In the case of “People for Ethical Treatment of Animals v Doughney (263 F.3d 359) the U.S. the District Court of Virginia found Michael Doughney, a former internet executive, guilty for cybersquatting and trademark infringement.
In this case, Doughney registered the domain name “peta.org” in 1995. “When registering the domain name, Doughney represented that the registration didn’t interfere with or infringe upon the rights of any third party and that a non-profit education organization called ‘People Eating Tasty Animals’ was registering the domain name.” It was proven however, that no such organization existed and that his website contained a links to meat, fur, leather, animal research, etc. which espoused views contrary to those of PETA. Furthermore, his site contained a link which, when clicked, connected people to the actual “People for Ethical Treatment of Animals” website.
PETA, an animal rights organization, demanded that he transfer the domain name and upon his refusal, filed a case against him. Despite his claim that his site was a mere parody of PETA’s website, the Court found him guilty under the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (among other things), as his site prevented consumers from reaching the real PETA website and contained links to commercial sites thereby bringing about confusion. (to be continued…)
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