FW: GoDaddy.com Loses Motion to Recuse 'The Academy's Judge'
FYI-very high profile cybersquatting case against Go Daddy... Subject: GoDaddy.com Loses Motion to Recuse 'The Academy's Judge' http://www.nationallawjournal.com/id=1202641536588?kw=GoDaddy.com%20Loses%20... GoDaddy.com Loses Motion to Recuse 'The Academy's Judge' Amanda Bronstad, The National Law Journal February 04, 2014, 05:03 PM | [1988 Academy Awards red carpet]1988 Academy Awards red carpet Photo: Alan Light via Wikimedia Commons Domain-name registrar GoDaddy.com Inc. has lost an effort to force the recusal of a federal judge based on alleged bias toward the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, whose own attorney it said referred to her as "the Academy's judge." In 2010, the Academy, which hosts the Oscars awards show, sued GoDaddy.com for cybersquatting. The suit alleges that GoDaddy.com offers a program by which its customers can "park" a Web page-in this case, allegedly under infringing domain names-for the sole purpose of collecting ad revenue derived when users click onto the sites. Among the more than 100 domain names at issue are oscarlist.com and academyawardsinc.com. The case is scheduled to go to trial later this year. Although the case originally was assigned to U.S. District Judge Dale Fischer in Los Angeles, the Academy successfully moved to transfer the litigation to U.S. District Judge Audrey Collins, who is overseeing related cases over its trademarks. During a hearing Monday, Fischer rejected GoDaddy's motion to recuse Collins, saying she would issue a written ruling soon. "The Court finds that the motion is untimely, frivolous, and that defense has provided no evidence that a reasonable person could conclude that there is any bias by Judge Collins," Fischer concluded, according to a minute order of the proceedings. "Her ruling began by characterizing the motion as both untimely and frivolous and concluded by noting that GoDaddy had blatantly misrepresented the facts," said David Quinto, a partner at Los Angeles-based Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and the Academy's longtime trademark attorney. The organization's counsel of record, Stuart Singer, a partner in Boies, Schiller & Flexner's Fort Lauderdale office, said he was "gratified by Judge Fischer's decision." GoDaddy.com did not respond to a request for comment, and its attorney, Aaron McKown of Wrenn Bender in Irvine, Calif., did not return a call for comment. Among other things, GoDaddy.com's attorneys claimed in a Dec. 31 motion that the Academy has attempted "to game the system" by steering all its cases before Collins, who has overseen 25 of its disputes within the past 15 years. In this case, they noted that Collins had ruled for the Academy on a number of motions, including for dismissal and summary judgment. Collins has allegedly encouraged GoDaddy.com to settle the case while suggesting the Academy file a second suit. The Academy, in turn, has used its leverage with Collins, whose daughter is an actress, in settlement negotiations, the motion asserts. During a 2012 meeting on potential settlement terms, for example, Quinto allegedly told GoDaddy.com's attorneys that they should know Collins is "the Academy's judge." In court papers, the Academy's attorneys called GoDaddy.com's claims "outrageous and sanctionable." In a Jan. 13 opposition filing, they noted that GoDaddy.com did not object at the time the case was transferred. They brushed aside arguments about Collins' daughter, who is not an Academy member, and called accusations about the judge's statements misleading. They also defended their own settlement discussions. Quinto said his reference to Collins as "the Academy judge"-not, he insisted, "the Academy's judge" as GoDaddy.com contends-simply meant she "was familiar with the academy's intellectual properties." "GoDaddy's motion struck me as baseless and Judge Collins is a very well respected judge," he added. "Let's just say that in my career, I've never seen something like this." Contact Amanda Bronstad at abronstad@alm.com<mailto:abronstad@alm.com>. Read more: http://www.nationallawjournal.com/id=1202641536588/GoDaddy.com-Loses-Motion-... Philip S. Corwin, Founding Principal Virtualaw LLC 1155 F Street, NW Suite 1050 Washington, DC 20004 202-559-8597/Direct 202-559-8750/Fax 202-255-6172/cell Twitter: @VlawDC "Luck is the residue of design" -- Branch Rickey ________________________________ No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com<http://www.avg.com> Version: 2013.0.3462 / Virus Database: 3697/7069 - Release Date: 02/06/14
This email prompts a thought. As domain names continue to push their way closer to mass market awareness, stories like this one in the National Journal which bears an incredulous tone, are only going to become more prevalent, cynical and one-sided. Particularly as the ripples of the new gTLD program reaches media who know less and less and less about ICANN, UDRP practices or any of the mechanics that make-up domain name registration policies. To the naked eye, it likely seems that the Academy should prevail in the case against oscarlist.com or academyawardsinc.com; so much so that if GoDaddy were to win the case, it might seem like a miscarriage of justice. Now that would be a problem beyond this one case. The problem is rooted in the fact that there is too little grounding in domain names beyond the small group of people who have participated in ICANN, yet public policy, law and public opinion is made by more who don't. This may wind up being the real shortcoming in the communications surrounding the new gTLD program. Cheers, John Berard --------- Original Message --------- Subject: [bc-gnso] FW: GoDaddy.com Loses Motion to Recuse 'The Academy's Judge' From: "Phil Corwin" <psc@vlaw-dc.com> Date: 2/11/14 9:35 am To: "bc-gnso@icann.org" <bc-gnso@icann.org> FYI-very high profile cybersquatting case against Go Daddy… Subject: GoDaddy.com Loses Motion to Recuse 'The Academy's Judge' http://www.nationallawjournal.com/id=1202641536588?kw=GoDaddy.com%20Loses%20... GoDaddy.com Loses Motion to Recuse 'The Academy's Judge' Amanda Bronstad, The National Law Journal February 04, 2014, 05:03 PM | 1988 Academy Awards red carpet Photo: Alan Light via Wikimedia Commons Domain-name registrar GoDaddy.com Inc. has lost an effort to force the recusal of a federal judge based on alleged bias toward the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, whose own attorney it said referred to her as “the Academy's judge.” In 2010, the Academy, which hosts the Oscars awards show, sued GoDaddy.com for cybersquatting. The