MySpace Issues Cease & Desist To MySpace Domain Sites
The MySpace legal team has sent out Cease & Desist letters to the owners of domain names and web sites which use the MySpace name. Sites such as MySpaceCity.com, MySpaceAdds.com, and MySpaceSupport.com have received such letters which are threatening legal action against those sites for use of the MySpace brand in the domain name.
This may be a case of big boy bullying and intimidation since most of these sites do a good job of differentiating themselves from Rupert Murdoch’s MySpace – in line to be the Yahoo/MTV/Google/Blinkx of News Corp. Ironically, such sites offer tools and downloads to a very loyal MySpace community including layouts, graphics and image hosting.
Here is a copy of the MySpace Cease & Desist letter as sent to MySpaceSupport.com:
MySpace, Inc. is a Delaware corporation (“MySpace”) that operates an online community under the federally registered trademark MYSPACE (Reg. No. 2,911,041).
It has come to our attention that you are operating websites under the domain names www.MySpaceSupport.com and www.MySpaceTalk.com. We are writing to demand an immediate halt to certain ongoing illegal activity.
You are illegally using the MYSPACE mark in your domain names and on your websites. Your websites offer visitors, among other things, MySpace support and discussion forums, codes, tutorials, and toolbars to allow MySpace members to personalize their member websites. MySpace has not authorized the creation of any of these features or the use of our federally registered trademark.
You are also illegally using the MySpace logo on your website.
Your activities violate various federal and state laws, including without limitation trademark and trade dress infringement and false designation of origin under the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1051, et seq., and trademark dilution under the Federal Trademark Dilution Act of 1995, 15 U.S.C. § 1125(c).
By this letter, MySpace demands that you and any of your affiliates, officers, employees, agents, or other persons or entities acting in concert with you or at your direction, immediately cease and desist from the activities described above in connection with your website or other products or services. Without limiting the foregoing, we hereby demand that you remove the sites www.MySpaceSupport.com and www.MySpaceTalk.com from the internet, cease using the name “MySpaceSupport” and “MySpaceTalk”, and relinquish and transfer the www.MySpaceSupport.com and www.MySpaceTalk.com domains to MySpace.
Your activities are causing and will continue to cause MySpace substantial and irreparable harm. You will be liable for the damages suffered by MySpace, and will be subject to penalties, fines and even criminal imprisonment.
If you have any questions, we can be reached at legal@myspace.com or the below-referenced address. MySpace expects you to comply with this demand as soon as possible, but in no event later than five (5) business days after the date of this letter. Please contact us immediately regarding the mechanics of transferring the www.MySpaceSupport.com and www.MySpaceTalk.com domains to MySpace.
This letter is not a complete recitation of all the claims, issues or facts related to this matter. This letter should not be construed as a waiver of any rights by MySpace, including, without limitation, the right to seek monetary damages, equitable relief, and attorneys fees, all of which are expressly reserved.
Very truly yours,
MySpace, Inc.
Legal Department
As you may have guessed, the Cease & Desist letters from MySpace have upset owners of MySpace support and skins sites and have left some a bit confused as to their legal rights. Ryan of MySpaceCity.com writes on SitePoint Forums:
“I recieved a C&D aswell for MySpaceCity.com. They pretty much told me to shut down the site and give them the domain name. I will shut down the site and just direct the current traffic to a new domain.
I think is outrageous hense they are trying to claim damages while these sites promote MySpace so much everyday.
I am debating on either getting a lawyer and taking them to court, this will in return give me around 6 months more of my site running and collecting revenue, then just give them the domain, heh.
They have no right to take my domain name from me. They have the right to get the site shut down, that’s how I am looking at this.”
The Cease & Desist orders also come on the heels of Murdoch’s News Corp announcing some new bells & whistles to their MySpace adoptive child which they hope to be the center of their new Social Media web empire. Mike Boland writes on Local Media Journal that Rupert Murdoch has announced the integration of downloadable video, VoIP and IM to MySpace, which News Corp. acquired for $580 million in July. These moves are intended to drive use of the wildly popular social networking site and boost ad revenues (its main revenue stream).
Free video, IM and voice are hoped to create more stickiness among MySpace users, in addition to increasing traffic and driving ad revenues. The site has a total of 47 million users and is adding about a million per week. Its average user age is 20, a demographic projected to be heavy users of video, IM and voice. Indeed, MySpace users already have a proven interest in music content and social networking, which these new offerings will each address in some way.
I really like this sentence in Mike’s write up “In fact, since News Corp. acquired MySpace, I’ve been waiting to see what it will do to screw up the site.” Essentially meaning, when is News Corp going to try and sneak in some really bad advertising or co-registration plan which will p!ss off the loyal MySpace users and start a Mecca to some new service like Xanga? I wonder if the Cease & Desist and attempted shut downs of independently owned MySpace support and tool sites is a first step to doing so.
This looks like an attempt by a big company to “own” a community. What they keep failing to realize is that these communities come together on their own and don’t want someone standing over them and telling them where to go or what to do.
