Reverse Domain Hijacking!

[SDX]

It's nice that everyone's falling from their chairs in laughter...unfortunately, I'm not...

[domaingenius]

Hmm...how did you get to the judge over the phone?

Judge sent both parties an email asking us to call him and we all had conference call . Court if Philadelphia.

DG

[fab]

Judge sent both parties an email asking us to call him and we all had conference call . Court if Philadelphia.

DG

Wow, sounds like something new, phone e-mail, I wonder what's next?

[Acro]

Wow, sounds like something new, phone e-mail, I wonder what's next?

The DNF chatroom

[jberryhill]

Judge sent both parties an email asking us to call him and we all had conference call . Court if Philadelphia.

DG, I'm in the Philly area, and admitted to the courts of Pennsylvania.

So, it's hard to suggest options "other than a lawyer". ICANN/NAF/WIPO don't have anything to do with whatever might be going on in a court. The only options one has when sued is hire a lawyer or do it yourself.

What the "it" might be, will depend on circumstances of the case. However, failure to appear in a proceeding relating to a domain name will normally result in a default judgment, and will further usually be implemented by the registrar without your having any say in the matter.

If you are in CA, and there is an action in a court in Philly, then the first question might be whether jurisdiction over you is appropriate. The trouble is that if you appear - and that can include telephonic appearance - the jurisdiction issue can easily fly right out of the window, since you have admitted to jurisdiction by participating on the substance of the case.

Now, once in a long while, when a judge has a pro se defendant, the judge may hold the plaintiff to proving personal jurisdiction over that defendant, but the court doesn't need to, and some will not, raise the issue on its own.

But, yes, courts do conduct telephonic hearings on preliminary matters.

[socalboy]

SDX, how did you learn about this? Have you been physically served with a Summons and Complaint? If not, under California law there isn't even an action against you.

You need to immediately send a strongly-worded FedEx letter to the general counsel of the registrar letting them know that if the domain is transferred from you prior to final resolution of the action, including appeal, you will seek full judicial remedies against them.

Unfortunately at this point if the domain is valuable you probably need a lawyer. The easiest way to fight this is to remove to federal court on what is called diversity jurisdiction; because you are in different states the federal courts automatically get this case. Then you need to move for a change of venue to that big federal courthouse down there in Santa Ana. They have to pursue the case in your backyard, you don't have to go to them, meaning their lawyers have to fly out here for all the hearings and incur all those expenses.

If they even know how to revise their complaint for our federal court (the Cental District of California has the most complicated "Local Rules" in the country), you then cross-complain with a lot of nasty mean stuff. Finally, you throw them a ton of federal "discovery."

If they're not a substantial company with large resources, they're gone by now....

On another unrelated note, does anyone know what happened to Raider?

[netdevil]

Well what about people like us who live far far away from the court.

What if there is an English problem

What if I want to hire a lawyer who is has been my lawyer since last 5 years but he lives in my country. Or what if I don't want a lawyer and want to just go along, defending myself.

What if I have no money to sit on a plane and remain present in that court :( Are they going to pick me up? Or am I just going to loose the domain name. Last time I heard the decisions were made in courts only after hearing the stories from both the sides.

[socalboy]

NetDevil,

Under US jurisprudence, you need to sue the defendant where he/she resides. If you don't want to make the plane flights / appearances yourself, you can hire a local attorney.

SoCalBoy

[jberryhill]

What if I want to hire a lawyer who is has been my lawyer since last 5 years but he lives in my country.

...then that lawyer is likely to be familiar with the laws of your country, but not necessarily those of another country.

However, any court may admit an attorney on a _pro hac vice_ basis - i.e. for the purpose of that particular case, so long as that attorney associates with an attorney admitted to that court. For example, I have represented parties in New York, Florida, Utah, California, Maryland, and other places on that basis. The local counsel is responsible for making sure that the local procedural rules are followed.

