Cohen Loses iTunes URL Battle
by , 11:10 AM EST, November 23rd, 2005
Ben Cohen has given up his battle to keep the itunes.co.uk domain name, according to ZDNet. Cohen purchased the domain name in 2000, then lost it to Apple in March 2005.
Cohen claimed that he registered the domain name, unaware that Apple was trademarking "iTunes." Apple offered him US$5,000 for the name, and Cohen countered with a price of $50,000. His company, CyberBritain, also pointed the domain name to Napster's Web site.
Nominet, the UK's domain name registry, reassigned the domain name in March after Apple cited that it holds the iTunes trademark. Claire Milne, a Nominet adjudicator, awarded Apple the domain name, stating that CyberBritain's act was an "abusive registration," meaning that the company was trying to take unfair advantage of Apple's rights.
Mr. Cohen then filed a case in British court, bypassing the UK's standard domain name dispute process as managed through Nominet. The court threw out the case because he failed to follow the proper appeal procedure, which CyberBritain eventually appealed.
Mr. Cohen and CyberBritain have now withdrawn the appeal, and will no longer attempt to regain the iTunes.co.uk domain name.
Observer Comments
Quotegeoduck wrote:
Every once in a while the good guys win.
Except in this case of course! I think you'll find that Mr Cohen registered this domain some 13 months before the first version of iTunes was launched, let alone the iTMS. This case has been badly reported in the States, which as usual, only reports one side of an argument.
Yes Apple had released the iMac (1999) and Steve was it's iCEO (in this case i stood for interim) but other than that I don't think that they used the 'i' moniker for anything else. www.itunes.co.uk initially was set-up as a links site for all things to do with computer based music - mp3 software downloads, where to get mp3's from, reviews etc. Only when Apple got shirty and threatened legal action - in 2003, just before iTMS was being mooted - did this all blow up. It was during the dispute that it was pointed to Napster's site I guess out of spite.
Yes, I think Mr Cohen was daft trying to get more cash out of Apple but I also think that Apple played the villain in this affair - they could have made a better offer initially and come to a more amicable solution. As it is, they've appeared heavy handed and dare I say it, very Redmond like!
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