Meg Whitman, Conde Naste [Updated]: Celebrity Domain Names

Two celebrity domain name scuffles get media attention.

Can’t bid for her name.

Two stories hit the online world today regarding pseudo-celebrities battling to get their names as domain names.

First, there’s an Associated Press article regarding former eBay CEO-turned-politician Meg Whitman. She filed for WIPO arbitration to get MegWhitman.com. The case was terminated since WIPO determined she was not famous enough for her name to be a brand. [The original version of this article stated that a woman in California owned the domain name MegWhitman.com. As it turns out, the contact in whois is Whitman’s assistant. The domain was put in her name following Whitman recovered the domain MegWhitman.com from the prior owner. A later version of the article also suggested, based on a reader comment and a couple speculative news articles, that her assistant was upset with her over her stance on gay marriage, which was a possible reason for the domain name being in her name. Henry Gomez, spokesman for Whitman, confirms that this is not true. Gomez states the only ongoing dispute is with Tom Hall, as described below.]

Whitman is also suing Tom Hall, a Democrat and paid political writer, who registered megwhitmanforgovernor.com, whitmanforgovernor.com, whitman2010.com, meg2010.com and megwhitman2010.com.

Here’s the catch: by becoming a politician, someone can legally own her name as a domain name. It depends on how they use it and if they profit from it. But right now it appears Hall is generating money from domain parking ads.

Second, The Fresh York Observer has a story regarding Conde Nast getting its hands on the domains of some of its editors. Gossip web site Cityfile registered the domains — and those of many other Fresh York celebrities — to drive traffic to its web site. Cityfile founder Remy Stern bragged “We did it to promote the site, but I won’t object if someone comes along with outrageous sums of money and wants to buy his name back.”

This Cityfile case is clear cybersquatting. When Conde Naste asked, Cityfile handed over the domain names.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons