Educause Security Discussion mailing list archives
Re: .edu.com domain
From: David Etherton <de2141 () COLUMBIA EDU>
Date: Thu, 6 Apr 2006 08:14:57 -0400
All, It is interesting that this came to the list-serv attention so quickly. We also requested cease and desist and got the same form letter as Mr. Bruce from Simmons. David Etherton Associate Director, Client Services Student Information Systems Columbia University 201 Philosophy Hall (office) 212-854-0651 -----Original Message----- From: David Bruce [mailto:david.bruce () SIMMONS EDU] Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2006 8:14 PM To: SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU Subject: Re: [SECURITY] .edu.com domain Form letter. I didn't raise any of these points. I just asked them to take us off. Anyway we're off now... their response: Begin forwarded message:
From: "Brad Lohan" <brad () vantagemedia com> Date: April 5, 2006 7:36:52 PM EDT To: <david.bruce () simmons edu> Cc: <mark () vantagemedia com>, <CVandenbosch () sheppardmullin com>, <LBraun () sheppardmullin com> Subject: Simmons.edu.com Dear Mr. Bruce: This responds to your letter of March 24, 2006. Contrary to your assertion, Vantage Media has not registered any domain name that incorporates your school's trademark. Rather, we own a registration for the edu.com domain. If an individual voluntarily enters your school's name in connection with our edu.com domain name, that individual may access a domain subdirectory that is in turn used to forward a bona fide inquiry to the requested institution. The subdirectory does not constitute a separate domain name, and it is therefore not assignable to your school. To be clear, Vantage Media has not registered your trademark in any form, it does not prevent anyone from obtaining bona fide information about your school, and it does not falsely represent to be affiliated with your institution. For these reasons, we disagree with the points raised in your letter. However, in the interest of preserving Vantage Media's business reputation, we have decided at this time to remove content from the referenced subdirectory on our edu.com domain. We trust that this concludes the matter to your school's satisfaction. Sincerely, Brad Lohan Brad Lohan | Analyst p] 310.482.3737 | f] 310.943.1620 e] brad () vantagemedia com
On Apr 5, 2006, at 7:58 PM, Dave Koontz wrote:
Whoa, I just checked our domain on their site and it returns a completely different school! Our domain is mbc.edu - Mary Baldwin College (http://www.mbc.edu), yet when I access http://mbc.edu.com it returns "Morris Brown College" instead! I wonder if Morris Brown paid these guys to get the mbc.edu.com address? Should I turn this over to our legal team or contact this questionable company? Any tips on how I should proceed would be appreciated! PS: I've also noticed a very high number of 'spam' emails to our students from this organization over the last few weeks. --- Dave Koontz Associate Director CIS Mary Baldwin College Walter Bourne wrote:It's possible to get 'off'. Try <http://msu.edu.com/> Our Admissions and Counsel are doing a cease-and-desist. ==Walter Bourne Columbia University IT Security & Policy --On Wednesday, April 05, 2006 15:55 -0500 Graham Toal <gtoal () utpa edu> wrote: : > I do not know if they actually forward : > the information, it appears the primary purpose is to harvest : > information for marketing. : : More likely harvest leads to sell back to the Universities. : And I would imagine if you don't advertise with them, : some rival university will be prominent when someone : stumbles on their site looking for you. : : Here's a good article on their business model: : : http://www.jayweintraub.com/2005/08/trends_report_a.html : : G
-- David Bruce Phone: 617.521.2187 Director of Networks and Servers Fax: 617.521.3082 Simmons College, Technology 300 The Fenway, Boston, MA 02115-5898 david.bruce () simmons edu
Current thread:
- .edu.com domain O'Callaghan, Daniel (Apr 05)
- <Possible follow-ups>
- Re: .edu.com domain Gary Flynn (Apr 05)
- Re: .edu.com domain Steve Worona (Apr 05)
- Re: .edu.com domain Graham Toal (Apr 05)
- Re: .edu.com domain Walter Bourne (Apr 05)
- Re: .edu.com domain Al Arboleda (Apr 05)
- Re: .edu.com domain Pace, Guy (Apr 05)
- Re: .edu.com domain Dave Koontz (Apr 05)
- Re: .edu.com domain David Bruce (Apr 05)
- Re: .edu.com domain Valdis Kletnieks (Apr 05)
- Re: .edu.com domain David Etherton (Apr 06)
- Re: .edu.com domain Steve Worona (Apr 06)
- Re: .edu.com domain Sadler, Connie (Apr 06)
- Re: .edu.com domain Ken Connelly (Apr 06)
- Re: .edu.com domain William Weeks (Apr 06)
- Re: .edu.com domain James Meyers (Apr 06)
- Re: .edu.com domain Cavender, Terry (Apr 06)
- Re: .edu.com domain Ken Connelly (Apr 06)
- Re: .edu.com domain Geoffrey S. Nathan (Apr 06)
- Re: .edu.com domain Ken Connelly (Apr 06)
- Re: .edu.com domain Graham Toal (Apr 06)