I have to agree that the commercialization of MySpace is going to make it much less appealing to the hordes of people that made it so popular.
i got one of those letter a year ago, so attributing this to fox is wrong. its been going on for over a year. i emailed tom/myspace, tom – he told me that he didnt want my site shut down, he said said it just caused problems with users who thought that myspace OWNED the domain. he only wanted me to not use ‘myspace’ in the name. users write in asking for support for sites myspace doesn’t own.
he was totally cool and glad to work with me. in fact, he let me in on new profiles they’re working on so that my site editor’s css code will be updated for when the new profiels come out. which is very soon now!
people shoudl stop hating and contact the source! write to tom ! myspace.com/tom
I’m speechless. Very bad move by the management.
I don’t think Myspace did anythign wrong. Would google let googlesupport.com exist? would yahoo let yahoocity.com exist? would aol let aoltalk.com exist? of course not. they’re not shutting down the sites, they’re just asking them to change the domain names. this is not news.
well google seem to let
http://www.googlefix.com be allow
also Xanga are issueing C&D letters too
they really have no idea what these sites do to boost the usage of their product
Yes, it is ridiculous that MySpace has issued these warnings out. Using “MySpace” in a domain does not infringe on any laws as far as I can see so long as the site provides unique content. It does not infringe upon typosquatting acts (ie: myspacce.com, or mysace.com, etc), nor cybersquatting laws (ie: registering the companys domain in bad faith to sell back to the company for revenue).
Most of these sites provide good, if not excellent support and services for the MySpace Community. Many help promote MySpace, showing off some of the communities features to users who do not yet have a MySpace profile, while other sites would not even be found unless the user knew that MySpace had layouts, and wanted one of their own.
@ Teddie – Yes, as a matter of a fact, Google, Yahoo, MSN, Microsoft, and many other HUGE companies let individuals run sites on domains using their name in it. One of my favorite websites for SEO, googlerankings.com, is a prime example. Here are a few other examples I have found in just a few minutes.
seoforgoogle.com
googlerank.com
msnavatars.net
msndollz.com
msndollies.com
planetphotoshop.com
photoshopcafe.com
teamphotoshop.com
livingwithoutmicrosoft.org
microsoft-watch.com
The truth is that these MySpace sites are no different than the sites listed above. MySpace does not have the right to make these individuals to get rid of their domain. If they were claiming to be MySpace, there might be a problem here, but most of these sites include a “we are not affiliated with myspace.com” or some other message.
Hmm i wonder whether they will send it to all websites
thank you
I can’t believe they want to go after sites that are helping the myspace itself doesn’t make sense myspace.com itself to do that i bet they didn’t even look at the sites. This won’t be good publicty either for them.
Nice, :P
Rumor has it that myspace is coming out with a better version of there site on another domain name starting march 1st so do you think people will be jumping to get a domain name with friendwise in it? I don’t think so this time the site will be another social networking website with alot more features. I guess to stay ahead of other sites coming out like myspace.com also i heard it will be called http://www.FriendWise.com i guess well just have to see if this happens.
http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Bloggers_investigate_social_networking_websites
http://www.intermixedup.com/
Check out these 2 links. Read them carefully.
I would suggest fighting this…
Besides, Yahoo have a raft of new products on the way that will make MySpace look like an antique in coming months.
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There are tons of them now… where will it end :)
I think that this is very messed up…many of these sites help us out on myspace…such as for layouts…My myspace use to b very borein and since i have found other sites to help me..I have more friends and am on alot more…Shuttin down these sites I believe will eventually make myspace go out of business…I am a very loyal myspace particpater..and really hope that they change their minds
funny, hahaha!
anyone call SAM, i use your name
for a domain call
samcity.com
It’s been 5 months and all the websites that received those C&D letters from myspace.com are live. Issue resolved? Is it now ok to use “myspace” in the domain name???
I don’t think myspace cares anymore. There are 50,000 sites with the myspace in the domain.
I registered PimpMAspace.com Just to be safe.
i just got a C&D from myspace’s legal dept as well. boo
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This is part three in my series of blog posts exploring what I believe to be the future of our online identity and experience. In part one I laid out why I believe the future is in an open peer
I really don’t think myspace should go after domain names that have myspace in it. There are just doing a service to help members with myspace like comments, backgrounds, layouts etc and there social networking site wouldn’t be as popular without them.
Myspace has given up… There are now thosands upon thosands of domain using their trademark. I think they have laid the case to rest.
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How about thesite http://www.mygaymyspace.com ? Do you think the visitors going there will be confused on where they are. Do you think they can tell the difference between the 2? lol
So any legal people have an opinion on this? I sell domain registrations and had a customer get one from Ebay. I told him to call the bar and talk to an attorney for $30.
This is the last thing they would want you to do, and if they are persistant there is always the option to negotiate a price. If you were them would you rather fork out a couple grand fighting some zit faced kid in court, who probably wont pay even if they did win, or just give him $50?
Personally I think it’s mostly bluff.
Has anyone heard of any recent Cease & Desist MySpace letters.
I don’t think MySpace were ever going to win this.
I have notified my solicitors and, Myspace about 6 times, regarding http://www.myspace.com/organ who are repeatedly posting my personal messages sent to them on their open blog page.
They are doctoring their messages to suit aqnd they are being slanderous to me and my friend Sir Elton John.
I want this stopped immediately as I don´t think they, or myspace for that matter, understand the severity. http://www.myspace.com/organ are in contravention of your term 7.3 and 8.6 amoungst other.
Please act accordingly without any affect to my membership please.
Regards
Gordon