suit alleges that GoDaddy.com offers a program by which its customers can “park” a Web page-in this case, allegedly under infringing domain names-for the sole purpose of collecting ad revenue derived when users click onto the sites. Among the more than 100 domain names at issue are oscarlist.com and academyawardsinc.com. The case is scheduled to go to trial later this year. Although the case originally was assigned to U.S. District Judge Dale Fischer in Los Angeles, the Academy successfully moved to transfer the litigation to U.S. District Judge Audrey Collins, who is overseeing related cases over its trademarks. During a hearing Monday, Fischer rejected GoDaddy's motion to recuse Collins, saying she would issue a written ruling soon. “The Court finds that the motion is untimely, frivolous, and that defense has provided no evidence that a reasonable person could conclude that there is any bias by Judge Collins,” Fischer concluded, according to a minute order of the proceedings. “Her ruling began by characterizing the motion as both untimely and frivolous and concluded by noting that GoDaddy had blatantly misrepresented the facts,” said David Quinto, a partner at Los Angeles-based Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and the Academy's longtime trademark attorney. The organization's counsel of record, Stuart Singer, a partner in Boies, Schiller & Flexner's Fort Lauderdale office, said he was “gratified by Judge Fischer's decision.” GoDaddy.com did not respond to a request for comment, and its attorney, Aaron McKown of Wrenn Bender in Irvine, Calif., did not return a call for comment. Among other things, GoDaddy.com's attorneys claimed in a Dec. 31 motion that the Academy has attempted “to game the system” by steering all its cases before Collins, who has overseen 25 of its disputes within the past 15 years. In this case, they noted that Collins had ruled for the Academy on a number of motions, including for dismissal and summary judgment. Collins has allegedly encouraged GoDaddy.com to settle the case while suggesting the Academy file a second suit. The Academy, in turn, has used its leverage with Collins, whose daughter is an actress, in settlement negotiations, the motion asserts. During a 2012 meeting on potential settlement terms, for example, Quinto allegedly told GoDaddy.com's attorneys that they should know Collins is “the Academy's judge.” In court papers, the Academy's attorneys called GoDaddy.com's claims “outrageous and sanctionable.” In a Jan. 13 opposition filing, they noted that GoDaddy.com did not object at the time the case was transferred. They brushed aside arguments about Collins' daughter, who is not an Academy member, and called accusations about the judge's statements misleading. They also defended their own settlement discussions. Quinto said his reference to Collins as “the Academy judge”-not, he insisted, “the Academy's judge” as GoDaddy.com contends-simply meant she “was familiar with the academy's intellectual properties.” “GoDaddy's motion struck me as baseless and Judge Collins is a very well respected judge,” he added. “Let's just say that in my career, I've never seen something like this.” Contact Amanda Bronstad at abronstad@alm.com. Read more: http://www.nationallawjournal.com/id=1202641536588/GoDaddy.com-Loses-Motion-... Philip S. Corwin, Founding Principal Virtualaw LLC 1155 F Street, NW Suite 1050 Washington, DC 20004 202-559-8597/Direct 202-559-8750/Fax 202-255-6172/cell Twitter: @VlawDC "Luck is the residue of design" -- Branch Rickey No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2013.0.3462 / Virus Database: 3697/7069 - Release Date: 02/06/14
John: A few comments— · The article is from the National Law Journal, not National Journal, and was triggered by GoDaddy’s failure to remove the trial judge for alleged bias · The case has nothing to do with new gTLDs; as the story notes, the litigation was filed in 2010 (which says a lot about the efficiency of the Federal civil trial system) I have not made sufficient inquiry into the facts of the case or the underlying law to form any opinion on its merits. And, like many lawsuits, it could settle before a verdict is rendered. That said, a finding that the world’s leading registrar had committed trademark infringement in its domain parking activities would have very broad legal and industry repercussions, which is the reason I brought it to the attention of BC members. As for communications efforts surrounding new gTLDs, I would agree that there are substantial shortcomings in current efforts, including ICANN’s own. Best regards, Philip Philip S. Corwin, Founding Principal Virtualaw LLC 1155 F Street, NW Suite 1050 Washington, DC 20004 202-559-8597/Direct 202-559-8750/Fax 202-255-6172/cell Twitter: @VlawDC "Luck is the residue of design" -- Branch Rickey From: john@crediblecontext.com [mailto:john@crediblecontext.com] Sent: Tuesday, February 11, 2014 2:07 PM To: Phil Corwin; bc-gnso@icann.org Subject: RE: [bc-gnso] FW: GoDaddy.com Loses Motion to Recuse 'The Academy's Judge' This email prompts a thought. As domain names continue to push their way closer to mass market awareness, stories like this one in the National Journal which bears an incredulous tone, are only going to become more prevalent, cynical and one-sided. Particularly as the ripples of the new gTLD program reaches media who know less and less and less about ICANN, UDRP practices or any of the mechanics that make-up domain name registration policies. To the naked eye, it likely seems that the Academy should prevail in the case against oscarlist.com or academyawardsinc.com; so much so that if GoDaddy were to win the case, it might seem like a miscarriage of justice. Now that would be a problem beyond this one case. The problem is rooted in the fact that there is too little grounding in domain names beyond the small group of people who have participated in ICANN, yet public policy, law and public opinion is made by more who don't. This may wind up being the real shortcoming in the communications surrounding the new gTLD program. Cheers, John Berard --------- Original Message --------- Subject: [bc-gnso] FW: GoDaddy.com Loses Motion to Recuse 'The Academy's Judge' From: "Phil Corwin" <psc@vlaw-dc.com<mailto:psc@vlaw-dc.com>> Date: 2/11/14 9:35 am To: "bc-gnso@icann.org<mailto:bc-gnso@icann.org>" <bc-gnso@icann.org<mailto:bc-gnso@icann.org>> FYI—very high profile cybersquatting case against Go Daddy… Subject: GoDaddy.com Loses Motion to Recuse 'The Academy's Judge' http://www.nationallawjournal.com/id=1202641536588?kw=GoDaddy.com%20Loses%20... GoDaddy.com Loses Motion