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Expanding your domain name portfolio requires knowledge of and attention to cybersquatting laws, which include both the ACPA and the UDRP.  My partner, Enrico Schaefer, said it best in his article: “You Are A Legitimate Domainer If … You Do Not Cybersquat.”  But how do you know if you are cybersquatting?
The ACPA holds a domain name registrant liable for the “bad faith intent to profit from that mark . . .; and registers, traffics in, or uses a domain name that–in the case of a mark that is distinctive at the time of registration of the domain name, is identical or confusingly similar to that mark.”  ICANN’s UDRP Rules essentially tells you are not a cybersquatter if: (1) you do not register a domain name incorporating the trademark of another; (2) you have a legitimate interest in a domain name to which another does not have rights; and (3) you registered and are using the domain name in good faith.  While this is guidance for domain name attorneys, I have compiled some more practical advice to avoid being pegged as the dreaded “cybersquatter.”  Please note that none of this is to be considered legal advice and you should consult with a trademark and domain name attorney before purchasing a domain name.

Consider the possible trademarks encompassed in and rights of others to a domain name prior to purchasing it.  The best way to do this is to remember the word “generic,” and how that classification can save you from a trademark owner who is pursuing your domain down the road.
Properly budget for domain name investigation, purchase, and protection in the same way you would for other valuable property, such as a home.  There are experts available to help, you just need to utilize them.
Quantify the risk of trademark infringement and ACPA lawsuits for the domains in your domain name portfolio.  If you discover high risk domains, you want to be prepared to not only relinquish the domains, but also get a release of all liability for doing so.
Properly respond to threat letters and other inquiries so as to minimize your risk of being subjected to the UDRP or an ACPA lawsuit.  Don’t go at it alone thinking that you understand the intricacies that have caused others to face $100,000 penalties per domain registration.  Your response may be evidence of bad faith that can be used against you under both the ACPA and UDRP.
Properly evaluate the merits of a UDRP or ACPA Complaint.  A domain name and trademark attorney is an absolute must.
These are critical considerations that may not always receive the attention they deserve.  While this list is not exhaustive, it does provide insight into what every domain name owner should be doing, both before and after purchase of a domain name.

A recent article noted that “Simplicity Rules!” when it comes to domain name acquisitions.  While this is partly true, the better way to say it would have been: Simplicity Rules; As Long As You Are Not Cybersquatting.  Domainers willing to pay five and six figures for a single domain name need to ensure their investment is legitimate and protectable.  If successful, a domainer can avoid becoming a cybersquatter.

Source: Brian Hall writing for DomainNews.com - March 20th, 2008

A pair of hoax ads on Craigslist cost an American man much of what he owned.

The ads popped up Saturday afternoon, saying the owner of a Jacksonville home was forced to leave the area suddenly and his belongings, including a horse, were free for the taking, said Jackson County sheriff’s Detective Sergeant Colin Fagan.

But Robert Salisbury had no plans to leave. The independent contractor was at Emigrant Lake when he got a call from a woman who had stopped by his house to claim his horse.

On his way home he stopped a truck loaded down with his work ladders, lawn mower and weed eater.

“I informed them I was the owner, but they refused to give the stuff back,” Salisbury said. “They showed me the Craigslist printout and told me they had the right to do what they did.”

The driver sped away after rebuking Salisbury. On his way home he saw other cars filled with his belongings.

Once home he was greeted by close to 30 people rummaging through his barn and front porch.

The trespassers, armed with printouts of the ad, tried to brush him off.

“They honestly thought that because it appeared on the internet it was true,” Salisbury said. “It boggles the mind.”

Jacksonville police and Jackson County sheriff’s deputies arrived but by then several cars packed with Salisbury’s property had fled.

He turned some license-plate numbers over to police.

Michelle Easley had seen the ad that claimed Salisbury’s horse had been declared abandoned by the sheriff’s department and was free to a good home.

“I can’t stand to see a horse suffer so I drove out there and got her,” Easley said. “The horse didn’t look abandoned. She is in good shape for being 32 years old.”

But it looked odd, so she left a note on Salisbury’s door explaining the ad. She then decided to call to make sure the ad was legitimate when the second similar ad appeared.

“I feel bad because I was a part of it,” Easley said. “It felt right to call the police.”

Fagan praised Easley’s honesty but said prosecution was likely for anybody caught with Salisbury’s property.

Items can be returned with no questions asked, Fagan said.

