University-of-Oxford.con
For the second time in two years the University has won a battle for control of a domain name. Dr Seagle, an Australian inventor, was forced to relinquish university-of-oxford.com.
The University filed its claim with the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), the Geneva-based United Nations body which rules on naming disputes in cyberspace.
Up to July this year 2,821 cases had been filed with WIPO, the world's foremost domain name dispute resolution body, with nearly 80 percent being decided in favour of the complainant.
The site, according to a spokeswoman for the University, contained "personal writing" and although it did not claim to be affiliated with the University it was "perhaps misdirecting people."
She continued, saying "We want to be sure if you do type into a search engine something about Oxford University or type something into a URL, then you will come to us."
According to WIPO documents, the arbitrator, American attorney Richard Page, ruled that the defendant had no rights or legitimate interest in the domain name, and therefore the site was turned over to the university.
In an attempt to keep control of the domain name Dr Seagle even resorted to changing his name by deed poll to Oxford University.
Seagle owns several hundred domain names and despite another looming court battle, this time with Australian retail giant Harvey Norman, he does not plan on changing his name a second time. "I shouldn't think that'll be necessary. I'd rather operate with them than fight with them," he said.
4th Oct 2001