to Recuse 'The Academy's Judge' Amanda Bronstad, The National Law Journal February 04, 2014, 05:03 PM | [1988 Academy Awards red carpet]1988 Academy Awards red carpet Photo: Alan Light via Wikimedia Commons Domain-name registrar GoDaddy.com Inc. has lost an effort to force the recusal of a federal judge based on alleged bias toward the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, whose own attorney it said referred to her as “the Academy’s judge.” In 2010, the Academy, which hosts the Oscars awards show, sued GoDaddy.com for cybersquatting. The suit alleges that GoDaddy.com offers a program by which its customers can “park” a Web page—in this case, allegedly under infringing domain names—for the sole purpose of collecting ad revenue derived when users click onto the sites. Among the more than 100 domain names at issue are oscarlist.com and academyawardsinc.com. The case is scheduled to go to trial later this year. Although the case originally was assigned to U.S. District Judge Dale Fischer in Los Angeles, the Academy successfully moved to transfer the litigation to U.S. District Judge Audrey Collins, who is overseeing related cases over its trademarks. During a hearing Monday, Fischer rejected GoDaddy’s motion to recuse Collins, saying she would issue a written ruling soon. “The Court finds that the motion is untimely, frivolous, and that defense has provided no evidence that a reasonable person could conclude that there is any bias by Judge Collins,” Fischer concluded, according to a minute order of the proceedings. “Her ruling began by characterizing the motion as both untimely and frivolous and concluded by noting that GoDaddy had blatantly misrepresented the facts,” said David Quinto, a partner at Los Angeles-based Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and the Academy’s longtime trademark attorney. The organization’s counsel of record, Stuart Singer, a partner in Boies, Schiller & Flexner's Fort Lauderdale office, said he was “gratified by Judge Fischer’s decision.” GoDaddy.com did not respond to a request for comment, and its attorney, Aaron McKown of Wrenn Bender in Irvine, Calif., did not return a call for comment. Among other things, GoDaddy.com’s attorneys claimed in a Dec. 31 motion that the Academy has attempted “to game the system” by steering all its cases before Collins, who has overseen 25 of its disputes within the past 15 years. In this case, they noted that Collins had ruled for the Academy on a number of motions, including for dismissal and summary judgment. Collins has allegedly encouraged GoDaddy.com to settle the case while suggesting the Academy file a second suit. The Academy, in turn, has used its leverage with Collins, whose daughter is an actress, in settlement negotiations, the motion asserts. During a 2012 meeting on potential settlement terms, for example, Quinto allegedly told GoDaddy.com’s attorneys that they should know Collins is “the Academy’s judge.” In court papers, the Academy’s attorneys called GoDaddy.com’s claims “outrageous and sanctionable.” In a Jan. 13 opposition filing, they noted that GoDaddy.com did not object at the time the case was transferred. They brushed aside arguments about Collins’ daughter, who is not an Academy member, and called accusations about the judge’s statements misleading. They also defended their own settlement discussions. Quinto said his reference to Collins as “the Academy judge”—not, he insisted, “the Academy’s judge” as GoDaddy.com contends—simply meant she “was familiar with the academy’s intellectual properties.” “GoDaddy’s motion struck me as baseless and Judge Collins is a very well respected judge,” he added. “Let’s just say that in my career, I’ve never seen something like this.” Contact Amanda Bronstad at abronstad@alm.com<mailto:abronstad@alm.com>. Read more: http://www.nationallawjournal.com/id=1202641536588/GoDaddy.com-Loses-Motion-... Philip S. Corwin, Founding Principal Virtualaw LLC 1155 F Street, NW Suite 1050 Washington, DC 20004 202-559-8597/Direct 202-559-8750/Fax 202-255-6172/cell Twitter: @VlawDC "Luck is the residue of design" -- Branch Rickey ________________________________ No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com<http://www.avg.com> Version: 2013.0.3462 / Virus Database: 3697/7069 - Release Date: 02/06/14 ________________________________ No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com<http://www.avg.com> Version: 2013.0.3462 / Virus Database: 3697/7069 - Release Date: 02/06/14
Phil, The facts in the case -- the name of the Journal and the date the litigation was filed -- are less pertinent to my mood on this than that it is playing out now as the wider world begins to pull the curtain back on ICANN. I found this bit in the Harvard Business Review to just the sort of story that helps and confounds. Here is the link: http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/02/protect-your-brand-from-cybersquatting/ It helps because it is a clear and concise review of the policies, practices and procedures surrounding the registration of domain names and the protection of trademarks; it is (likely) confounding because it assumes everyone understands the legitimate difference between a trademark like, say, United, as in www.united.com and an equally legitimate website like, say, www.untied.com. Who knows what will be the outcome of the GoDaddy case, but my fear is that even without precedent there will be fresh pressure. I mean, AT&T may have registered www.attstinks.com, but what might come of the ability to launch other fan, critic or lampoon sites? That's all I meant. Cheers, Berard --------- Original Message --------- Subject: RE: [bc-gnso] FW: GoDaddy.com Loses Motion to Recuse 'The Academy's Judge' From: "Phil Corwin" <psc@vlaw-dc.com> Date: 2/11/14 12:01 pm To: "john@crediblecontext.com" <john@crediblecontext.com>, "bc-gnso@icann.org" <bc-gnso@icann.org> John: A few comments- · The article is from the National Law Journal, not National Journal, and was triggered by GoDaddy's failure to remove the trial judge for alleged bias · The case has nothing to do with new gTLDs; as the story notes, the litigation was filed in 2010 (which says a lot about the efficiency of the Federal civil trial system) I have not made sufficient inquiry into the facts of the case or the underlying law to form any opinion on its merits. And, like many lawsuits, it could settle before a verdict is rendered. That said, a finding that the world's leading registrar had committed trademark infringement in its domain parking activities would have very broad legal and industry repercussions, which is the