Alias Encore, Inc. Announces Open Beta for New Self-Service Domain Enforcement and Management System
January 27, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Aliso Viejo, CA (January 27, 2010) – Alias Encore, Inc. announced today that it has begun accepting applications from those interested to gain early access to the firm’s new self-service Domain Enforcement and Management System through a public beta program.
“We couldn’t be more excited about this new system,” said Graham MacRobie, President and CEO of Alias Encore. “We’ve taken years of experience and distilled it into a fully integrated platform that makes domain enforcement and management a breeze, even for those with limited exposure to the space. In the process, we’re fundamentally changing the industry economics that have previously made large-scale domain enforcement impractical.”
Key features of the new system include:
- Full-Featured Analysis Tools – the system allows users to easily find potentially infringing domain names, and then prioritize actions based on the nature of the infringement or the projected traffic for each name. Law firms or others that manage multiple accounts are able to work within a single account, or across multiple accounts and brands for additional efficiency.
- Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP) Construction Kit – drafting and filing a UDRP used to require the expertise of an attorney or the assistance of a specialist firm such as Alias Encore or CitizenHawk. Now, companies can easily create their own UDRPs online, start to finish, with just a few clicks. Sophisticated algorithms ensure that the finished result not only complies with all of the applicable standards, but also accurately represents the key issues surrounding each unique case.
- What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get (WYSIWYG) UDRP Editor – users can avail themselves of the system’s built-in UDRP templates to easily create filings for the National Arbitration Forum (NAF) or the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), or they can use the system’s inline editor to customize the document as they see fit, even creating templates of their own for other types of domain-centric documents including demand letters, litigation pleadings, and more.
- Clause and Citation Library – a large and growing collection of battle-tested clauses and UDRP decision citations are ready to drop into a case, making research considerably simpler. Of course users can edit these or add their own. Also, each clause can reference a Boolean logic expression which controls the circumstances under which the clause appears in the final document. The system’s standard templates already include a rich set of clauses to cover a wide variety of common situations, meaning many users will never need to concern themselves with these details, but the flexibility will be of interest to attorneys and other power users.
- PDF Document Assembly Including Exhibits – UDRP filings and other domain disputes, particularly in complex cases, can have extensive exhibits including screenshots, WHOIS records, and more. The system automates the collection of these elements, and then ensures that the appropriate exhibits appear in the finished document.
- Domain Portfolio Management – easily manage a large portfolio of domain names, even across multiple registrars, without having to transfer any of the domain names to a different registrar. The system provides integrated domain forwarding and traffic monitoring features, making it simple to make traffic-based renewal decisions and to ensure that all domains resolve to an appropriate location. Never accidentally drop a UDRP-won domain again!
In summary, Alias Encore’s new system is intended to be a self-service, soup-to-nuts platform that allows brand holders to finally take full control of their domain portfolio, including enforcement actions. Intellectual property law firms will also find value in the system, particularly in the ability to drastically reduce the complexity of constructing UDRP and other domain-dispute documents on behalf of their clients, as well as in the ability to easily cost-justify enforcement actions through traffic and resultant revenue projections.
Final pricing has not been determined, but Alias Encore expects to offer the new system at a per-UDRP price point considerably below other methods of drafting UDRPs. Although Alias Encore intends to continue offering its CPA-based pricing model for interested parties, this new flat-rate model requires no time commitment, no contract negotiation, and can be implemented to compliment current domain recovery efforts.
Anyone interested in participating in the free public beta should send an email with contact information to beta@aliasencore.com.
Alias Encore is not a law firm and does not offer legal advice. Although UDRP complaints are not technically considered legal documents, users of Alias Encore’s UDRP Construction Kit are strongly encouraged to seek the advice and review of a qualified professional prior to filing.
CitizenHawk, National Arbitration Forum, and World Intellectual Property Organization are trademarks of their respective holders.
About Alias Encore, Inc.
Alias Encore is squarely focused on helping companies increase highly qualified traffic to their websites through the strategic acquisition of misspelled domain names. It is no longer sufficient for a company to own only the domain name that exactly matches their trademark. This is because significant revenues are being surreptitiously diverted to competitors through literally millions of “typosquatting” sites that seek to improperly capitalize on the accidental keystrokes of unsuspecting Internet users. Alias Encore puts a stop to this domain name fraud, dramatically increasing revenues as a direct result.
