ATLANTA — The parent company of cam site MyFreeCams.com recently scored a victory in a cybersquatting case decided over the domain name MyFreeCamShow.com.
The domain name MyFreeCamShow.com, as a result of the decision, was ordered transferred to MyFreeCams.com’s parent, which has operated its popular network for 15 years.
The case, ruled on by arbitrator Lawrence K. Nodine, concerned a domain that was registered in June 2015 and most recently had been operating as a cam site.
The domain, MyFreeCamShow.com, was registered to Josh Pendergrass of Lapu-Lapu City, Philippines, who unsuccessfully tried to defend the cybersquatting charges made in the UDRP case, asserting that the disputed domain name was not related to MyFreeCams’ trademark, which itself was registered in 2008.
Pendergrass’ MyFreeCamShow.com domain had been resolving to a similar address, MyFreeCamShows.com, for users. Once there, users experienced a full-fledged cam site branded as MyFreeCamShow, offering content similar to the MyFreeCams site.
In an order transferring the domain name to MyFreeCams, arbitrator Nodine ruled that the MyFreeCamShow.com domain name was confusingly similar to MyFreeCams’ trademark, that Pendergrass had no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the disputed domain name, and that the domain name was registered and being used in bad faith.
“The disputed domain name incorporates complainant’s mark in its entirety; the only difference being the addition of ‘how.’ This addition does nothing to avoid the confusion created by the entire reproduction of complainant’s mark,” Nodine wrote in his decision.
Nodine also said that the record indicated that Pendergrass, by using a domain name confusingly similar to MyFreeCams’ mark, was seeking to divert visitors searching for MyFreeCam’s website to his own website to further his own commercial interests.
Industry attorney Lawrence Walters, of Walters Law Group, represented MyFreeCams’ parent company in the case. Walters declined comment to XBIZ over the decision.
Pendergrass had not responded for XBIZ comment by post time.