reason I brought it to the attention of BC members. As for communications efforts surrounding new gTLDs, I would agree that there are substantial shortcomings in current efforts, including ICANN's own. Best regards, Philip Philip S. Corwin, Founding Principal Virtualaw LLC 1155 F Street, NW Suite 1050 Washington, DC 20004 202-559-8597/Direct 202-559-8750/Fax 202-255-6172/cell Twitter: @VlawDC "Luck is the residue of design" -- Branch Rickey From: john@crediblecontext.com [mailto:john@crediblecontext.com] Sent: Tuesday, February 11, 2014 2:07 PM To: Phil Corwin; bc-gnso@icann.org Subject: RE: [bc-gnso] FW: GoDaddy.com Loses Motion to Recuse 'The Academy's Judge' This email prompts a thought. As domain names continue to push their way closer to mass market awareness, stories like this one in the National Journal which bears an incredulous tone, are only going to become more prevalent, cynical and one-sided. Particularly as the ripples of the new gTLD program reaches media who know less and less and less about ICANN, UDRP practices or any of the mechanics that make-up domain name registration policies. To the naked eye, it likely seems that the Academy should prevail in the case against oscarlist.com or academyawardsinc.com; so much so that if GoDaddy were to win the case, it might seem like a miscarriage of justice. Now that would be a problem beyond this one case. The problem is rooted in the fact that there is too little grounding in domain names beyond the small group of people who have participated in ICANN, yet public policy, law and public opinion is made by more who don't. This may wind up being the real shortcoming in the communications surrounding the new gTLD program. Cheers, John Berard --------- Original Message --------- Subject: [bc-gnso] FW: GoDaddy.com Loses Motion to Recuse 'The Academy's Judge' From: "Phil Corwin" <psc@vlaw-dc.com> Date: 2/11/14 9:35 am To: "bc-gnso@icann.org" <bc-gnso@icann.org> FYI-very high profile cybersquatting case against Go Daddy… Subject: GoDaddy.com Loses Motion to Recuse 'The Academy's Judge' http://www.nationallawjournal.com/id=1202641536588?kw=GoDaddy.com%20Loses%20... GoDaddy.com Loses Motion to Recuse 'The Academy's Judge' Amanda Bronstad, The National Law Journal February 04, 2014, 05:03 PM | 1988 Academy Awards red carpet Photo: Alan Light via Wikimedia Commons Domain-name registrar GoDaddy.com Inc. has lost an effort to force the recusal of a federal judge based on alleged bias toward the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, whose own attorney it said referred to her as “the Academy's judge.” In 2010, the Academy, which hosts the Oscars awards show, sued GoDaddy.com for cybersquatting. The suit alleges that GoDaddy.com offers a program by which its customers can “park” a Web page-in this case, allegedly under infringing domain names-for the sole purpose of collecting ad revenue derived when users click onto the sites. Among the more than 100 domain names at issue are oscarlist.com and academyawardsinc.com. The case is scheduled to go to trial later this year. Although the case originally was assigned to U.S. District Judge Dale Fischer in Los Angeles, the Academy successfully moved to transfer the litigation to U.S. District Judge Audrey Collins, who is overseeing related cases over its trademarks. During a hearing Monday, Fischer rejected GoDaddy's motion to recuse Collins, saying she would issue a written ruling soon. “The Court finds that the motion is untimely, frivolous, and that defense has provided no evidence that a reasonable person could conclude that there is any bias by Judge Collins,” Fischer concluded, according to a minute order of the proceedings. “Her ruling began by characterizing the motion as both untimely and frivolous and concluded by noting that GoDaddy had blatantly misrepresented the facts,” said David Quinto, a partner at Los Angeles-based Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and the Academy's longtime trademark attorney. The organization's counsel of record, Stuart Singer, a partner in Boies, Schiller & Flexner's Fort Lauderdale office, said he was “gratified by Judge Fischer's decision.” GoDaddy.com did not respond to a request for comment, and its attorney, Aaron McKown of Wrenn Bender in Irvine, Calif., did not return a call for comment. Among other things, GoDaddy.com's attorneys claimed in a Dec. 31 motion that the Academy has attempted “to game the system” by steering all its cases before Collins, who has overseen 25 of its disputes within the past 15 years. In this case, they noted that Collins had ruled for the Academy on a number of motions, including for dismissal and summary judgment. Collins has allegedly encouraged GoDaddy.com to settle the case while suggesting the Academy file a second suit. The Academy, in turn, has used its leverage with Collins, whose daughter is an actress, in settlement negotiations, the motion asserts. During a 2012 meeting on potential settlement terms, for example, Quinto allegedly told GoDaddy.com's attorneys that they should know Collins is “the Academy's judge.” In court papers, the Academy's attorneys called GoDaddy.com's claims “outrageous and sanctionable.” In a Jan. 13 opposition filing, they noted that GoDaddy.com did not object at the time the case was transferred. They brushed aside arguments about Collins' daughter, who is not an Academy member, and called accusations about the judge's statements misleading. They also defended their own settlement discussions. Quinto said his reference to Collins as “the Academy judge”-not, he insisted, “the Academy's judge” as GoDaddy.com contends-simply meant she “was familiar with the academy's intellectual properties.” “GoDaddy's motion struck me as baseless and Judge Collins is a very well respected judge,” he added. “Let's just say that in my career, I've never seen something like this.” Contact Amanda Bronstad at abronstad@alm.com. Read more: http://www.nationallawjournal.com/id=1202641536588/GoDaddy.com-Loses-Motion-... Philip S. Corwin, Founding Principal Virtualaw LLC 1155 F Street, NW Suite 1050 Washington, DC 20004 202-559-8597/Direct 202-559-8750/Fax 202-255-6172/cell Twitter: @VlawDC "Luck is the residue of design" -- Branch Rickey No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2013.0.3462 / Virus Database: 3697/7069 - Release Date: 02/06/14 No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2013.0.3462 / Virus Database: 3697/7069 - Release Date: 02/06/14
