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Sep 19, 2002, 2:54pm

Well, if you guys are really willing to take this all the way, then here are all the facts,
to the best of my knowledge:

As I had already stated, Cybor had decided to let the domain expire and I was to pick it up
when it went public. According to Cybor, the account expired on August 1, 2002. However,
when I contacted register.com, the registrar of the awnews.com domain, about the possibility
of transferring the account to me, I was told that it can take upwards of two months for a
domain to go public after it has expired, so I was advised to have Cybor renew the account
and then transfer it to me. But since Cybor felt that the transfer process was far too
tedious, he decided to continue to let the account expire.

Over the next few weeks, I occasionally visited register.com to check on awnews.com status,
and the WHOIS information continued to claim the domain was owned by Cybor. Thinking that
the domain wasn't very valuable outside of AW, given that all the other awnews domains were
still available, I didn't pay much attention.

On Sept 11th, (talk about bad timing...) I received a telegram from fellow AWNews staffer
Padfoot, letting me know that the awnews.com domain was for sale. Understandably excited, I
went to register.com to register the domain, only to find out it was still taken. Only this
time, it wasn't Cybor's name on the WHOIS, but Worldwide Media, Inc., owner of
MostWantedDomains.com. They had registered the domain through the registrar IAregistry.com

Needless to say, I was thoroughly pissed off. Going to "www.awnews.com" brought up a web
page proclaiming that the site was for sale. At the bottom was a tiny form where you could
make an offer for the domain, however the space next to "Asking Price" was blank. So, I
offered them $35, which is what I would've had to pay if I had registered it with
register.com. I also added the comment "You stole my domain and I want it back!"

The next day, I received an email from Michael H. Berkens, President of Worldwide Media,
Inc., essentially saying that they got my domain fair and square because I hadn't renewed
it. Conceding that he had a point, I replied by explaining my situation to him and asking
him what I would have to do in order to get the domain back. He responded simply with
"$1,250". Naturally, I scoffed at that price and replied with the following:

"Surely you jest. There's no way I'm going to pay that much money for a collection of
letters that I *could* have bought for $35 had you not snatched it up for apparently no
reason other than greed. I was even willing to go as high as $70 just so you could make a
profit, but if that's not enough for you, then you've just wasted $35 in buying that domain,
since I can almost guarantee you won't find another buyer for awnews.com; certainly not one
willing to pay over $1000 for it."

I have yet to hear back from him, and that message was sent almost a week ago (9/13). Soon
after I sent that message, I noticed that the Asking Price for awnews.com had finally been
filled in, to the tune of $10,000. Figuring I'd never get it back from the greedy bastard
now, I resigned myself to looking for alternative domains for AWNews to use, which brings us
to now.

After ABP started up the cause, I did a little research into Worldwide Media, Inc. Turns out
that Worldwide Media and Michael H. Berkens are actually one in the same (much like InSaNiTy
and Heartfall Productions). I also found out that WWM has gone to court over this exact
thing before, but won because the complainant couldn't prove that the domain name was
confusingly similar to their trademark.

After examining register.com's Dispute Policy, I found a ray of hope for our little crusade
in the following paragraphs:

"a. Applicable Disputes. You are required to submit to a mandatory administrative proceeding
in the event that a third party (a "complainant") asserts to the applicable Provider, in
compliance with the Rules of Procedure, that (i) your domain name is identical or
confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which the complainant has rights; and
(ii) you have no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name; and (iii)
your domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith. In the administrative
proceeding, the complainant must prove that each of these three elements are present.

b. Evidence of Registration and Use in Bad Faith. For the purposes of Paragraph 4(a)(iii),
the following circumstances, in particular but without limitation, if found by the Panel to
be present, shall be evidence of the registration and use of a domain name in bad faith: (i)
circumstances indicating that you have registered or you have acquired the domain name
primarily for the purpose of selling, renting, or otherwise transferring the domain name
registration to the complainant who is the owner of the trademark or service mark or to a
competitor of that complainant, for valuable consideration in excess of your documented
out-of-pocket costs directly related to the domain name; or (ii) you have registered the
domain name in order to prevent the owner of the trademark or service mark from reflecting
the mark in a corresponding domain name, provided that you have engaged in a pattern of such
conduct; or (iii) you have registered the domain name primarily for the purpose of
disrupting the business of a competitor; or (iv) by using the domain name, you have
intentionally attempted to attract, for commercial gain, Internet users to your web site or
other online location, by creating a likelihood of confusion with the complainant's mark as
to the source, sponsorship, affiliation, or endorsement of your web site or location or of a
product or service on your web site or location."

