Take-Two Loses BioShock Domain Name Fight

August 25, 2010

Take-Two Interactive fought the good fight but failed to prevail in a lawsuit against a company that specializes in domain squatting - the practice of buying up and sitting on domains for potentially popular products. A company called NA Media grabbed the domain name in early 2004 after word slipped out that BioShock was in the works at Irrational Games. Unfortunately for Take-Two, the company hadn't trademarked "BioShock" before NA Media registered "www.bioshock.com."

That had a profound impact on Take-Two's court case, according to Gamer/Law, which reported today that the company had lost in court. The simple fact that Take-Two hadn't managed to register the trademarks at the time of the URL's registration really weakened the publisher's case, but Name Administration also argued in court that Bioshock had other meanings separate from Take-Two's business - even citing interest from Johnson & Johnson to use it for some odd line of skincare products.

While Take-Two tried to argue that NA Media had a history of squatting on its domains, having once registered taketwointeractive.com (later handed over to Take-Two). NA Media countered that at the time of the unofficial announcement and the subsequent grab of the domain, Take-Two was not openly associated with BioShock. Bioshock2.com is currently in a similar situation, but Irrational Games has secured Bioshockinfinite.com for its next game in the series.

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Comments

Re: Take-Two Loses BioShock Domain Name Fight

Submitted by Shahab on Wed, 08/25/2010 - 22:41.

All companies have to do is refuse to pay anything more a grand or two for a domain and people will lose interest. I know this can mean a bit of lost traffic, but especially in the case of Bioshock, how much traffic do you need for a game to still sell? I nearly never go a game's website even for patches. The only game sites I have visited in recent memory are Elemental: Magic whateva, and Bethesda's Oblivion page.

Re: Take-Two Loses BioShock Domain Name Fight

Submitted by Neeneko on Thu, 08/26/2010 - 11:33.

Well, the squatters still profit off people looking for the game's site and landing on their's instead thus driving up revenue.

There is also the prinicple of the matter... someone, after getting inside information, took thier IP and tried to get them to pay for it. There is supposed to be a process for resolving names registered in bad faith (which used to be easily abused) but I guess the pendulum has swung the other way.

Re: Take-Two Loses BioShock Domain Name Fight

Submitted by Neeneko on Wed, 08/25/2010 - 21:40.

Given how lopsided domain name resolutions are... this really surprises me. Have they reformed the system or something?

Shout box

Andrew Eisen: Okay, fixed. For really reals this time!06/19/2013 - 12:42am

Sleaker: @AE The actual link to the pay what you want is www.indiegamestand.com not desura. You seem to infer where it's at but never posted a link.06/19/2013 - 12:01am

Andrew Eisen: LEGO: The Movie! www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPnY2NjSjrg06/18/2013 - 9:39pm

Zen: http://www.airforcetimes.com/article/20130614/OFFDUTY02/306140030/New-Xbox-sin-against-all-service-members-06/18/2013 - 7:33pm

Zen: Been out for a few days, but has anyone brought up the possible ban on Xbox One on military bases because of security concerns that it could be a listening device by Commanders?06/18/2013 - 7:33pm

Andrew Eisen: Sleaker - Fixed.06/18/2013 - 6:34pm

MechaTama31: CMiner: Another issue is that every camera/webcam combination is going to be pretty different, in terms of the software/hardware exploits available. A homogenous hardware/software combo like a console, in millions of homes, will be a much juicier target.06/18/2013 - 6:31pm

Sleaker: Vox pay what you want link is busted.06/18/2013 - 6:27pm

ZippyDSMlee: Mics have to breath put tape over it.06/18/2013 - 6:25pm

NyuRena: You nailed it James! Yikes..06/18/2013 - 1:56pm

james_fudge: With MS willing to share with the government, an always listening device should give everyone pause.06/18/2013 - 1:37pm

james_fudge: you can't turn off the Microphone on the Kinect and it has to be plugged in. It's not rocket science.06/18/2013 - 1:35pm

E. Zachary Knight: The Humble Bundle Guys just don't like me having money in my pocket do they? https://www.humblebundle.com/06/18/2013 - 1:12pm

E. Zachary Knight: CMiner, I know that my Android camera is off unless I am using an application that turns it on. Same with the microphone.06/18/2013 - 12:38pm

CMiner: Can you turn off the camera on an iPhone? Like, -really- turn it off, not just change a setting that -tells- you the camera is off?06/18/2013 - 12:13pm

james_fudge: when they make it a requirement, yes they are06/18/2013 - 12:10pm

CMiner: I just don't think Microsoft bears any more (or less) responsibility for privacy with its Kinect camera than do the makers of laptops or smartphones with integrated cameras.06/18/2013 - 12:00pm

Imautobot: The ability to operate the console without the camera is key. It's a peripheral, not directly integrated into the console, and yet it behaves as if it is. Thankfully I don't have kids, and won't have an Xbone either.06/18/2013 - 11:49am

CMiner: Oh, I agree that the decision to make the kinect mandatory/always listening is terrible.06/18/2013 - 11:48am

E. Zachary Knight: CMiner, and the easier the provider makes to do such things, the better. The fact that the XBone will not even funtion without it plugged in and turned on in some fashion makes a world of difference from a PC Webcam.06/18/2013 - 11:38am

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