Bigbrother.com domain retrieved
Melbourne IT Corporate Brand Services (CBS) announced that it has helped Endemol Nederland B. V., producers of the global Big Brother programme, to secure the bigbrother.com domain name which has been owned by another party since October 2004.
The bigbrother.com domain was retrieved for Endemol by Melbourne IT CBS Online Brand Infringement Services (OBIS) team in cooperation with the Endemol legal department following a successful Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) case decided in April 2007 before a panellist appointed by the World Intellectual Property Organisation.
The complexity of managing, monitoring and protecting online brands is escalating and, at the same time, global internet usage is growing rapidly with more than 1 billion* people worldwide now using the internet for business and personal pursuits. For companies big and small, ensuring that their valuable online assets are secure has never been more critical, said Stina Molander, Senior Legal Specialist with Melbourne IT CBS. Endemol is a long-standing and valued client of Melbourne IT CBS.
We have been in the business of online brand protection for more than 10 years and have assisted our clients in resolving numerous domain name disputes, with a 96% success rate. Our approach is to complete comprehensive research on the background to the dispute before taking further action. By doing this we not only determine whether our client has a case, but we can uncover relevant facts about the other party that will help us to make our case, such as pattern of conduct or prior involvement in disputes, Ms Molander said.
According to the World Intellectual Property Organisation, the incidence of cybersquatting is on the increase with more than 1,800 domain name disputes filed in 2006, an increase of 25% over the previous year. So far in 2007, almost 950 disputes have been registered.
“Big Brother has been sold to 39 countries and is set to be broadcast this year in over 20 territories around the world including the USA, UK, Italy, Spain, Germany, Pan-Africa, Argentina, Brazil and Australia. We were concerned that this key top level domain name was not part of our online brand portfolio and that we were not able to control the content that was displayed at the site. We had made several attempts to negotiate with the party who owned the bigbrother.com domain name without success, so we are very pleased that after engaging Melbourne IT Corporate Brand Services to help us we have now secured a critical part of Big Brothers global online identity, said Benjamin van Werven, Legal Counsel at Endemol International B.V.
The bigbrother.com domain name was recovered for Endemol using the UDRP process, which was adopted by ICANN in 1999 to help to address the conflict between trademarks and domain names. Other Online Brand Infringement Services offered by Melbourne IT CBS include proactive domain name, text and logo monitoring which clients can use to assess usage of their products, brands and services around the world. Melbourne ITs proactive monitoring service analyses and recommends actions in order to protect clients online brand position and minimise risk of brand damage.
July 25th, 2007 at 1:50 pm
So now we’ve heard half the story. Who was the former owner of BB.Com, and was their use of the domain legitimate or deliberately inflammatory?
It could be that you are crowing about big business unfairly crushing an individual. Your story doesn’t provide enough information for the reader to know whether MIT was engaged in a worthy business support activity or complicit in yet another piece of globalisation bastardry.
July 25th, 2007 at 2:24 pm
This article would have been more interesting with background detail information, ie who had the name, and the arguements put forward to retrieve it etc.
July 25th, 2007 at 3:15 pm
Surely the estate of George Orwell deserves ownership of the domain name bigbrother.com ? Perhaps this story should have been titled “Bigbusiness.com domain secured”?
July 25th, 2007 at 3:17 pm
From the TV station that brought Australia ‘global warming’ TV show only to cramb ads for so called ‘green energy’ within it. Comes the next act of corperate compliance by INWW to avoid negitave stories created by the 10 network being aired on Australian TV…
July 29th, 2007 at 1:16 pm
You seem to be engaged in writing up a ‘gloss over’ in defense of siding with what is essentially big media and big money! You have very conveniently left out critical detail that would give the reader some idea of the actual dispute.
“We were concerned that this key top level domain name was not part of our online brand portfolio and that we were not able to control the content that was displayed at the site.”
What is this supposed to mean? Is this a fancy way of saying that we would rather take the name away from the little guy it give it to the party with the most money and legal clout?
If you wish to try and justify your actions in a written article, you could at least give the facts of the case!
I have no idea who the original holder of bigbrother.com was, but your article smacks of foul play.
I am also what is presumably a valued customer of yours. At this rate, I will consider taking my business elsewhere!
Mike Farrer.
August 16th, 2007 at 3:09 pm
I am not a viewer of Big Brother, but if my memory serves me correctly it first aired well before 2004.
So did the ‘rightful owners’ allow their registration to expire, or did they never ‘own’ it in the first place?
This article raises a lot more questions than it answers and I agree with other posters that something doesn’t smell right.
If you are presenting this as something you are ‘proud’ of I need more information before I can decide whether to be impressed or disgusted.