Last week I blogged about domain tasting and
contacted the CADNA directly in my official position as President and CEO of
the 'World Association of Domain Name Developers Inc.' about how
professional domainers and this new organization could be able to work
together. While there may be areas in which we disagree, when it comes to
'tasting' we have something in common. That email has so far gone unanswered. In the meantime I have had many discussions with folks and have seen some
posts here which warned that CADNA is not to be trusted. They believe their
TRUE agenda is to 'Reverse Hijack' valuable domain names that are
legitimately owned by painting everyone as a cybersquatter. Needless to say I was stunned to hear this.
I have also learned that the organization
itself would be a cybersquatter under its own definitions of
cybersquatting. Yup, you heard me right. There are folks saying they are guilty
of what they are accusing others of. Some very large companies may be
embarrassed to learn this. It seems that they chose a domain name that
already has a trademark!! Their domain is CADNA.ORG, but there is a
company that has a trademark on CADNA and operates from CADNA.COM!!
Does this cause confusion? It did with me. In my blog I mistakenly linked
the post on the 16th to CADNA.COM and it was only on Sunday the 19th that
somebody emailed me that I made a mistake and that it was a .ORG not a .COM at
the end of CADNA.
So will we see the anti-cybersquatting CADNA.ORG get
swept into court for violating the mark of CADNA.COM?? Did they not do any
research? How SLOPPY can this new association be and how IGNORANT can the
companies putting their names behind them be?
So either CADNA needs to change its domain
name or it is just as guilty as the people they are pointing fingers at and
calling cybersquatters. Then again, maybe this shows that nothing is black and
white. Maybe CADNA.ORG needs to look at these differences. Not everything
is a TM infringement. Not everything causes confusion in the marketplace. Not
every trademark is the same or there would be no need for so many different
trademark classifications. So we will wait and see if CADNA.COM files a WIPO or
UDRP against this new coalition that may be violating their trademark by folks
that say they are concerned about the abuse of Intellectual Property. So what
say you CADNA.ORG? Are you the newest cybersquatter in town?
And how is the sale of Pharmacy.com going?
It seems to be brokered by Fairwinds LLC which is one of the companies
backing CADNA. An asking price of $50 million big ones would set a new record
for the sale of an individual domain name. So who is CADNA.ORG? What is their
real mission and REAL motive? Is it possible they know that great domains have
value in the tens of millions and this is the foundation to legally take
our domains to which they have no rights? Like the railroads took peoples land
back in the 1800's?
CADNA.ORG seems as guilty as those that they
accuse of cybersquatting and CADNA.COM should file suit if they were to
follow what CADNA.ORG intends to make legal. So either CADNA.ORG
needs to take a deep breath before they RECKLESSLY call folks cybersquatters or
they have another agenda.
Stay tuned. Let's see how this plays out and see
if this organization will admit that they should not paint all domainers as
cybersquatters. If they do, then they themselves ARE cybersquatters by their
own definition and the charter members that include AIG, Dell, Eli Lilly,
Hilton, HSBC, Marriott, Richemont, Verizon, Wyndham, and Yahoo! may end up with
some egg on their collective faces. How uninformed can they be? Did ANYONE at
these supporting companies look into this? Did their board approve this move that may end up backfiring right in their faces? Did they do their due diligence or
have they swallowed something that will prove to be very embarrassing?
Tia Wood
Thanks for posting this, Rick. They always say: point a finger and there are three pointed back at you.
Tia Wood
anonymous
Interesting – alot of those companies that signed onto CADNA.ORG are former register.com corporate clients (a now defunct business unit). CADNA.ORG and fairwinds are both run by ex register.com corporate SALESmen. Sounds like they are making good use of their old rolodexes.
Great post pointing out that they themselves are cybersquatting.
I know these people they are scum...
These folks are clueless parasites taking advantages of hefty corporate budgets. It sickens me because I know how they use to do the same things at Register.com. Their day is coming because the trade secrets they stole have angered many folks and people are coming after them.
PS — keep the pressure on them because the truth needs to be exposed
Ramiro
Excellent information! The trademark aspects of your story interest me.
DomainerPro
Could CADNA argue that CADNA.com is a for-profit company, while CADNA.org is a non-profit organization, and that this is consistent with the original intent of the .com and .org extensions, and that therefore they are not cybersquatting?
Deb
Rick,that was truely an interesting post ……..
Infact the charter members must realize that CADNA themselves are cybersquatting an existing domain name …. the members must read this post …… they must
I am eagerly waiting for this automotive aftersale company (cadna.com) files an UDRP against CADNA.ORG
Enrico Schaefer
Look. CADNA Automotive found at CADNA.com is an automotive company. Trademark law is more complex than having the same name. The test is whether consumers will be confused as to the source and origin of goods offered CADNA.org as a result of the prior entity found at Cadna.com. The obvious answer is that no one will think that CADNA.org is related to CADNA Automotive. The suggestion of cybersquatting is stupid.
Cybersquatting is defined as the registration of another persons prior trademark/domain name for the purpose of diverting traffic, causing confusion and/or selling the domain name to its trademark owner for profit.
Some domainers engage in cybersquatting. Most do not. Cybersquatting is unlawful and it should be. Brokering domains that don’t UNLAWFULLY leverage others trademark is fine.
Kate
There is no ‘cybersquatting’ involved here as both sites are operating in totally different areas and there is no risk of confusion between the two.
Cadna is using a domain acronym in good faith and is not guilty of cybersquatting.
But the fact remains that Cadna is just a charitable front for fat cat businessmen. They are a bunch of hypocrites.
Tasting does not equal to cybersquatting.
Tasting within reason is legitimate. Kiting is not.
They should just stick with their cozy business dealings involving top domains like pharmacy.com and spare us their holier-than-thou attitude.
Jack
Found this article through search…you obviously know nothing about trademark law, and that worries me.
There is no infringement in any case by owning CADNA.ORG. So, since you know nothing about trademark law I assume your domain portfolio could have a few infringements here and there…just saying.