Translation: If we're going to have any success at this, we MUST prove that all three of
these actions have taken place:

1) The domain is identical to a trademark (TM or SM) that I have rights to
2) That WWM has no rights or legitimate interests in awnews.com
3) That WWM is using the awnews.com domain in bad faith, including but not limited to
purchasing the domain for the main purpose of selling the domain back to the former owner at
an inflated cost.

So that's everything I know. I can tell you all right now that I have no trademarks on
AWNews whatsoever, so that may kill us right there. Perhaps you guys could talk to your
legal friends about all this, but I honestly don't see much good coming of this. :-/

Oh, and for those who might be thinking that I'm making all this up *glares pointedly at the
lurkers*, here are references to all the info I just mentioned:

http://www.awnews.com/default.php?stat=yes - the domain name in question, which displays the
$10,000 Asking Price
http://www.register.com/dispute-policy.cgi?1|3374924395| - register.com's Dispute Policy
(similar to IAregistry.com's Dispute Policy)
http://www.register.com/whois-results.cgi?dacb02ad2bb54a78f1c7b08942ed18afdd3dc793383e4fe56498f89cd3f8a9d38403efb03eeeba61
- WHOIS information for AWNews.com
http://www.arb-forum.com/domains/decisions/99675.htm - RentRight, Inc. v. Worldwide Media
Inc. a/k/a Michael Berkens

--
Goober King
Let the fun begin...
robrod at prism.net

Sep 19, 2002, 3:09pm

Thanks Goobs...I will make a web page with the story to direct the media to.
The fact that they retaliated by hiking the price to 10 grand might fall
under a consumer law.
There are some other things that has happened here that are also
questionable that they have done.
I am researching now at www.icann.com which seems to be a main source for
internet conduct by retailers and consumers.
I don't know about the rest of the folks here, but I'm not giving up.
I have worked the retail industry for over 30 years, and when a wrong is
done it has to be righted.
btw...the worst customer a retailer can have is one that has been a
retailer....LOL
I am awaiting contact from a reporter to give local media an opportunity at
this isssue...then I hit the big guys:)
You might want to grab a .org or .net in the meanwhile so certain parties
don't squat on them also.
But then if they do...they will only be executing even more bad retailing
practice.
I have at least 10 hours a day to devote to researching and persuing this.
I'll keep you posted:)
Hugggs:)
Bit:)

[View Quote] As I had already stated, Cybor had decided to let the domain expire and I
was to pick it up
when it went public. According to Cybor, the account expired on August 1,
2002. However,
when I contacted register.com, the registrar of the awnews.com domain, about
the possibility
of transferring the account to me, I was told that it can take upwards of
two months for a
domain to go public after it has expired, so I was advised to have Cybor
renew the account
and then transfer it to me. But since Cybor felt that the transfer process
was far too
tedious, he decided to continue to let the account expire.

Over the next few weeks, I occasionally visited register.com to check on
awnews.com status,
and the WHOIS information continued to claim the domain was owned by Cybor.
Thinking that
the domain wasn't very valuable outside of AW, given that all the other
awnews domains were
still available, I didn't pay much attention.

On Sept 11th, (talk about bad timing...) I received a telegram from fellow
AWNews staffer
Padfoot, letting me know that the awnews.com domain was for sale.
Understandably excited, I
went to register.com to register the domain, only to find out it was still
taken. Only this
time, it wasn't Cybor's name on the WHOIS, but Worldwide Media, Inc., owner
of
MostWantedDomains.com. They had registered the domain through the registrar
IAregistry.com

Needless to say, I was thoroughly pissed off. Going to "www.awnews.com"
brought up a web
page proclaiming that the site was for sale. At the bottom was a tiny form
where you could
make an offer for the domain, however the space next to "Asking Price" was
blank. So, I
offered them $35, which is what I would've had to pay if I had registered it
with
register.com. I also added the comment "You stole my domain and I want it
back!"

The next day, I received an email from Michael H. Berkens, President of
Worldwide Media,
Inc., essentially saying that they got my domain fair and square because I
hadn't renewed
it. Conceding that he had a point, I replied by explaining my situation to
him and asking
him what I would have to do in order to get the domain back. He responded
simply with
"$1,250". Naturally, I scoffed at that price and replied with the following:

"Surely you jest. There's no way I'm going to pay that much money for a
collection of
letters that I *could* have bought for $35 had you not snatched it up for
apparently no
reason other than greed. I was even willing to go as high as $70 just so you
could make a
profit, but if that's not enough for you, then you've just wasted $35 in
buying that domain,
since I can almost guarantee you won't find another buyer for awnews.com;
certainly not one
willing to pay over $1000 for it."

I have yet to hear back from him, and that message was sent almost a week
ago (9/13). Soon
after I sent that message, I noticed that the Asking Price for awnews.com
had finally been
filled in, to the tune of $10,000. Figuring I'd never get it back from the
greedy bastard
now, I resigned myself to looking for alternative domains for AWNews to use,
which brings us
to now.