Alias Encore was founded in 2008 and is privately held. The company’s headquarters are in Aliso Viejo, California. For more information, please visit http://www.aliasencore.com.
CONTACT:
Media Relations
Alias Encore, Inc.
(866) 608-8202 phone
(866) 810-7656 fax
media@aliasencore.com
http://www.aliasencore.com
FreeCreditReport.com Wins 1,017 Domains in Largest Ever UDRP
November 13, 2009
The National Arbitration Forum (NAF) published a historic domain dispute decision late Thursday awarding 1,017 cybersquatting domain names to FreeCreditReport.com. The complaint was filed by ConsumerInfo.com, owner of FreeCreditReport.com, through a process called the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP), and is believed to be the largest case in the ten years since the UDRP was first enacted. The complete decision is available here.
Interestingly, FreeCreditReport.com was represented in the case by a company called CitizenHawk, Inc., which is not a law firm as would be typical. CitizenHawk and other similar firms such as Alias Encore, Inc. specialize in the automated creation of UDRP complaints using proprietary software, enabling brand holders to enforce their trademark rights at an otherwise infeasible scale.
“The exhibits for this UDRP would have been thousands of pages long, making the case nearly impossible to construct manually,” said Graham MacRobie, CEO of Alias Encore. “Companies have been playing a losing game of Whac-A-Mole with cybersquatters for years, and this case serves as an excellent demonstration of the role automation can play in leveling the playing field by going after huge chunks of infringing names at once.”
Representatives for FreeCreditReport.com and CitizenHawk were not reached for comment.
The disputed domain names were all slight misspellings of FreeCreditReport.com (such as ereecreditreport.com), or they included FreeCreditReport spelled correctly within a longer domain (such as 1-800-freecreditreport.com). The respondent in the case is a firm called Netcorp LLC which had previously lost one other UDRP case in 2005. Unlike that previous case, Netcorp chose this time to represent itself rather than engage the services of a domain industry attorney such as Ari Goldberger or John Berryhill – an interesting and perhaps telling decision considering the complexity of the case.
Further complicating the case was a tussle over the perceived “generic” nature of the brand FreeCreditReport.com. Netcorp argued that “the disputed domain names are comprised of common, descriptive terms and as such cannot be found to be confusingly similar to Complainant’s mark.” Ultimately, NAF’s panelist deferred to the United States Patent and Trademark Office which had previously reviewed and approved FreeCreditReport.com’s trademark application.
It would seem that this decision sets or reinforces a fairly strong precedent that trademark holders may be entitled to, not only to the domain name that exactly matches their trademark, but also to a wide swath of other domain names including nearly every possible misspelling or other variation of that trademark, potentially even if the trademark is comprised of generic words.
Commission Junction Awards Alias Encore, Inc. Performer Status
November 4, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Aliso Viejo, CA (November 4, 2009) – Alias Encore, Inc. announced today that it has been awarded Performer status by Commission Junction.
“Commission Junction is delighted to welcome Alias Encore to Commission Junction’s Performer (CJP) Program. The CJP program is designed for publishers who have a proven track record of delivering results, who work ethically within the CJ Marketplace and want to expand their affiliate relationships,” said Nicole Fini, Publisher Account Director at Commission Junction. ”We look forward to working with Alias Encore at the CJP level to increase their revenue potential and establish long-term partnerships.”
“We’re honored to become a Performer,” said Laura Thompson, Director of Business Development at Alias Encore, Inc. “Commission Junction has been a fantastic partner and we look forward to continuing the relationship and building on the success we’ve had so far.”
Alias Encore partnered with Commission Junction earlier this year, working closely with the Publisher Development team. “After seeking out and recruiting this publisher for management under the publisher channel development group, I quickly realized the potential their business had to offer in the affiliate space,” said Angela Mihalakopoulos, Business Development Manager / Publisher Channel Development at Commission Junction. ”Their team is extremely responsive, very engaged and was always open to our strategic suggestions. They treated us like an extension of their team and offered full transparency to our advertisers. They’re a valuable publisher and have a great offering for our advertiser clients.”
‘We’re thrilled,” said Graham MacRobie, President and CEO of Alias Encore, Inc. “We’re lucky to work with Commission Junction–a great company with great people–and we’re going to continue offering their advertisers the best typo domain-recovery service for the best price.”