[netdevil]

...then that lawyer is likely to be familiar with the laws of your country, but not necessarily those of another country.

However, any court may admit an attorney on a _pro hac vice_ basis - i.e. for the purpose of that particular case, so long as that attorney associates with an attorney admitted to that court. For example, I have represented parties in New York, Florida, Utah, California, Maryland, and other places on that basis. The local counsel is responsible for making sure that the local procedural rules are followed.

Got it sir. I also assume the court will be giving the defendant the right to defend himself.

I know the opposition can rip him apart. But just a question for poor people.

[jberryhill]

I also assume the court will be giving the defendant the right to defend himself.

The fundamental elements of due process are Notice and Opportunity To Be Heard.

Now, what might constitute an adequate opportunity to be heard can depend on a lot of things. There are, of course, entire courses on the subject.

No, a court in the US will not fly you in from England to argue your case. However, the first stages of a lawsuit deal with preliminary motions that are conducted primarily on paper, and indeed courts permit telephonic appearance in some situations.

The first question, when sued in a remote forum, is whether the exercise of jurisdiction over the defendant in this court is appropriate. If I am in some remote location, but conducting business by means of the internet in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, or if my activities are somehow designed to target an entity in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, then yes, I can be sued there.

Mere accessibility of a website, however, is not enough to obtain jurisdiction over the operator of the website. But there is no one-size-fits all answer to the question of "Can someone in England be sued in Pennsylvania", because the answer is sometimes yes, and sometimes no.

[Banned: ernestjev]

there are many hijackers in internet , now it is big problem

[tinner666]

Jb!

[netdevil]

The fundamental elements of due process are Notice and Opportunity To Be Heard.

Now, what might constitute an adequate opportunity to be heard can depend on a lot of things. There are, of course, entire courses on the subject.

No, a court in the US will not fly you in from England to argue your case. However, the first stages of a lawsuit deal with preliminary motions that are conducted primarily on paper, and indeed courts permit telephonic appearance in some situations.

The first question, when sued in a remote forum, is whether the exercise of jurisdiction over the defendant in this court is appropriate. If I am in some remote location, but conducting business by means of the internet in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, or if my activities are somehow designed to target an entity in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, then yes, I can be sued there.

Mere accessibility of a website, however, is not enough to obtain jurisdiction over the operator of the website. But there is no one-size-fits all answer to the question of "Can someone in England be sued in Pennsylvania", because the answer is sometimes yes, and sometimes no.

That was very informative I think I need to write a blog post on this one

Hoping we will someday see some rules by the book for the internet. Which will not be swaying from here and there. I think if the process is going by the book itself then both the TM holders and the Domain name investors will benefit from it.

Thank you sir for sharing the information with us

[socalboy]

John has given an excellent synopsis of why you need a local attorney in the US.

In California, although the issue of jurisdiction should be cited as an affirmative defense at the initial stage of a lawsuit, but cases are not routinely tossed out on that basis. This is because jurisdiction is what is called "always at issue," meaning you can bring it up at any time, even on appeal.

The first question here is whether you got good service of the Summons and Complaint on the defendant. If not, no case, no controversy, nothing.

I think the second most important issue here is what is called standing. Do you have the right to sue for this? Complicated question, many factors involved.

Just a little more feedback....

[SDX]

Just as an update...justice has prevailed!

[Onward]

Can you give us the skinny?

Congrats.

[Domainator]

Just as an update...justice has pervailed!

Peter, congrats! However, this info is of no use to any of us unless you provide the details....

Thanks...

[lordbyroniv]

details details

[domaingenius]

. But there is no one-size-fits all answer to the question of "Can someone in England be sued in Pennsylvania", because the answer is sometimes yes, and sometimes no.

I was sued by a large US Corporation re a domain name. The Judge allowed me to lodge a defence by fax and be heard by conference call from the UK. It did NOT go to trial. !!.

DG

I must also say the Judge was very very fair and emailed me updates etc,

DG