Cricket.com Hit with UDRP: Wow
Cricket.com domain name challenged as cybersquatting.
The storied domain name Cricket.com has been hit with a UDRP as stated by records at National Arbitration Forum.
Although National Arbitration Forum does not disclose who the complainant is until following a case is decided, it’s possible that it’s wireless firm Cricket Communications. The firm uses MyCricket.com as its domain name and has used National Arbitration Forum in the past to recover domain names.
Cricket.com was owned by Live Current Media for a long time, and for a while featured ads for wireless phones. Then the firm developed it out at the same time it struck a long term deal to provide another web site for Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket.
The deal with IPL later collapsed. Live Current Media eventually sold the Cricket.com domain name as well.
So how could Cricket Wireless go following Cricket.com when the site is clearly developed as a fantasy cricket game?
Just look at the ads on the site. Every single Google Adsense ad is for a wireless provider. There’s even an affiliate ad for wireless services.
A thinly veiled attempt to masquerade as a cricket site while generating ad revenue based on the now famous Cricket Communications brand? That would be a huge leap for a UDRP panelist to make. If it really is the wireless carrier who’s going following this domain, then this is a case best settled in the courts rather than within the narrow confines UDRP.
