.

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Congrats on the digg. Glad this is getting the attention it deserves. Good luck, and I hope you beat them to the ground. Maybe you can file a counter suit for mental anguish. :)

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Good luck man I keep us updated on digg!

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if they registered their name as a trademark and you did not, its a possibility they have all rights to the name...

There has been many battles with people with a pre-registered domain names and quite frankly most cases are lost. so you my blogging friend should have all rights to the domain name no matter what. let them fight...theyll get nothing in the end.

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F*** them, you had it first. Counter sue, just include all down time from the domain suspension, as well as lawyer fees and personal damages. Perhaps they should have checked to see if anyone owned the site before they set their name...I mean its fairly obscure. However, in the US, I think there was a similar case, where the World Wildlife Federation sued the "world wrestling federation" for the rights to wwf.com and they won. Even though the site had been registered for a while...but this was a Non-profit vs "Sports Entertainment" (questionable, if you ask me, its not that entertaining). So the courts may have sided with the wildlife federation to save face??

Long story short...good luck, you should own them!

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DON'T EVERYONE HATE ME, BUT

Look, you're not using the name right now. It has obvious value for them. I think you should acknowledge both these facts and send them a one time offer as follows,

"Gentlemen, I have plans to use this domain name that I registered in 97. You also have a need for it, and perhaps a more immediate one. Rather than go through any wasteful legal hassles, I'm willing to sign it over to you completely and unconditionally for a non-exorbitant but non-trivial amount, $25k.
Though domain names have been gouged for millions, I have no desire to do any of that, but it will be a significant inconvenient change of plans for me, so I think a simple clear $25k is reasonable. This offers stands through one week from today. Contact me if you are interested."

OK, maybe $50 to start is better and let them counter offer down to $25. Whatever. Don't ask for too much. Don't act like you're being deeply wronged. Take a bit of money and walk away happy.

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HEY LETS HELP THIS GUY OUT BY CLICKING ON ONE OF THE ADS ON HIS PAGE we all click once and it can pay for legal fees and then some!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Click the ads on his page to give him money? ARE YOU THAT RETARDED?!

With that being said good luck

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Actually its google ad-sense so if you click the ads (just the "ads by google" i dunno about the rest) it does give him money. Think before you post.

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'DON'T EVERYONE HATE ME, BUT...' Why not reread par2 of original post?..80,000 visitors per month.

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ya jerk im not stupid clicking on ads does give you money cuz he is using adsense moron!

** Comment: **
Contact la smala at www.radiochango.com, they are based here in Barcelona and might be able to drum you up some support, get your name heard (give out stickers SAVE DEUSTO)through the different local scenes, since that's where this is going to play itself out.
They are from Manu Chao's possee and have some hundreds of thousands of visits a month, online radio, huge mailing list, organize social events and manifestations and may be able to get your story out to various spanish activists groups.

Lots of great Spanish bands willing to help spread the word: Cheb Balowski, the Radio Bemba crew, Go.lem System, Che Sudaka, Costo Rico, 08001 and others (I was at one in support of a local record store last summer in Madrid. Closed street, a few thousands people dancing at improptu concert got media attention which is basically what you want to do: shame the company with the potential clients. Theyre not gonna care what non-costumers think as much as people in their own country who might be put off by their actions)

Its cool that this is getting some notice in the US but you're gonna have to deal with your laws (Love the anon who pimps his two lawyers uncles. How an american lawyer is gonna help in spanish court would be interesting!)


Colin DAVIES
Manchester->Barcelona

** Comment: **
I can't believe that I read every post on this blog. Interested I am, or so it seems. Injustice draws attention.

If you ask for money, you lose the site. So don't.

If you've used the site and produce a record of such, you keep the site.

You have 20 days from notice to respond. Don't use them all, don't cut it close. Has the deadline already passed?

My thought: Posting a PayPal button to collect battle-funds from us might be cited as bad faith move. Not good idea.

Fight the battle for me because I don't want someone wanting my site and getting it.

If they ask you: "What would you take for it, name your price, any price, there's got to be a price you'd sell it for?", don't answer. It's a common trick to get you to say "a million bucks", or any amount, whereupon you've lost your site. If they want it, they know how to make an offer, and it will be in writing. Then take it to an attorney before answering.

I'm sure there's more to the story. Life's seldom simple. Sometimes there is justice, sometimes there is not.

If I read the whole blog, which I almost never do, then I promise you that this is a high-interest issue. An email to your customers/subscribers, stated well, will probably cause them to follow you to a new site, if need be, even if they are inactive.

Good luck my friend.

** Comment: **
Just too f'in lame.

** Comment: **
Offer to sell it to them, if they refuse to buy the domain name, tell them.. tough luck, you got to it.. WAY late...

Of course, offer large amounts. :)

and...
Whomever your registered with...
Host Or Domain Registrant,
Shouldn't have the right to suspend it, I suggest moving to a new company.

** Comment: **
i would suggest you put a cap on the amount of money and/or time you are willing to invest into fighting it, as more likely than not, they will drag it on long enough for you to lose. and start switching over to a new domain as soon as possible. it is not possible to fight a corporation and win.

** Comment: **
check out dnforum.com, namepros.com. A lot of people there with knowledge of these proceedings.

Dr. John Berryhill is pretty well known in Domain Trademark law:

http://icannwiki.org/John_Berryhill

** Comment: **
wow, I just seriously wish I could help in some way.... but I don't have any way to help. I don't think I would be as pissed off about this had it been an American company, but how can a company in Spain take a .com domain from an american?

** Comment: **
Dr. Berryhill posted some specific rulings in a forum to give you some clues.

Graz.com:
http://www.disputes.org/decisions/0950.htm

Cityofsalinas.com/net/org:
http://www.arbforum.com/domains/decisions/97076.htm

Cityofdearborn.com:
http://www.arbforum.com/domains/decisions/99602.htm

A couple more:

Newzealand.com:
http://esqwire.com/newzealand.shtml

Mexico.com:
http://arbiter.wipo.int/domains/decisions/html/2004/d2004-0242.html

Madrid.com:
http://arbiter.wipo.int/domains/decisions/html/2002/d2002-1110.html

The most "famous" is the Barcelona.com case because it went thru a UDRP, a District Court, and an Appellate Court. The 3rd finally found favor on the original registrant against the complaining party.

** Comment: **
You can ask Jason Fiore he is a Lawyer and has won a wipo. the website is www.laurabranigan.com

He also has won aother case but I dont remember the name, he also does alot of pro bono for the arts.He is based is Hollywood.CA

** Comment: **
check this one out


www.huspinina.com