Dear John and all, Your comment (“…This may wind up being the real shortcoming in the communications surrounding the new gTLD program.”) is well taken. With some 100 new gTLDs already added to the root at this point, I find it somewhat astounding that there is so little pick up by the broader media; which is a direct reflection on the lack of marketing activities by new gTLD Registries. Rightly or wrongly, I had expected that the ‘cacophony of marketing noise’ derived from the aggregate of new gTLD operators would ultimately awaken consumer interest in this program, but personally I haven’t seen any marketing whatsoever… Perhaps it is a .COM world after all, and all of this effort has been for naught. My two cents… Kind regards, RA Ron Andruff RNA Partners <http://www.rnapartners.com> www.rnapartners.com From: owner-bc-gnso@icann.org [mailto:owner-bc-gnso@icann.org] On Behalf Of Phil Corwin Sent: Tuesday, February 11, 2014 15:02 To: john@crediblecontext.com; bc-gnso@icann.org Subject: RE: [bc-gnso] FW: GoDaddy.com Loses Motion to Recuse 'The Academy's Judge' John: A few comments— * The article is from the National Law Journal, not National Journal, and was triggered by GoDaddy’s failure to remove the trial judge for alleged bias * The case has nothing to do with new gTLDs; as the story notes, the litigation was filed in 2010 (which says a lot about the efficiency of the Federal civil trial system) I have not made sufficient inquiry into the facts of the case or the underlying law to form any opinion on its merits. And, like many lawsuits, it could settle before a verdict is rendered. That said, a finding that the world’s leading registrar had committed trademark infringement in its domain parking activities would have very broad legal and industry repercussions, which is the reason I brought it to the attention of BC members. As for communications efforts surrounding new gTLDs, I would agree that there are substantial shortcomings in current efforts, including ICANN’s own. Best regards, Philip Philip S. Corwin, Founding Principal Virtualaw LLC 1155 F Street, NW Suite 1050 Washington, DC 20004 202-559-8597/Direct 202-559-8750/Fax 202-255-6172/cell Twitter: @VlawDC "Luck is the residue of design" -- Branch Rickey From: john@crediblecontext.com <mailto:john@crediblecontext.com> [mailto:john@crediblecontext.com] Sent: Tuesday, February 11, 2014 2:07 PM To: Phil Corwin; bc-gnso@icann.org <mailto:bc-gnso@icann.org> Subject: RE: [bc-gnso] FW: GoDaddy.com Loses Motion to Recuse 'The Academy's Judge' This email prompts a thought. As domain names continue to push their way closer to mass market awareness, stories like this one in the National Journal which bears an incredulous tone, are only going to become more prevalent, cynical and one-sided. Particularly as the ripples of the new gTLD program reaches media who know less and less and less about ICANN, UDRP practices or any of the mechanics that make-up domain name registration policies. To the naked eye, it likely seems that the Academy should prevail in the case against oscarlist.com or academyawardsinc.com; so much so that if GoDaddy were to win the case, it might seem like a miscarriage of justice. Now that would be a problem beyond this one case. The problem is rooted in the fact that there is too little grounding in domain names beyond the small group of people who have participated in ICANN, yet public policy, law and public opinion is made by more who don't. This may wind up being the real shortcoming in the communications surrounding the new gTLD program. Cheers, John Berard --------- Original Message --------- Subject: [bc-gnso] FW: GoDaddy.com Loses Motion to Recuse 'The Academy's Judge' From: "Phil Corwin" <psc@vlaw-dc.com <mailto:psc@vlaw-dc.com> > Date: 2/11/14 9:35 am To: "bc-gnso@icann.org <mailto:bc-gnso@icann.org> " <bc-gnso@icann.org <mailto:bc-gnso@icann.org> > FYI—very high profile cybersquatting case against Go Daddy… Subject: GoDaddy.com Loses Motion to Recuse 'The Academy's Judge' http://www.nationallawjournal.com/id=1202641536588?kw=GoDaddy.com%20Loses%20... <http://www.nationallawjournal.com/id=1202641536588?kw=GoDaddy.com%20Loses%20...> &et=editorial&bu=National%20Law%20Journal&cn=20140211&src=EMC-Email&pt=Daily%20Headlines GoDaddy.com Loses Motion to Recuse 'The Academy's Judge' Amanda Bronstad, The National Law Journal February 04, 2014, 05:03 PM | 1988 Academy Awards red carpet Photo: Alan Light via Wikimedia Commons Domain-name registrar GoDaddy.com Inc. has lost an effort to force the recusal of a federal judge based on alleged bias toward the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, whose own attorney it said referred to her as “the Academy’s judge.” In 2010, the Academy, which hosts the Oscars awards show, sued GoDaddy.com for cybersquatting. The suit alleges that GoDaddy.com offers a program by which its customers can “park” a Web page—in this case, allegedly under infringing domain names—for the sole purpose of collecting ad revenue derived when users click onto the sites. Among the more than 100 domain names at issue are oscarlist.com and academyawardsinc.com. The case is scheduled to go to trial later this year. Although the case originally was assigned to U.S. District Judge Dale Fischer in Los Angeles, the Academy successfully moved to transfer the litigation to U.S. District Judge Audrey Collins, who is overseeing related cases over its trademarks. During a hearing Monday, Fischer rejected GoDaddy’s motion to recuse Collins, saying she would issue a written ruling soon. “The Court finds that the motion is untimely, frivolous, and that defense has provided no evidence that a reasonable person could conclude that there is any bias by Judge Collins,” Fischer concluded, according to a minute order of the proceedings. “Her ruling began by characterizing the motion as both untimely and frivolous and concluded by noting that GoDaddy had blatantly misrepresented the facts,” said David Quinto, a partner at Los Angeles-based Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and the Academy’s longtime trademark attorney. The organization’s counsel of record, Stuart Singer, a partner in Boies, Schiller & Flexner's Fort Lauderdale office, said he was “gratified by Judge Fischer’s decision.” GoDaddy.com did not respond to a request for comment, and its attorney, Aaron McKown of Wrenn Bender in Irvine, Calif., did not return a call for comment. Among other things, GoDaddy.com’s attorneys claimed in a Dec. 31 motion that the Academy has attempted “to game the system” by steering all its cases before Collins, who has overseen 25 of its disputes within the past 15 years. In this case, they noted that Collins had ruled for the Academy on a number of motions, including for dismissal and summary judgment. Collins