Detectives have contacted Craigslist’s legal team to try to trace the ad.

Meanwhile, Salisbury could not even relax on his porch swing.

Someone took it.

source:smh

Although both Microsoft and Intel’s R&D departments have been responsible for some nifty futuristic tech, the two companies got together last week and announced a $20M grant to two universities to “start over” and develop next-gen computing systems based around parallel processing. The grant will fund Universal Parallel Computing Research Centers at UC -Berkeley, which is kicking in another $7M, and the University of Illinois at Champaign / Urbana, which is donating $8M of its own. According to Mark Snir, head of the UIUC lab, the goal is to find a way to make “parallelism so easy to use that parallel programming becomes synonymous with programming” — an increasingly important priority as current multi-core processors aren’t necessarily being fully utilized, and 100-core processors aren’t far off. That leads us to wonder: what to do with all that newly-unlocked processing power? Virtual-reality Facebook? Real-time visual augmentation? Finally being able to run Crysis? We know you’ve got ideas — sound off in comments!

source:engadget

Album : Just For The Record…
Artist : Barbra Streisand

God - our havenly father
Oh, god - and my father
Who is also in heaven.
May the light
Of this flickering candle
Illuminate the night the way
Your spirit illuminates my soul.

Papa, can you hear me?
Papa, can you see me?
Papa, can you find me in the night?

Papa, are you near me?
Papa, can you hear me?
Papa, can you help me not be frightened?

Looking at the skies
I seem to see a million eyes
Which ones are yours?
Where are you now that yesterday
Has waved goodbye
And closed it’s doors?
The night is so much darker.
The wind is so much colder
The world I see is so much bigger now that I’m alone.

Papa, please forgive me.
Try to understand me.
Papa, don’t you know I had no choice?
Can you hear me praying,
Anything I’m saying,
Even though the night is filled with voices?

I remember everything you taught me
Every book I’ve ever read.
Can all the words in all the books
Help me to face what lies ahead?
The trees are so much taller
And i feel so much smaller.
The moon is twice as lonely
And the stars are half as bright.

Papa, how I love you.
Papa, how I need you.
Papa, how I miss you
Kissing me goodnight.

Oh goodie. Sometime “later this year,” Tivo owners will be able to login to their YouTube accounts directly from their Series3 and TiVo HD devices. Using their fat, deceitful, meat sticks on the TiVo remote salvaged from the matrimonial wreckage, subscribers can search, browse, and watch enough content to realize just how badly they suck at Photoshop. Press release available after the break.

source:engadget

We’ve already seen strikes caused over the introduction of some relatively minor technology in taxis, but that’s nothing compared to the brouhaha that could be in store one day in the future, at least if things like the robuCAB are any indication. That seemingly innocuous vehicle pictured above (along with an approximation of a future model) is developed by France’s Robosoft, and has apparently proven itself successful in the limited uses it’s been put to so far, with it relying a a series of cameras that keep track of the curb and some sensors placed beneath the ground. Needless to say, those requirements should let cabbies rest easy for now but, given other recent developments, it seems pretty likely that the Great Taxi Strike of 2025 is becoming more and more inevitable.

source:engadget.com

While perhaps some sort of tagging or RFID system could be more effective in this task, you’re certainly never going to look as badass on the hunt for a flower pot as you will with these Smart Goggles. Being developed by researchers at the University of Tokyo, the video goggles are hooked up to a backpack computer and record whatever you see. The system can be trained to recognize particular items by name, using some fancy image recognition software, and is meant for people with memory problems or just really hard to find plants. You can even ask the system to play back some recent video of the object (”where did you see it last?”) to help jog your memory or just bring back old times. Super-fine white coat not included.

source:engadget.com

So now that the dust is settling, winners are boasting, and Auction 73 is in the record books, it’s time to take a good, hard look back on what was, what is, and what could’ve been. As we all now know, Verizon came away with the biggest prize — the giant Block C that will be obligated to provide open access to any device that can technically support it — but AT&T and Echostar partner Frontier Wireless could end up making quite a stink with their Block B and E wins, respectively. So how does everyone feel about the results? Is Verizon the proper trustee for what is likely the single most important swath of wireless broadband to hit the US auction block in the foreseeable future, or would Google have been a better choice? Should AT&T have stepped up to the plate and taken a shot at Block C, or is the lower bandwidth Block B sufficient for its needs and desires? Don’t be shy now!

source:engadget.com