Although Sex.com does not have a sub-domain called yahoo.sex.com,
the wildcard system, which is offered as a service by some domain
name registrars, forwards all traffic for unnamed sub-domains to
the main site located at sex.com. Without the wildcard service,
traffic will reach an error page if there is no site located at the
sub-domain.
In a letter sent to Grant Media, the company behind Sex.com,
Yahoo! complained that the possible diversion of users was
tarnishing Yahoo!’s reputation by associating it with adult
products and services. Yahoo! claimed that the wildcard amounts to
an infringement of Yahoo!’s trade mark.
In response, Grant Media has filed a lawsuit asking a US Federal
Court in San Francisco to issue a declaratory judgment that Sex.com
is not infringing Yahoo!'s trademark. It argues that the use of
wildcard technology is common practice on the web to ensure that
users find the web site that they are looking for even if they
misspell the address they type in.
According to the WSJ, Yahoo! has backed off, saying in a letter
that it had not been aware that Sex.com was using wildcards. The
WSJ reports that Grant Media is proceeding with its declaratory
lawsuit.
This is the latest chapter in a long legal saga over the domain
name sex.com. Last year, a judge ruled that the name had been
stolen by an ex-convict, Stephen Cohen. Cohen had used the name for
a lucrative porn portal for several years after forging the
original owner’s name in a transfer document. The judge noted that
the name of the original owner, Gary Kremen, was misspelled in the
transfer signature. He awarded transfer of the name and $65 million
in damages to Kremen, now Chief Executive of Grant Media. Kremen
has never seen the money from Cohen, who was last seen in Mexico.
Kremen is offering $50,000 for information leading to Cohen’s
arrest.