has allegedly encouraged GoDaddy.com to settle the case while suggesting the Academy file a second suit. The Academy, in turn, has used its leverage with Collins, whose daughter is an actress, in settlement negotiations, the motion asserts. During a 2012 meeting on potential settlement terms, for example, Quinto allegedly told GoDaddy.com’s attorneys that they should know Collins is “the Academy’s judge.” In court papers, the Academy’s attorneys called GoDaddy.com’s claims “outrageous and sanctionable.” In a Jan. 13 opposition filing, they noted that GoDaddy.com did not object at the time the case was transferred. They brushed aside arguments about Collins’ daughter, who is not an Academy member, and called accusations about the judge’s statements misleading. They also defended their own settlement discussions. Quinto said his reference to Collins as “the Academy judge”—not, he insisted, “the Academy’s judge” as GoDaddy.com contends—simply meant she “was familiar with the academy’s intellectual properties.” “GoDaddy’s motion struck me as baseless and Judge Collins is a very well respected judge,” he added. “Let’s just say that in my career, I’ve never seen something like this.” Contact Amanda Bronstad at abronstad@alm.com <mailto:abronstad@alm.com> . Read more: <http://www.nationallawjournal.com/id=1202641536588/GoDaddy.com-Loses-Motion-...> http://www.nationallawjournal.com/id=1202641536588/GoDaddy.com-Loses-Motion-... Philip S. Corwin, Founding Principal Virtualaw LLC 1155 F Street, NW Suite 1050 Washington, DC 20004 202-559-8597/Direct 202-559-8750/Fax 202-255-6172/cell Twitter: @VlawDC "Luck is the residue of design" -- Branch Rickey _____ No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com <http://www.avg.com> Version: 2013.0.3462 / Virus Database: 3697/7069 - Release Date: 02/06/14 _____ No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com <http://www.avg.com> Version: 2013.0.3462 / Virus Database: 3697/7069 - Release Date: 02/06/14
ICANN is doing marketing for the new gTLDs/offering them space on ICANN website to do short marketing videos. Amazing! Apparently, we have already become a trade association for contracted parties. From: randruff@rnapartners.com To: psc@vlaw-dc.com; john@crediblecontext.com; bc-gnso@icann.org Subject: RE: [bc-gnso] FW: GoDaddy.com Loses Motion to Recuse 'The Academy's Judge' Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2014 16:12:01 -0500 Dear John and all, Your comment (“…This may wind up being the real shortcoming in the communications surrounding the new gTLD program.”) is well taken. With some 100 new gTLDs already added to the root at this point, I find it somewhat astounding that there is so little pick up by the broader media; which is a direct reflection on the lack of marketing activities by new gTLD Registries. Rightly or wrongly, I had expected that the ‘cacophony of marketing noise’ derived from the aggregate of new gTLD operators would ultimately awaken consumer interest in this program, but personally I haven’t seen any marketing whatsoever… Perhaps it is a .COM world after all, and all of this effort has been for naught. My two cents… Kind regards, RA Ron AndruffRNA Partnerswww.rnapartners.com From: owner-bc-gnso@icann.org [mailto:owner-bc-gnso@icann.org] On Behalf Of Phil Corwin Sent: Tuesday, February 11, 2014 15:02 To: john@crediblecontext.com; bc-gnso@icann.org Subject: RE: [bc-gnso] FW: GoDaddy.com Loses Motion to Recuse 'The Academy's Judge' John: A few comments—· The article is from the National Law Journal, not National Journal, and was triggered by GoDaddy’s failure to remove the trial judge for alleged bias· The case has nothing to do with new gTLDs; as the story notes, the litigation was filed in 2010 (which says a lot about the efficiency of the Federal civil trial system) I have not made sufficient inquiry into the facts of the case or the underlying law to form any opinion on its merits. And, like many lawsuits, it could settle before a verdict is rendered. That said, a finding that the world’s leading registrar had committed trademark infringement in its domain parking activities would have very broad legal and industry repercussions, which is the reason I brought it to the attention of BC members. As for communications efforts surrounding new gTLDs, I would agree that there are substantial shortcomings in current efforts, including ICANN’s own. Best regards, Philip Philip S. Corwin, Founding PrincipalVirtualaw LLC1155 F Street, NWSuite 1050Washington, DC 20004202-559-8597/Direct202-559-8750/Fax202-255-6172/cell Twitter: @VlawDC "Luck is the residue of design" -- Branch Rickey From: john@crediblecontext.com [mailto:john@crediblecontext.com] Sent: Tuesday, February 11, 2014 2:07 PM To: Phil Corwin; bc-gnso@icann.org Subject: RE: [bc-gnso] FW: GoDaddy.com Loses Motion to Recuse 'The Academy's Judge' This email prompts a thought. As domain names continue to push their way closer to mass market awareness, stories like this one in the National Journal which bears an incredulous tone, are only going to become more prevalent, cynical and one-sided. Particularly as the ripples of the new gTLD program reaches media who know less and less and less about ICANN, UDRP practices or any of the mechanics that make-up domain name registration policies. To the naked eye, it likely seems that the Academy should prevail in the case against oscarlist.com or academyawardsinc.com; so much so that if GoDaddy were to win the case, it might seem like a miscarriage of justice. Now that would be a problem beyond this one case. The problem is rooted in the fact that there is too little grounding in domain names beyond the small group of people who have participated in ICANN, yet public policy, law and public opinion is made by more who don't. This may wind up being the real shortcoming in the communications surrounding the new gTLD program. Cheers, John Berard --------- Original Message ---------Subject: [bc-gnso] FW: GoDaddy.com Loses Motion to Recuse 'The Academy's Judge' From: "Phil Corwin" <psc@vlaw-dc.com> Date: 2/11/14 9:35 am To: "bc-gnso@icann.org" <bc-gnso@icann.org>FYI—very high profile cybersquatting case against Go Daddy… Subject: GoDaddy.com Loses Motion to Recuse 'The Academy's Judge' http://www.nationallawjournal.com/id=1202641536588?kw=GoDaddy.com%20Loses%20... GoDaddy.com Loses Motion to Recuse 'The Academy's Judge' Amanda Bronstad, The National Law JournalFebruary 04, 2014, 05:03 PM | 1988 Academy Awards red carpet Photo: Alan Light via Wikimedia Commons Domain-name registrar GoDaddy.com Inc. has lost an effort to force the recusal of a federal