About Commission Junction
Commission Junction (www.cj.com) provides advanced performance marketing solutions that help marketers increase online leads and sales. By facilitating strategic relationships between advertisers and publishers, Commission Junction leverages its proven expertise in affiliate marketing and search marketing to drive measurable results for clients.
About Alias Encore, Inc.
Alias Encore is squarely focused on helping companies increase highly qualified traffic to their websites through the strategic acquisition of misspelled domain names. It is no longer sufficient for a company to own only the domain name that exactly matches their trademark. This is because significant revenues are being surreptitiously diverted to competitors through literally millions of “typosquatting” sites that seek to improperly capitalize on the accidental keystrokes of unsuspecting Internet users. Alias Encore puts a stop to this domain name fraud, dramatically increasing revenues as a direct result.
Alias Encore was founded in 2008 and is privately held. The company’s headquarters are in Aliso Viejo, California. For more information, please visit http://www.aliasencore.com.
CONTACT:
Media Relations
Alias Encore, Inc.
(866) 608-8202 phone
(866) 810-7656 fax
media@aliasencore.com
http://www.aliasencore.com
Graham MacRobie Invited to Join Commission Junction’s Publisher User Group
September 14, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Aliso Viejo, CA (September 14, 2009) – Alias Encore, Inc. announced today that Graham MacRobie, its President and CEO, has been invited to join Commission Junction’s Publisher User Group (PUG).
“I’m thrilled at the opportunity,” said MacRobie. “I consider Commission Junction to be a critical business partner, and this is a fantastic venue to strengthen that relationship. I’m honored to be included.”
According to Commission Junction, PUG presents a forum for their clients to have a direct feedback channel to CJ’s Publisher Development and Product Development teams, insight into CJ’s company direction, as well as influence on CJ with innovation and new ideas.
About Alias Encore, Inc.
Alias Encore is squarely focused on helping companies increase highly qualified traffic to their websites through the strategic acquisition of misspelled domain names. It is no longer sufficient for a company to own only the domain name that exactly matches their trademark. This is because significant revenues are being surreptitiously diverted to competitors through literally millions of “typosquatting” sites that seek to improperly capitalize on the accidental keystrokes of unsuspecting Internet users. Alias Encore puts a stop to this domain name fraud, dramatically increasing revenues as a direct result.
Alias Encore was founded in 2008 and is privately held. The company’s headquarters are in Aliso Viejo, California. For more information, please visit http://www.aliasencore.com.
CONTACT:
Media Relations
Alias Encore, Inc.
(866) 608-8202 phone
(866) 810-7656 fax
media@aliasencore.com
http://www.aliasencore.com
Domain Name Wars: Rise of the Cybersquatters
September 14, 2009
Robert L. Mitchell has written a fascinating article for Computerworld about the many facets of cybersquatting. He gives an excellent overview of the problem, and also many of the traditional solutions.
Although Mitchell covers the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) and some monitoring solutions, he does not cover newer, performance-based domain recovery providers such as Alias Encore and CitizenHawk.
Click here for the original article.
CitizenHawk, Computerworld, and any other trade names mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective owners.
Commission Junction Features Alias Encore in its CJ Quarterly Newsletter for Advertisers
August 4, 2009
Alias Encore is a featured publisher in the latest edition of Commission Junction’s CJ Quarterly newsletter.
Click here to see the newsletter.
.CM Domains As Typos – Are They A Threat?
July 31, 2009
Cameroon’s ccTLD registrations (.CM) are now open to the public, and domain auction houses are targeting domainers, brand owners and typosquatters alike in an effort to sell high-end generic and potentially infringing .CM domains for hefty prices.
So are the .CM domains worth worrying about? And as a brand owner, should you be registering your brand defensively in .CM?
Less than 5% of Cameroon’s population has Internet access. Clearly the domain name offerings are not intended for Cameroon’s general public. Any attempt to argue the fact that .CM domain names are meant for anything other than typosquatters is, to borrow a phrase, intellectually dishonest.
Additionally, the registration fees are around $175/year, with a 2 year minimum registration term. There are so many cheaper alternatives, unless you are intending to benefit from typosquatting, there’s no use in owning a .CM domain.
