Federal Court Orders ‘Cybersquatter’ To Give Up AAA.net
By Anna Johnson on October 27th, 2009A Pennsylvania Federal Court has ruled in favor of the The American Automobile Association, Inc. (AAA), ordering James M. Van Johns to hand over the AAA.net domain name.
On October 19, 2009, the Court entered its judgment in the case – The American Automobile Association, Inc. v. James M. Van Johns a.k.a. Damian Macafee and QTK Internet, Inc. a.k.a. QTK Internet LLC/Name Proxy a.k.a. Damian Macafee, Case No. 1:09-CV-00219-SJM – ordering Van Johns not to register, traffick, or use domain names confusingly similar to AAA’s registered trademarks.
The court effectively overruled a decision by the National Arbitration Forum (“NAF”) in which a split panel had denied AAA’s request under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) for transfer of the AAA.net domain name. Out of the numerous UDRP proceedings AAA has initiated – all resulting in AAA seizing more than a hundred identical or confusingly similar domain names – the NAF’s decision had been the only ruling not in AAA’s favor.
James M. Van Johns and QTK Internet, Inc. (a.k.a. Damian Macafee) had been using the AAA.net domain name to host a pay-per-click (PPC) advertising website. AAA argued that the defendants used the AAA.net domain to profit from its association with AAA.
In fact, AAA’s federal complaint alleged that the defendants were engaged in a wilful and elaborate cyber-squatting and PPC advertising scheme involving over 1,300 domain names, many of which included other well-known and famous trademarks owned by others.
November 19th, 2009 at 10:39 pm
This is a drop in the bucket that is about to END the domain name “industry”. What does the industry create besides illusions of profit and lawsuits? Do you hear the heavy lady singing? I do!