judge based on alleged bias toward the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, whose own attorney it said referred to her as “the Academy’s judge.”In 2010, the Academy, which hosts the Oscars awards show, sued GoDaddy.com for cybersquatting. The suit alleges that GoDaddy.com offers a program by which its customers can “park” a Web page—in this case, allegedly under infringing domain names—for the sole purpose of collecting ad revenue derived when users click onto the sites.Among the more than 100 domain names at issue are oscarlist.com and academyawardsinc.com. The case is scheduled to go to trial later this year.Although the case originally was assigned to U.S. District Judge Dale Fischer in Los Angeles, the Academy successfully moved to transfer the litigation to U.S. District Judge Audrey Collins, who is overseeing related cases over its trademarks.During a hearing Monday, Fischer rejected GoDaddy’s motion to recuse Collins, saying she would issue a written ruling soon. “The Court finds that the motion is untimely, frivolous, and that defense has provided no evidence that a reasonable person could conclude that there is any bias by Judge Collins,” Fischer concluded, according to a minute order of the proceedings.“Her ruling began by characterizing the motion as both untimely and frivolous and concluded by noting that GoDaddy had blatantly misrepresented the facts,” said David Quinto, a partner at Los Angeles-based Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and the Academy’s longtime trademark attorney.The organization’s counsel of record, Stuart Singer, a partner in Boies, Schiller & Flexner's Fort Lauderdale office, said he was “gratified by Judge Fischer’s decision.”GoDaddy.com did not respond to a request for comment, and its attorney, Aaron McKown of Wrenn Bender in Irvine, Calif., did not return a call for comment.Among other things, GoDaddy.com’s attorneys claimed in a Dec. 31 motion that the Academy has attempted “to game the system” by steering all its cases before Collins, who has overseen 25 of its disputes within the past 15 years. In this case, they noted that Collins had ruled for the Academy on a number of motions, including for dismissal and summary judgment. Collins has allegedly encouraged GoDaddy.com to settle the case while suggesting the Academy file a second suit.The Academy, in turn, has used its leverage with Collins, whose daughter is an actress, in settlement negotiations, the motion asserts. During a 2012 meeting on potential settlement terms, for example, Quinto allegedly told GoDaddy.com’s attorneys that they should know Collins is “the Academy’s judge.”In court papers, the Academy’s attorneys called GoDaddy.com’s claims “outrageous and sanctionable.” In a Jan. 13 opposition filing, they noted that GoDaddy.com did not object at the time the case was transferred. They brushed aside arguments about Collins’ daughter, who is not an Academy member, and called accusations about the judge’s statements misleading. They also defended their own settlement discussions.Quinto said his reference to Collins as “the Academy judge”—not, he insisted, “the Academy’s judge” as GoDaddy.com contends—simply meant she “was familiar with the academy’s intellectual properties.”“GoDaddy’s motion struck me as baseless and Judge Collins is a very well respected judge,” he added. “Let’s just say that in my career, I’ve never seen something like this.”Contact Amanda Bronstad at abronstad@alm.com. Read more: http://www.nationallawjournal.com/id=1202641536588/GoDaddy.com-Loses-Motion-... Philip S. Corwin, Founding PrincipalVirtualaw LLC1155 F Street, NWSuite 1050Washington, DC 20004202-559-8597/Direct202-559-8750/Fax202-255-6172/cell Twitter: @VlawDC "Luck is the residue of design" -- Branch Rickey No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2013.0.3462 / Virus Database: 3697/7069 - Release Date: 02/06/14No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2013.0.3462 / Virus Database: 3697/7069 - Release Date: 02/06/14
ICANN is also promoting the trademark protection of the TMCH. A bit of having one's cake and eating it, too. Berard --------- Original Message --------- Subject: RE: [bc-gnso] FW: GoDaddy.com Loses Motion to Recuse 'The Academy's Judge' From: "Marilyn Cade" <marilynscade@hotmail.com> Date: 2/11/14 3:01 pm To: "ron Andruff" <randruff@rnapartners.com>, "Phil Corwin" <psc@vlaw-dc.com>, "John Berard" <john@crediblecontext.com>, "bc - GNSO list" <bc-gnso@icann.org> ICANN is doing marketing for the new gTLDs/offering them space on ICANN website to do short marketing videos. Amazing! Apparently, we have already become a trade association for contracted parties. From: randruff@rnapartners.com To: psc@vlaw-dc.com; john@crediblecontext.com; bc-gnso@icann.org Subject: RE: [bc-gnso] FW: GoDaddy.com Loses Motion to Recuse 'The Academy's Judge' Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2014 16:12:01 -0500 Dear John and all, Your comment (“…This may wind up being the real shortcoming in the communications surrounding the new gTLD program.”) is well taken. With some 100 new gTLDs already added to the root at this point, I find it somewhat astounding that there is so little pick up by the broader media; which is a direct reflection on the lack of marketing activities by new gTLD Registries. Rightly or wrongly, I had expected that the 'cacophony of marketing noise' derived from the aggregate of new gTLD operators would ultimately awaken consumer interest in this program, but personally I haven't seen any marketing whatsoever… Perhaps it is a .COM world after all, and all of this effort has been for naught. My two cents… Kind regards, RA Ron Andruff RNA Partners www.rnapartners.com From: owner-bc-gnso@icann.org [mailto:owner-bc-gnso@icann.org] On Behalf Of Phil Corwin Sent: Tuesday, February 11, 2014 15:02 To: john@crediblecontext.com; bc-gnso@icann.org Subject: RE: [bc-gnso] FW: GoDaddy.com Loses Motion to Recuse 'The Academy's Judge' John: A few comments- · The article is from the National Law Journal, not National Journal, and was triggered by GoDaddy's failure to remove the trial judge for alleged bias · The case has nothing to do with new gTLDs; as the story notes, the litigation was filed in 2010 (which says a lot about the efficiency of the Federal civil trial system) I have not made sufficient inquiry into the facts of the case or the underlying law to form any opinion on its merits. And, like many lawsuits, it could settle before a verdict is rendered. That said, a finding that the world's leading registrar had committed trademark infringement in its domain parking activities