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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
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    Need help, domainname situation!

    Hello, I came to this forum to ask your help, the situation is like this.

    A friend of mine (her name is Tanya Gorree and comes from the netherlands) registered the domain name "tanyagorree.nl" (logic choice of domain name for a portfolio website) to host her modeling portfolio. Now she recently got alot of e-mails asking if "tanyagorree.com" ( warning, this website host's pornographic material, that has no connection wth the above domain name or the model) is also hers, wich obviously is not the case. This situation got her quite upset, because this can ruin her name

    now I ask you guys if there is anything that can be done against this mather.


    Please help!
    Last edited by EVIL; 06-10-2005 at 10:55 AM.
    EVIL

  2. #2
    Join Date
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    I do not really understand. How can that ruin her name? She can just block the E-mail messages which are sent and delete them.
    Imagination is more important than knowledge.

  3. #3
    Join Date
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    I don't think so, if the .com site it the persons name then they have just as much right to it as your friend. If people went to the two sites they should be able to tell that its not the same person. Other then that I'm not sure you could have an arguement to have the .com site shut down. Maybe she should try for a new domain name.

  4. #4
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    Originally posted by maxo
    I do not really understand. How can that ruin her name? She can just block the E-mail messages which are sent and delete them.
    well she is a model, and she recently got e-mails (one of them a photographer) who contacted her if that pornographic website was hers to. She was really embarrased about this e-mail (as a model you don't want photographers contacting you if you are in anyway related to a .com domain with the same name). So she asked me if I could gather information if it would be possible to do something against this.

    Originally posted by crazyfish
    if the .com site it the persons name then they have just as much right to it as your friend.
    and the content of the pornographic website reffers to a dutch pornstar with the name "Kim holland" so the domain name "tanyagorree.com" has nothing to do with the content of that website.
    Last edited by EVIL; 06-10-2005 at 11:08 AM.
    EVIL

  5. #5
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    Sorry for my Post. I did not read it well, seems like am too tired today.

    I understand everything now. She should have registered .com domain name in the beginning, not only .nl
    Imagination is more important than knowledge.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
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    I know if you are incorporated you have a legal right to the name. And may be able to force the .com domain to give up rights to that. But that might not be the easiest or cheapest route to go. I am at work so I can't look at the .com site, but I would think that people should be able to tell the difference between the two people in question and realize that its just a similiar domain name. That happens a lot nowadays.

  7. #7
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    Originally posted by maxo
    Sorry for my Post. I did not read it well, seems like am too tired today.

    I understand everything now. She should have registered .com domain name in the beginning, not only .nl
    haha understandable, but you must understand aswell that when you register a domain name for your dutch model portfolio, you don't consider a scenario where the .com equivalent, host's a pornographic website
    EVIL

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2002
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    Actually, if your model friend uses her name in a commercial endeavor (apparently she does since she is a professional model) she can claim that these people running this website are infringing on her common law trademark (actually a servicemark). She should contact a local attorney, or preferably one focused on domain name issues, and have them send a "Cease and Desist" letter threating a lawsuit for infringement of the servicemark and defamation of character.

    This letter should be sent, I believe, to ALL the contacts listed in the whois, the company hosting the website (if it can be determined) and especially to the registrar of record for the domain name.

    The next step would be to file A UDRP with ICANN although, with attorney's fees that can get to be expensive (maybe $3,000 to $10,000US).

    Perhaps cheaper would be to have the attorney threaten a lawsuit and then negotiate to buy the domain in question for perhaps $1,000 (they can't be getting that much traffic). In the interim period, it certainly wouldn't hurt or cost anything to put a backorder on the domain over at SnapNames and Pool in case the .com version is eventually dropped or deleted.

    This is really sad when this stuff happens. But I believe that there is case law involving several celebrities that were able to secure their names in the .com version with a UDRP.

    ***[DISCLAIMER] --- I am not a lawyer and I don't play one on T.V. --- so please don't rely or make decisions based on the above post. The advice of a competent and licensed attorney should be sought before making any decisions regarding legal matters. [/DISCLAIMER]***
    You may delay, but time will not. --- Benjamin Franklin

  9. #9
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    I've just checked the Whois.

    The .com was registered YESTERDAY.

    This looks pretty suspicious to me...

  10. #10
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    Originally posted by Lubeca
    This looks pretty suspicious to me...
    You're right, Lubeca

    I should have caught on from the poster's handle. Maybe EVIL really is EVIL
    You may delay, but time will not. --- Benjamin Franklin

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
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    the .nl was registered on March 22, 2005 which is good but your "friend" would be better off trying to buy it rather then filing a UDRP case.

  12. #12
    Originally posted by eSology
    the .nl was registered on March 22, 2005 which is good but your "friend" would be better off trying to buy it rather then filing a UDRP case.
    Agreed with that. If the registrant is especially US-based, you'd
    have to sue in US soil. (it's using moniker's privacy service...)

    Goes to show .com has more power than some people think...

  13. #13
    Join Date
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    Originally posted by 4solutions
    You're right, Lubeca

    I should have caught on from the poster's handle. Maybe EVIL really is EVIL
    Yeah, I'm wondering too. Gee mister my friend's name is being besmirched by this website with a .com name. [wink]Don't go the the .com address because it is highly pornographic[/wink].

    Perhaps I'm just a cynic.
    Rich
    Husband, Father, Retired Marine, Geek

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Sep 2003
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    UK
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    My "suspicious" comment wasn't actually aimed at the original poster... what I meant was that whoever registered the domain probably did so in the full knowledge that it was someone else's .nl.

    Though, on the other hand, it seems a bit odd that the registrant "recently" got lots of emails, considering the site has only been up about 24 hours.

  15. #15
    I agree with Lubeca.

    The person who registered that .com domain name is aware of the Model and her site ( .nl ) and he/she did this just to ruin the model's image.

    Howcome the registrant of .nl domain got so many emails asking if .com is her or not when the .com domain was registered just 48 hours ago?
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  16. #16
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    Actually rather than ruin the models image, it was likely a move to panic them into buying the .com for some inflated price. It would slao seem, from the timing, that it was someone aware of the newly established .nl website/domain.

    Buy the domain, file a complaint with ICANN or post a notice that the .nl is in no way associated with the .com (I've seen this done before).

    You don't have too many other options thatn those, other than pick another name entirely. Frankly, if you were registering a domain for a commercial endeavor you should have grabbed the associated com/net/org's if they were available for just this reason. It's a cheap investment against problems of this sort.
    "Obsolesence is just a lack of imagination."

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