After ABP started up the cause, I did a little research into Worldwide
Media, Inc. Turns out
that Worldwide Media and Michael H. Berkens are actually one in the same
(much like InSaNiTy
and Heartfall Productions). I also found out that WWM has gone to court over
this exact
thing before, but won because the complainant couldn't prove that the domain
name was
confusingly similar to their trademark.

After examining register.com's Dispute Policy, I found a ray of hope for our
little crusade
in the following paragraphs:

"a. Applicable Disputes. You are required to submit to a mandatory
administrative proceeding
in the event that a third party (a "complainant") asserts to the applicable
Provider, in
compliance with the Rules of Procedure, that (i) your domain name is
identical or
confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which the complainant
has rights; and
(ii) you have no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain
name; and (iii)
your domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith. In the
administrative
proceeding, the complainant must prove that each of these three elements are
present.

b. Evidence of Registration and Use in Bad Faith. For the purposes of
Paragraph 4(a)(iii),
the following circumstances, in particular but without limitation, if found
by the Panel to
be present, shall be evidence of the registration and use of a domain name
in bad faith: (i)
circumstances indicating that you have registered or you have acquired the
domain name
primarily for the purpose of selling, renting, or otherwise transferring the
domain name
registration to the complainant who is the owner of the trademark or service
mark or to a
competitor of that complainant, for valuable consideration in excess of your
documented
out-of-pocket costs directly related to the domain name; or (ii) you have
registered the
domain name in order to prevent the owner of the trademark or service mark
from reflecting
the mark in a corresponding domain name, provided that you have engaged in a
pattern of such
conduct; or (iii) you have registered the domain name primarily for the
purpose of
disrupting the business of a competitor; or (iv) by using the domain name,
you have
intentionally attempted to attract, for commercial gain, Internet users to
your web site or
other online location, by creating a likelihood of confusion with the
complainant's mark as
to the source, sponsorship, affiliation, or endorsement of your web site or
location or of a
product or service on your web site or location."

Translation: If we're going to have any success at this, we MUST prove that
all three of
these actions have taken place:

1) The domain is identical to a trademark (TM or SM) that I have rights to
2) That WWM has no rights or legitimate interests in awnews.com
3) That WWM is using the awnews.com domain in bad faith, including but not
limited to
purchasing the domain for the main purpose of selling the domain back to the
former owner at
an inflated cost.

So that's everything I know. I can tell you all right now that I have no
trademarks on
AWNews whatsoever, so that may kill us right there. Perhaps you guys could
talk to your
legal friends about all this, but I honestly don't see much good coming of
this. :-/

Oh, and for those who might be thinking that I'm making all this up *glares
pointedly at the
lurkers*, here are references to all the info I just mentioned:

http://www.awnews.com/default.php?stat=yes - the domain name in question,
which displays the
$10,000 Asking Price
http://www.register.com/dispute-policy.cgi?1|3374924395| - register.com's
Dispute Policy
(similar to IAregistry.com's Dispute Policy)
http://www.register.com/whois-results.cgi?dacb02ad2bb54a78f1c7b08942ed18afdd
3dc793383e4fe56498f89cd3f8a9d38403efb03eeeba61
- WHOIS information for AWNews.com
http://www.arb-forum.com/domains/decisions/99675.htm - RentRight, Inc. v.
Worldwide Media
Inc. a/k/a Michael Berkens

--
Goober King
Let the fun begin...
robrod at prism.net

Sep 19, 2002, 3:37pm

I think any kind of domain grabbing is unethic,
but in this case it looks even criminal to me.


[View Quote]

Sep 19, 2002, 3:41pm

I recon I should write a trojan to put on the net and nuke every single damn internet domain cowboy on the planet!

- Mark

[View Quote]

Sep 19, 2002, 4:38pm

I think there might be a few communities where I can ask questions about
this...

Hmm...I'm thinking - SLASHDOT question time!!

If its phrased right...

F.

[View Quote]

Sep 19, 2002, 5:36pm

I would get a lawyers's opinion before snatching up another awnews domain.
In court, Berkins could just argue that you have awnews.org, or awnews.net,
so it's fine and both parties can be happy.

Chris

[View Quote]

Sep 19, 2002, 6:03pm

These urls are VERY interesting:)
Check out who hosts these sites!
Also...everyone please be very careful what you say using this guys name or
company name.
This needs to be handled professionally and above the law.

http://news.spamcop.net/pipermail/spamcop-help/2002-February/023332.html

http://news.spamcop.net/pipermail/spamcop-help/2002-February/023351.html

https://secure.tldsystems.com/cgi-bin/opensrs/domaindecisions/cgi/whois.cgi?
hostname=BOYSTRIPPERS.COM

Sep 19, 2002, 6:05pm

Strike....please be careful what you say ok?:)...Thanks sweetie:)

[View Quote] - Mark

[View Quote]

Sep 19, 2002, 6:11pm

Unless ol' Mikey's getting so rich off domains that he has a summer home
in Florida, I don't think those first two links you mention refer to the
same Michael Berkens that runs WWM. Note the different addresses...

