AfterDawn: News

Benjamin Cohen hits back at Nominet

Benjamin Cohen, who lost his iTunes.co.uk domain name to Apple earlier this year is arguing that Nominet is not officially recognised by the Government and therefore has no rights to make decisions over what should be done with domains that it sells. Nominet awarded the iTunes.co.uk domain to Apple, who had accused Cohen of cyber-squatting, despite the fact that Cohen registered the itunes.co.uk domain name on 7th November 2000, whereas Apple were only had the trademark for "iTunes" published in the Trade Marks Journal on 6 December 2000.

Cohen had been using the domain just to forward users to a music search at his CyberBritain site. Since Nominet's decisions, Cohen has made many legal threats but discovered that he was not able to take the decision made against him to the High Court for Judicial Review because of Nominet's peculiar status. The Government has stated that there is "no formal relationship or written agreement" between the UK government and Nominet which means it's not a public body and is subject to usual laws covering UK companies.



Cohen argues however that this status is misleading since representatives from government bodies have permanent seats on Nominet's Policy Advisory Board (PAB), a situation which the Government has admitted does not exist for any other company. However, it's not clear how this will help Cohens case. If he were to accept an appeal heard by three Nominet-appointed experts, it would show him recognising Nominet's authority in the matter. Also when you buy a domain from Nominet you sign a contract that means you accept its domain dispute process in this situation.

Source:
The Register

Written by: James Delahunty @ 30 May 2005 8:18

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• 5 comments

• Rosco404

  I still feel for Benjamin Cohen, i belive he should get his domain back or some money for it....

  31.5.2005 02:01 #1

• spooky2k

  i dont feel for him at all. he was using the domain to forward people....basically, as a sign post to his web site. he was cyber squatting. he obviously knew about itunes and did this. its not on. he's exploiting a large company for money, and he got what he deserved.
  Dan x

  31.5.2005 04:39 #2

• SD2

  If I buy a car before someone else does am I car squatting?

  31.5.2005 06:21 #3

• spooky2k

  What a stupid comparison.
  Of course ur not squatting if you buy a car before someone else, a car is a physical piece of property. Not intellectual.
  The reason i say this guy doesnt deserve a penny is because he bought the domain purely to get money. he wasnt using it, and refused to give it up. he was greedy, and got what was coming to him.
  Lets say you were the only person in the world with the name 'SD2', and i bought that domain because i saw you were planning on buying it. You got around ot looking to purchase the domain, and i asked you for money. Lets be fair, You'd tell me to screw myself.
  and rightly so.

  31.5.2005 13:16 #4

• nobbi1977

  Norway drill natural gas which they dont use over there so they sell it to the UK. Should it not be free then if the dont want it.
  
  Its business, i have something you want you pay me for it.
  
  Lets hope the Beatles sure Apple for their copyright infringments

  3.6.2005 00:41 #5