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A Scottish respondent has lost lynnerussell.com in a domain dispute to the ex-CNN anchor-woman of the same name, after the panel held that using the associated web site to publish a love poem to a "girl named Lynne Russell who [the respondent] knew in his 'younger days'" was not sufficient evidence that it had been registered in good faith.

Lynne Russell was a popular evening anchor of CNN Headline News for 18 years and after her departure from CNN in 1999, she started development of a web site using the disputed domain to promote her range of cosmetics and books including "How to Win Friends, Kick Ass and Influence People".

For undisclosed reasons the domain was allowed to expire and was consequently re-registered by the Respondent - Stirling-based Kenneth Young.

In awarding the domain to Russell, the panel held that "because of the Complainant's international recognition and success as a news anchor person, she has common law trademark rights in her name, "Lynne Russell" and is trading off her name and reputation to sell products such as cosmetics and books."

By registering the domain the Respondent was infringing these established rights. But as regular mawug readers will know, a Complainant in a UDRP dispute must also show that the Respondent has no legitimate interest in a domain and has registered it in bad faith.

As to bad faith, Young made a spirited response to the complaint, saying he registered the domain "in memory of a girl named Lynne Russell" and used it to publish a poem on the related web page:

Another year Another start

Where is the wisdom

Where is the heart

Dreaming days

And sleepless nights

Thinking of Lynne

Touching the heights

Young hoped that his powerful, one stanza ode would allow his sweet-heart to get in touch "…or at the very least smile and think of me kindly as she read the poem".

However, the panel was not impressed, observing that Young had registered 163 other domains which incorporated the names of several other moderately famous people including Ali McGraw, Ally Sheedy, John Updike, and even the infamous Australian bushranger Ned Kelly.

The panel noted: "It is fair to assume that the Respondent has no legitimate rights or interests in the names of these famous people. The Respondent provided no evidence to the contrary. Registrations of other domain names using names of famous people is relevant to determining that the Respondent has engaged in a pattern of such conduct."

"No message appears on the website to indicate the Respondent is trying to locate a lost friend, and no contact details for the Respondent appear on the website." And, that "The Respondent's bare assertion [was] vague and extremely unconvincing".

Poems aside, this case is of some interest in that it reinforces the concept that under the UDRP personal names can attract the same level of protection as trade marks and reinforces previous disputes where celebrities including Robbie Williams, Kevin Spacey and Van Morrison have established common law rights in their personal names and recovered the corresponding domain names.

Simulated attacks on key internet hubs have shown how vulnerable the worldwide network is to disruption by disaster or terrorist action. If an attack or disaster destroyed the major nodes of the internet, the network itself could begin to unravel, warn the scientists who carried out the simulations.

The virtual attacks showed that the net would keep going in major cities, but outlying areas and smaller towns would gradually be cut off. The researchers warn that the net has become more vulnerable as it has become more commercialised and key net cables are concentrated in the hands of fewer organisations.

The simulations were carried out by a trio of scientists from Ohio State University led by Tony Grubesic, Assistant Professor of Geography at the University of Cincinnati. Dr Grubesic compared the net to US air traffic system. "If weather stops or delays traffic in a major airport hub, like Chicago's O'Hare, air passengers throughout the country may feel the effects," said Dr Grubesic, "even if they are not travelling to Chicago."

An internet attack flooded domain name manager UltraDNS with a deluge of data late last week, causing administrators to scramble to keep the servers that host .info and other domains up and running.

Criminals are able to discover personal details including home addresses through information contained in messages put in "out of office" auto reply email messages , experts have warned.

Technology industry body The Corporate IT Forum (Tif) reports that criminals are buying up lists of email addresses to find out details of holiday absences and cross-referencing the information at online directories.

David Roberts, chief executive at Tif, said: "You wouldn't go on holiday with a note pinned to your door saying who you were, how long you were away and when you were coming back so why would you put this in an email?"

People with unusual names, especially those living in smaller towns, are particularly vulnerable to the new practise and should use caution when using out of office replies, advises Tif.

OS InnoMedia will unveil a Linux-based IP videophone at CableNET '02 in Anaheim, CA.

The device, which is equipped with a 4-inch color TFT LCD and has the look and feel and ease of use of an ordinary telephone, is capable of delivering real-time high quality video images at up to 768 Kbps bandwidth.

This technical article describes the architecture and design philosophy behind a new Linux-based 1.3 megapixel network camera that delivers full-sized images at up to 15 frames per second. Because both the embedded software and FPGA hardware algorithms are released as open source technologies, developers can readily customize the camera's operation to meet specialized requirements.

Harley-Davidson Revs Up Against Cybersquatting World famous motorcycle company Harley-Davidson recently won four domain names through UDRP actions against an Arizona registrant who registered and then offered Harley-Davisdon related domains for sale.On the heels of this decision and an October 30, 2002 decision for LoveRide.com, H-D has another UDRP case pending against four other domain names: HarleyD.com, OldHarley.com, HarleyPic.com and HarleyHeaven.net.

MAWUG

MID-ATLANTIC WEB USER GUIDE

7-11-03

Love poems not evidence of good faith