[At-Large] Small business domain name hijack via gmail

[Brendler, Beau]

Interesting and unfortunate tale on several fronts, including the
usefulness of WHOIS:

<http://www.davidairey.co.uk/google-gmail-security-hijack/>

Maybe we can help this guy somehow? Note especially these paragraphs:

"Where can I get help with domain name disputes?
This is the stage I'm at now, weighing up my options before it comes to
paying legal fees. This is also where I'm calling on your valued help. I
know that many of you are much more clued up on this than I am, and if
you can spare some advice in the comments here I'd be very appreciative.

In my email communications with GoDaddy (the company where my .com
domain name is now registered), a representative had this to say:

Should we receive notice of a pending dispute from a court or
arbitration forum, we will lock the domain name so it cannot be
transferred or have the registrant information modified. Likewise, when
we receive a decision from the legal body, we will update the domain
name accordingly.

They then directed me to the WIPO (World Intellectual Property
Organization, domain.disputes at wipo.int).

So I looked into this organisation's website, and in particular, the
section on domain name dispute resolution resources.

There's a FAQ section which provides information on a number of items,
including the following:

How do I file a dispute? 
How much will it cost and who pays? 
Can damages be awarded? 
To cut a long story short, it seems I have to pay a minimum of $1500 for
the pleasure of initiating a court case. All fees are listed here.

As for how long the process lasts, this information isn't very obvious
on the WIPO website, so at present I'm unsure.

What should I do?
>From what I understand, the only option is to proceed with legal action
(again, I'm not paying the thief one penny).

Do you know any different? 
Do I have a good case to proceed with? 
Is there any other information available online about the pirate who is
blackmailing me? 
If you can provide any of these answers, it would mean a lot."


-----Original Message-----
From: Jonathan Zittrain [mailto:zittrain at law.harvard.edu] 
Sent: Tuesday, December 25, 2007 2:04 PM
To: stopbadware-workinggroup at eon.law.harvard.edu
Subject: [stopbadware-workinggroup] gmail hack


An awful tale, beginning with a gmail hack and ending with a domain 
name hijacking.  Fascinating.

<http://www.davidairey.co.uk/google-gmail-security-hijack/>


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