[View Quote]
--
Goober King
In cases like this, attention to detail is important...
robrod at prism.net

Sep 19, 2002, 6:18pm

Well.....this is what I got when I did a search

[SC-Help] Bulls**t - ... 07-14-2010 Database last updated 02-15-2002
04:45:23 AM Domain servers in listed order: NS1.MOSTWANTEDDOMAINS.COM
198.87.241.30 NS2.THIS-DOMAIN-IS-4-SALE.COM ...
http://news.spamcop.net/pipermail/spamcop-help/2002-February/023332.html

Sep 19, 2002, 6:22pm

hmm... Old address then, perhaps?

[View Quote]
--
Goober King
Obviously his attention to detail is waning...
robrod at prism.net

Sep 19, 2002, 6:27pm

Two birds with one stone... :)

-Agent1

[View Quote]

Sep 19, 2002, 6:29pm

Just found this.....a college complaining about this type of thing also
regarding the same company;

http://www.sptimes.com/2002/02/10/SouthPinellas/College_upset_over_li.shtml

You folks are going to have to tell me when to stop...LOL

Sep 19, 2002, 6:32pm

Hmmmm....look who's getting spam complaints?:)
http://www.discosf.com/john/killspam.html

Sep 19, 2002, 6:35pm

Yep...definately the same person Goobs....Was in FL now NC.

Sep 19, 2002, 6:36pm

"Berkens said now that he knows it's a college seeking the address, he would consider
donating it to the college and taking a tax break for the loss."

Someone's a little greedy.

--Bowen--

Sep 19, 2002, 6:42pm

Oh come on Alphabit, what are they going to do? Sue me for saying alphanumeric text when they have already broken a few laws emselfs that are financilaly binding.

- Mark
[View Quote]

Sep 19, 2002, 6:43pm

Looks like they have also effected the movie industry
http://www.growingresults.com/article/s0/a113439.html

Sep 19, 2002, 6:54pm

Well....it may seem silly...I just don't want anyone having problems from
this:)

[View Quote] - Mark
[View Quote]

Sep 19, 2002, 7:12pm

This page is long...you might want to just read the threads referring to
gnu.org domain status.
It looks like the company ends up "donating" the domain names to certain
organizations.
I read somewhere that some squatters raise the price then donate for tax
writeoffs.
What government organizations handle stuff like this?
IRS?:)

Sep 19, 2002, 7:17pm

Oops...forgot the url:)
http://mail.gnu.org/pipermail/dotgnu-sc/2002-July/thread.html#31

[View Quote]

Sep 19, 2002, 7:28pm

Ok...In-and-out-burgers.com Went to court on the squatting issue here;
http://www.courthousenews.com/cda/X-08/newcom08.html

Then when I see who is at that domain it's the hamburger restaurant that has
it now
http://www.netsol.com/cgi-bin/whois/whois?STRING=inandout.com&SearchType=do
You have to search for Berkens to find the court docket.
I think there is a ton of history on this company.

Sep 19, 2002, 11:15pm

Whatever you need (with the exception of large amounts of cash) bit and
goob, I'm right behind ya.


[View Quote]

Sep 20, 2002, 12:45am

Thanks eric:)
Sometimes it isn't money that can make things happen:)

[View Quote]

Sep 20, 2002, 4:26am

Yeah.. to bad its illegal. But It would be funny to watch all them sites go
down. Then be released. *grins evily*
[View Quote]

Sep 20, 2002, 4:34am

Which has an interesting URL:
http://www.icann.org/udrp/

Andras

[View Quote]

Sep 20, 2002, 1:19pm

Personally i don't think anyone will be stopping him any time soon, i mean
the movie industry, college, etc. and we're just a bunch of little people,
what we do wont matter.

--
Brock - 308723
AW 3.4 Build: 431
Brock at iceflare.net

Sep 20, 2002, 1:45pm

Even if we don't "stop" this squatter at least we can attempt to make a
difference...there are places people can go on record for such
behavior...Better Business Bureau , Internet Business Bureau etc etc.
When we say "the little people can't make a difference" we give up and don't
make a difference.


[View Quote] --
Brock - 308723
AW 3.4 Build: 431
Brock at iceflare.net

Sep 20, 2002, 3:32pm

You mean the confirmed biggest online community anwyhere on the known planet? eh o_0

- Mark
[View Quote]

Sep 20, 2002, 3:49pm

You should get in contact with these people who have been similarly
displaced.

Chris

[View Quote]

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