毎日.jp - 1st IDN.jp in dispute

[Ryu]

I reckon some of you are already aware of this, but Mainichi Shimbun (Mainichi Newspaper) apparently claimed their right over 毎日.jp (Mainichi.jp).

Mainichi Shimbun currently uses the roma-ji domain, mainichi.jp, and advertises their website as 毎日jp.

毎日 is a 100% generic word which simply means "every day".

Japan Intellectual Property Arbitration Center is due to make a judgement.

Source: http://www.onamae.com/news/world/071029.html

[Olney]

I saw this on Mixi recently
& I believe it's GMO who owns it, it's tough to say who will win it.

[jacksonm]

Very interesting. I think we should follow this case closely, as it has a potential impact on many of us how Japan will treat owners of generic domains.

When is it due for decision?

.

[Ryu]

Originally Posted by Olney

I believe it's GMO who owns it, .

why do you think so? all that's obvious from whois info is that the owner of the domain uses Humeia's services; and that he/she does not want to reveal his/her personal information.

Originally Posted by jacksonm

When is it due for decision?

.

that's not mentioned in the news article. but it should take about 3 months. the process started on 3 Oct.

[jacksonm]

Ryu, do you know of any domain lawyers in Japan who would defend us foreigner .jp owners in the event we get hit with this same type of claim?

Also, how much are the costs of going to arbitration for .jp domains? I couldn't find that on my own.

.

[Olney]

I can't say which division it is but GMO is a huge corporation.
If the Privacy feature automatically slaps "Domain Kanri" on it, then it's not.
If it doesn't there's too many registrations for it not to be.
I'm in Tokyo & it's just obvious the biggest registries are grabbing domains themselves & have been doing it for a long time.
I don't find anything wrong with it personally & have actually gave individuals in GMO plenty of advice in person (about various domain related things).

There might be a few people associated from the various registries on the site.
I respect & understand the privacy issue...

Originally Posted by Ryu

why do you think so? all that's obvious from whois info is that the owner of the domain uses Humeia's services; and that he/she does not want to reveal his/her personal information.



that's not mentioned in the news article. but it should take about 3 months. the process started on 3 Oct.

[Ryu]

Originally Posted by jacksonm

Ryu, do you know of any domain lawyers in Japan who would defend us foreigner .jp owners in the event we get hit with this same type of claim?

Also, how much are the costs of going to arbitration for .jp domains? I couldn't find that on my own.

.

i don't know any japanese lawyer (or patent agent) specializing in domain issues. the thing is, there have not been many cases of domain disputes in japan with only ascii names around. so no one has that much experience in the field.

if i get sued, i would not ask help from lawyers. i would either give up the domain or fight with my limited legal experience. i don't believe hiring lawyers or patent agents would increase the chance of successfully defending their domains.

if foreigners get sued...... i don't know, mate. to be frank, foreigners owning .jp domains without proper base (address, etc) in japan would stand very little chance defending the domain. i would say... the best thing you can do is, simply give it to me .

the arbitration cost is JPY 189,000 with one panelist and JPY 378,000 with 3 panelists. detail info can be found here.

[alpha]

Originally Posted by Ryu

...if foreigners get sued...... i don't now mate. to be frank, foreigners owning .jp domains without proper base (address, etc) would stand very little chance defending the domain...

so to all you non-native .jp holders with names at value domain and 21-domain... be very afraid :p

i've just moved all of mine to jp-domains - not worth the risk IMO

[Ryu]

Originally Posted by Olney

I can't say which division it is but GMO is a huge corporation.
If the Privacy feature automatically slaps "Domain Kanri" on it, then it's not.
If it doesn't there's too many registrations for it not to be.
I'm in Tokyo & it's just obvious the biggest registries are grabbing domains themselves & have been doing it for a long time.
I don't find anything wrong with it personally & have actually gave individuals in GMO plenty of advice in person (about various domain related things).

There might be a few people associated from the various registries on the site.
I respect & understand the privacy issue...

thank you Olney-san for your imput. i appreciate your explanation.

i still find it difficult to believe that this domain belongs to GMO, as the contact homepage that's linked from whois reads something like "if you want to contact our CUSTOMER, please fill in and submist this form. (the message will be directly forwarded to the domain owner and our company will not be involved.)"

if GMO is acting as a customer of Humeia to hide their registrations, that does not seem like a good thing to do. they should register with their own info, just like how they do with their renowned お名前.com.

well... that's my opinion but it does seem that you have a good reason to believe the domain belongs to GMO. i surely respect your point of view, though we may differ in our opinions.

cheers,
ryu

[Olney]

GMO owns Humeia
it's all the GMO Group
Humeia
Onamae
MuuMuu Domains
Paperboy
All GMO

But you are also right, since it's in Dispute & it went public, they might not own it.

[edear]

Ad:
每日.cn
每日.中国
PunyCode: xn--wgvo5k.cn
http://每日.cn/

Pm or Email:edear3000#yahoo.com.cn

[jacksonm]

Originally Posted by Alphamale

so to all you non-native .jp holders with names at value domain and 21-domain... be very afraid :p

i've just moved all of mine to jp-domains - not worth the risk IMO

Heh, good idea.

.

[Ryu]

Mainichi Newspaper won the case.
The owner of IDN was an unknown company named KK Tokyo Yusho "株式会社東京優勝".

The cruxes of the judgment were
(a) The domain was not developed.
(b) No specific reasons were identified for Tokyo Yusho to own the domain.
(c) Tokyo Yusho presented JPY 10 million as a minimum price for the domain name.

It appears that Mainichi Newspaper initially hid its identity and contacted Tokyo Yusho (who was also hiding its identity). Tokyo Yusho asked how much Mainichi would pay for the domain. Instead of giving the price, Mainichi asked Tokyo Yusho how much it wanted. Tokyo Yusho then presented the price of JPY 10 million as a minimum.

After that, Mainichi disclosed its identity and said it was ready to pay only JPY 100,000 plus reg frees. Tokyo Yusho claimed that (1) it had already received an offer of JPY 5 million from another party; (2) it had a plan to use the domain name to advertise the forthcoming project; and (3) the domain would not be transferred at a price below JPY 10 million.

http://www.nic.ad.jp/ja/drp/list/2007/JP2007-0004.html

[Rubber Duck]

Great publicity for IDN!

[Ryu]

Originally Posted by Rubber Duck

Great publicity for IDN!

unfortunately, i don't think it made news anywhere. i got the info from database.

[touchring]

每日 translates to "daily" in japanese?

How about a dispute for a dot jp work? Do we need to hire a japanese lawyer? It's all in Japanese, how to respond??

[Ryu]

Originally Posted by touchring

How about a dispute for a dot jp work? Do we need to hire a japanese lawyer? It's all in Japanese, how to respond??

hire me

[jacksonm]

Originally Posted by Ryu

hire me

Are you a lawyer?

.

[Ryu]

Edit

[Rubber Duck]

That might actually be a lot more useful!