David Weslow Discusses Favorable Ruling in Unique Domain Name Theft Lawsuit

July 10, 2015

David E. Weslow, a partner in Wiley Rein’s Intellectual Property Practice, was quoted by Bloomberg BNA’s Electronic Commerce & Law Report in a July 9 article about legal remedies for the growing problem of Internet domain name theft. The article cited a favorable court ruling that Mr. Weslow recently secured on behalf of Wiley Rein client, Acme Billing Company, as well as a newly filed case involving a separate domain name theft from another client.

The Acme Billing case was the first federal lawsuit of its kind on behalf of an e-commerce company that had domain names stolen by computer hackers based in China. The suit, which included claims under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection (ACPA) and  the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), concluded with Acme Billing successfully obtaining the court-ordered return of the stolen domain names. Bloomberg BNA noted that the ruling, in Acme Billing Company v. John Doe, marks a “promising path” for other domain theft victims to follow.

The article also cited a lawsuit Mr. Weslow filed June 29 on behalf of another client, alleging violations of both the CFAA and ACPA for the illegal transfer of a domain name to a Chinese registrar.

While some domain holders have sought to recover stolen domains through the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Process (UDRP), the article noted that decisions have been mixed on whether the UDRP can be invoked to recover stolen domain names and Mr. Weslow said that the UDRP is often not an appropriate vehicle for domain theft. “Theft clearly is not envisioned as something that would be covered under the UDRP in its current form,” Mr. Weslow said.

To read the Bloomberg BNA article, please click here.