MySpace wins domain battle

 

Gallery

By Matthew Sparkes

Posted on 1 Feb 2008 at 08:37

MySpace has won the right to use the myspace.co.uk domain name, after a ruling by an independent expert at a hearing run by Nominet.

The domain was registered eleven years ago by Total Web Solutions, a UK company based in Stockport, two years before the launch of MySpace.

Nominet ruled that although the domain was initially registered for legitimate use, it had in recent years been used to capitalise on the success of MySpace.com by running advertisements for various social networking sites.

"The Complainant has Rights in a name or mark which is identical to the Domain Name and the Domain Name in the hands of the Respondent is an Abusive Registration. The Domain Name is to be transferred to the Complainant," stated the official ruling document from Nominet.

The myspace.co.uk domain is currently displaying a blank page, and neither MySpace or Total Web Solutions could be reached for a response, while Nominet refused to comment for legal reasons.

A similar case occurred in 2005, when a UK company was forced to hand over the itunes.co.uk domain name to Apple.