would have very broad legal and industry repercussions, which is the reason I brought it to the attention of BC members. As for communications efforts surrounding new gTLDs, I would agree that there are substantial shortcomings in current efforts, including ICANN's own. Best regards, Philip Philip S. Corwin, Founding Principal Virtualaw LLC 1155 F Street, NW Suite 1050 Washington, DC 20004 202-559-8597/Direct 202-559-8750/Fax 202-255-6172/cell Twitter: @VlawDC "Luck is the residue of design" -- Branch Rickey From: john@crediblecontext.com [mailto:john@crediblecontext.com] Sent: Tuesday, February 11, 2014 2:07 PM To: Phil Corwin; bc-gnso@icann.org Subject: RE: [bc-gnso] FW: GoDaddy.com Loses Motion to Recuse 'The Academy's Judge' This email prompts a thought. As domain names continue to push their way closer to mass market awareness, stories like this one in the National Journal which bears an incredulous tone, are only going to become more prevalent, cynical and one-sided. Particularly as the ripples of the new gTLD program reaches media who know less and less and less about ICANN, UDRP practices or any of the mechanics that make-up domain name registration policies. To the naked eye, it likely seems that the Academy should prevail in the case against oscarlist.com or academyawardsinc.com; so much so that if GoDaddy were to win the case, it might seem like a miscarriage of justice. Now that would be a problem beyond this one case. The problem is rooted in the fact that there is too little grounding in domain names beyond the small group of people who have participated in ICANN, yet public policy, law and public opinion is made by more who don't. This may wind up being the real shortcoming in the communications surrounding the new gTLD program. Cheers, John Berard --------- Original Message --------- Subject: [bc-gnso] FW: GoDaddy.com Loses Motion to Recuse 'The Academy's Judge' From: "Phil Corwin" <psc@vlaw-dc.com> Date: 2/11/14 9:35 am To: "bc-gnso@icann.org" <bc-gnso@icann.org> FYI-very high profile cybersquatting case against Go Daddy… Subject: GoDaddy.com Loses Motion to Recuse 'The Academy's Judge' http://www.nationallawjournal.com/id=1202641536588?kw=GoDaddy.com%20Loses%20... GoDaddy.com Loses Motion to Recuse 'The Academy's Judge' Amanda Bronstad, The National Law Journal February 04, 2014, 05:03 PM | 1988 Academy Awards red carpet Photo: Alan Light via Wikimedia Commons Domain-name registrar GoDaddy.com Inc. has lost an effort to force the recusal of a federal judge based on alleged bias toward the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, whose own attorney it said referred to her as “the Academy's judge.” In 2010, the Academy, which hosts the Oscars awards show, sued GoDaddy.com for cybersquatting. The suit alleges that GoDaddy.com offers a program by which its customers can “park” a Web page-in this case, allegedly under infringing domain names-for the sole purpose of collecting ad revenue derived when users click onto the sites. Among the more than 100 domain names at issue are oscarlist.com and academyawardsinc.com. The case is scheduled to go to trial later this year. Although the case originally was assigned to U.S. District Judge Dale Fischer in Los Angeles, the Academy successfully moved to transfer the litigation to U.S. District Judge Audrey Collins, who is overseeing related cases over its trademarks. During a hearing Monday, Fischer rejected GoDaddy's motion to recuse Collins, saying she would issue a written ruling soon. “The Court finds that the motion is untimely, frivolous, and that defense has provided no evidence that a reasonable person could conclude that there is any bias by Judge Collins,” Fischer concluded, according to a minute order of the proceedings. “Her ruling began by characterizing the motion as both untimely and frivolous and concluded by noting that GoDaddy had blatantly misrepresented the facts,” said David Quinto, a partner at Los Angeles-based Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and the Academy's longtime trademark attorney. The organization's counsel of record, Stuart Singer, a partner in Boies, Schiller & Flexner's Fort Lauderdale office, said he was “gratified by Judge Fischer's decision.” GoDaddy.com did not respond to a request for comment, and its attorney, Aaron McKown of Wrenn Bender in Irvine, Calif., did not return a call for comment. Among other things, GoDaddy.com's attorneys claimed in a Dec. 31 motion that the Academy has attempted “to game the system” by steering all its cases before Collins, who has overseen 25 of its disputes within the past 15 years. In this case, they noted that Collins had ruled for the Academy on a number of motions, including for dismissal and summary judgment. Collins has allegedly encouraged GoDaddy.com to settle the case while suggesting the Academy file a second suit. The Academy, in turn, has used its leverage with Collins, whose daughter is an actress, in settlement negotiations, the motion asserts. During a 2012 meeting on potential settlement terms, for example, Quinto allegedly told GoDaddy.com's attorneys that they should know Collins is “the Academy's judge.” In court papers, the Academy's attorneys called GoDaddy.com's claims “outrageous and sanctionable.” In a Jan. 13 opposition filing, they noted that GoDaddy.com did not object at the time the case was transferred. They brushed aside arguments about Collins' daughter, who is not an Academy member, and called accusations about the judge's statements misleading. They also defended their own settlement discussions. Quinto said his reference to Collins as “the Academy judge”-not, he insisted, “the Academy's judge” as GoDaddy.com contends-simply meant she “was familiar with the academy's intellectual properties.” “GoDaddy's motion struck me as baseless and Judge Collins is a very well respected judge,” he added. “Let's just say that in my career, I've never seen something like this.” Contact Amanda Bronstad at abronstad@alm.com. Read more: http://www.nationallawjournal.com/id=1202641536588/GoDaddy.com-Loses-Motion-... Philip S. Corwin, Founding Principal Virtualaw LLC 1155 F Street, NW Suite 1050 Washington, DC 20004 202-559-8597/Direct 202-559-8750/Fax 202-255-6172/cell Twitter: @VlawDC "Luck is the residue of design" -- Branch Rickey No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2013.0.3462 / Virus Database: 3697/7069 - Release Date: 02/06/14 No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2013.0.3462 / Virus Database: 3697/7069 - Release Date: 02/06/14
participants (4)
-
john＠crediblecontext.com -
Marilyn Cade -
Phil Corwin -
Ron Andruff