First UDRP since 2007 — Verisign files

.Com registry wants a .com.

Verisign, the firm that runs the .com registry, has filed a UDRP against a .com domain name.

[Update: the registrant handed the domain name over and the case was terminated.]

It’s the first UDRP the firm has filed since it went following verisigngateway.com in 2007.

The filing targets PoweredByVerisign.com, which was registered at GoDaddy last year by someone in Switzerland.

Verisign uses the domain DomainsPoweredByVerisign.com to promote .com and .net. It registered the domain in March. It’s also a tagline used by Symantec, which purchased Verisign’s security business.

PoweredByVerisign.com resolves to a standard GoDaddy “coming soon” page. Ironically, the first ad on the page is this:

It looks like it goes through Google’s pay-per-click feed, so GoDaddy is paying for someone to click on an ad on its own lander. [Update: it’s possible this is a behavior targeted ad I’m seeing since I’ve visited GoDaddy.com ahead of.]

If Verisign chose to file an in rem lawsuit against a .com domain instead of a UDRP, the court could end up ordering Verisign to transfer the domain to itself…