On the flip side, at such a steep price for the domain names it will be very difficult to determine how much revenue you can actually realize. Especially given that PPC revenue is in decline, typosquatters may be scared off due to the high price, low PPC margins, and uncertainty over how much traffic a .CM typo can actually generate.
The ultimate decision will need to be made by each brand based on their internal tolerances. How much are you willing to spend to keep a name out of a squatters possession? Does the brand have an International presence? If you found out that a 3rd party had a .CM variation of your brand would you seek to recover it?
For a complete list of Registrars Accredited to provide .CM, COM.CM, NET.CM and CO.CM domain name registrations, click HERE.
More Registrar Woes For ICANN
June 24, 2009
ICANN recently published notices regarding two Accredited Registrars.
The first notice was published on June 11th, 2009, regarding Lead Networks Domains Pvt. Ltd. failure to comply with the Rules for Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (“UDRP”) despite repeated requests by ICANN. These rules require registrars to communicate plans to implement UDRP Provider decisions, maintain records make these records available to ICANN upon reasonable notice. The notice of breach concerns 61 UDRP proceedings where the prevailing Complainant complained that Lead Networks failed to implement the decisions. The notice can be found here.
The second notice was published on June 15th, 2009, regarding the de-accreditation of the Registrar Maxim Internet, Inc. ICANN is seeking applications for the bulk transfer of the approximately 5,219 domain names registered with Maxim. ICANN notes in their posting that, “posting that, “In light of the unique circumstances of this case, in the selection process, an advantage or preference may be given to registrars with prior experience in integrating acquisitions, resellers, or large portfolio accounts, or receiving bulk transfers with incomplete or problematic data.” The Expression of Interest Notice can be found here.
If you have experienced issues with ICANN accredited Registrars, you can contact their Compliance Department by emailing registrar@icann.org. ICANN requests that you attempt to resolve any concern or dispute directly with the Registrar first.
Parava Networks Registrar Accreditation Revoked
May 23, 2009
ICANN has announced that TuCows has been selected to take over management of the domain name registrations previously held by Parava Networks (doing business as 10-Domains.com).
ICANN terminated Parava’s Registrar Accreditation because of multiple breaches of its Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA). The breach letter can be found here.
Normal procedures under such circumstances dictate that ICANN initiate a “Request for Statements of Interest” (RFI) from registrars who were interested in taking over management of the domain names. 14 Registrars responded to the RFI. TuCows, Inc. was selected from the RFI candidates.
If you have domain names registered at 10-Domains.com you should be contacted by TuCows soon with notices of the transfer and instructions on how to access your domain names. If you are a current customer of 10-Domains.com and have questions, you should contact TuCows at:
Web: http://help.hover.com
Telephone: North American toll free: 1-866-731-6556 or Direct: +1 416-538-5498
Email: help@hover.com
ICANN’s announcement and more information can be found here.
Network Solutions to Pay Class Action Settlements
May 18, 2009
Network Solutions recently sent notices regarding settlement of two class action lawsuits filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The lawsuits were filed by plaintiffs Chris McElroy (Case No. CV 08-01247 PSG (VBKx)) and James Lee Finseth (Case No. CV 08-01537 PSG (VBKx)) over questionable registrations tactics by Network Solutions between December 14th, 2007, and March 15th, 2008.
Network Solutions, during the time in question, engaged in what has been described as “Front Running” domain name registrations. In the Front Running scheme, Network Solution’s system would note when a visitor at their website queried the availability of a domain name. If the domain name was available, and the user left their website without registering it, Network Solutions would themselves secure the registration within 1 to 4 days.
The poorly thought out strategy behind this campaign was to prevent a user from registering the domain name with another Registrar after checking for availability at Network Solutions. All domain names secured by Network Solutions could be purchased and moved to an account at Network Solutions.
The first class of claimants are those who purchased the domain name during the same session the query for availability was conducted. The second class of claimants are those who purchased the domain name up to 4 days after the query for availability was conducted.
First class claimants will be eligible to receive a $6 credit for each domain name, and second class claimants will be eligible to receive a $9.91 credit for each domain name.
Network Solutions estimates approximately 113,094 domain names were registered during the time period. They will be paying approximately $375,000 to the first class and $500,000 to the second class. Additionally Network Solutions will be paying legal fees and costs to the Plaintiffs.
You can find out more information regarding the Settlement here.
Network Solutions maintains that it did not do anything wrong.