5 ms·

He wasn't as innocent as portrayed. The problem was he ran car related ads on his site: https://web.archive.org/web/19991122224115/http://nissan.com:80/ https:/

by ohashi 4y ago

He wasn't as innocent as portrayed. The problem was he ran car related ads on his site: https://web.archive.org/web/19991122224115/http://nissan.com:80/ https://web.archive.org/web/19991122224115/http://nissan.com... If you look at his site, when it was a computer shop, fine. Then he started running ads (really trying to profit off nissan motor's brand) related to cars. Then he got taken to court. He played off like a victim forever. Did he have a legitimate reason to buy the domain originally? Absolutely. Did he infringe on Nissan's trademark? Almost surely, which is why he was forced to stop. No real good guy in this story. What's my background on this? I helped build the most comprehensive database for domain name legal cases (https://udrp.tools https://udrp.tools) and tend to be involved in areas regarding domain name registrant rights. IP lobby is already way too strong, picking something like Nissan.com as the rallying call really isn't the right move. There is going to be some balance. If you want egregious, lookup france.com https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/supreme-court-wont-upset-frances-win-francecom-trademark-fight-2021-12-13/ https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/supreme-court-wont-... The french government intervened in a case and took france.com from the owner claiming sole right to using 'France' That is bullshit. ICANN is also trying to take away domain name holder's rights to even go to court at all, in case it's an IGO (https://freespeech.com/2022/05/18/icann-igo-working-group-chair-disspain-admits-they-would-be-significantly-challenged-on-scope/ https://freespeech.com/2022/05/18/icann-igo-working-group-ch...). IGO thinks your domain infringes on your rights? You have zero recourse, and they want to grant immunity from the legal system. There are some real fucking injustices happening in the domain world that nobody is paying attention too. Nissan.com isn't one of them.

neurostimulant 4y ago
What's wrong with running cars ads on his own websites? Unless he misled his visitors into thinking his site is official nissan motors website, I don't see anything wrong with running some ads on it.
- pc86 4y ago
  You really can't see how a reasonable person could just type in nissan.com, see car ads, and click on them in confusion? Really?
  - pessimizer 4y ago
    If you're the type to randomly type in nissan.com, you're also the type to know that you want to buy a Nissan.
    - hda2 4y ago
      > If you're the type to randomly type in nissan.com, you're also the type to know that you want to buy a Nissan. Fortunately the courts didn't agree with your hypothesis. This is a clear-cut case of trademark violation.
- ohashi 4y ago
  Because Nissan is a car brand with trademarks. If you owned apple.com and sold apples, all good. If you ran ads for computers and phones, it's a problem and infringing their mark. Trademarks are supposed to protect a brand in the category they operate in. Using their name and profiting off ads for the same category is cybersquatting. He operated in a somewhat gray area trying to run a computer repair shop with ads and got forced to stop. There is a reasonable argument that running car ads on nissan.com, one of the largest known car brands could cause brand confusion.
cat_plus_plus 4y ago
Idiots who name their company "John" deserve what they get.

by ohashi 4y ago

neurostimulant 4y ago

What's wrong with running cars ads on his own websites? Unless he misled his visitors into thinking his site is official nissan motors website, I don't see anything wrong with running some ads on it.

pc86 4y ago
You really can't see how a reasonable person could just type in nissan.com, see car ads, and click on them in confusion? Really?
- pessimizer 4y ago
  If you're the type to randomly type in nissan.com, you're also the type to know that you want to buy a Nissan.
  - hda2 4y ago
    > If you're the type to randomly type in nissan.com, you're also the type to know that you want to buy a Nissan. Fortunately the courts didn't agree with your hypothesis. This is a clear-cut case of trademark violation.
ohashi 4y ago
Because Nissan is a car brand with trademarks. If you owned apple.com and sold apples, all good. If you ran ads for computers and phones, it's a problem and infringing their mark. Trademarks are supposed to protect a brand in the category they operate in. Using their name and profiting off ads for the same category is cybersquatting. He operated in a somewhat gray area trying to run a computer repair shop with ads and got forced to stop. There is a reasonable argument that running car ads on nissan.com, one of the largest known car brands could cause brand confusion.

cat_plus_plus 4y ago

Idiots who name their company "John" deserve what they get.