The Rudy Syndrome

Predictions for 2012

2012-01-02T05:22:59Z

It's January 1, 2012, and it's time for our annual look at the future. Since we got our score up to 80% this year, we are feeling pretty good about our chances. So, here is what we think could happen in 2012, in our purely unscientific, objective opinion.

1. The Republicans wont know who their 2012 presidential candidate is until shortly before the RNC convention in Florida, as primary candidates trade leadership positions in the polls and at least four candidates win at least one state's caucuses or primary election. This will have the side effect of weakening the Republican candidate's chances in the general election and will give president Obama a large lead going into the general election cycle.

2. The situation on the ground in Iran will destabilize to the point where the US has to get involved in stabilizing control of Iran's nuclear arsenal.

3. Similarly, in Pakistan, the increasing turmoil will escalate as military and political leaders struggle for power. US-Pakistani relations will deteriorate and the US will be forced to reevaluate its relationship with Pakistan and its support for Pakistani leadership.

4. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, will continue to stand out as a capable and respected leader and a commanding presence in US international relations, causing even more Democrats to wonder why she wasn't their candidate in 2008, and calling for her to replace vice president Biden as president Obama's running mate in the 2012 general election, or better yet, to challenge the president in a Democratic primary.

5. Congress will continue to have abysmally low approval ratings as they engage in another partisan fight about the debt ceiling, payroll taxes, and health care, rather than focusing on coming together to make progress on ways to balance the budget, address the state of education, and solve immigration issues.

6. US troops will continue to leave Iraq, but will deploy to new areas of the destabilizing Middle East.

7. Redistricting resulting from the 2010 Census will inure to the benefit of the Democrats who will pick up seats in districts previously drawn to favor Republicans.

8. Social media-driven movements, much like the Arab Spring, will continue to drive policy, influence opinion, and impact consumer spending.

9. The unemployment rate will continue to decline slightly.

10. And, charitable giving will start to make a slight come back as some unemployed Americans go back to work.

There are our ten 2012 predictions. As always, we encourage you to stay positive, work hard, and develop your skill on par with your talent.

Happy New Year from the Rudy Syndrome!

02 January 2012

Special Editor's update:

Three additional predictions, by special request of one of our favorite readers, @Zimmy21.

1. Super Bowl. We'll go with an upset in the NFC with the 49ers beating the Packers in the Conference Championship. The AFC will go to the Patriots, as expected. So, the Super Bowl will pit the perennially outstanding Patriots against the newly reinvigorated 49ers.

Results: Pats over Niners. Spread = 7.

2. Tebow. The Broncos will beat the the Steelers in a down-to-the wire AFC Wild Card Game (sorry @horsestoharleys), but the Patriots will easily handle Tebow, despite Divine intervention, in the Divisional Playoffs. Tebow will go on to win at least ten games as the Broncos' starter in the 2012 season.

3. Democratic pick-ups. The current split in the US House is 242 (R) to 192 (D). After redistricting, the Rs will keep the majority, but the Ds will pick up somewhere around 15 seats, making the R majority much narrower. This, of course, has the unfortunate side effect of making an already unproductive Congress even more evenly split, more partisan, and less likely to get anything significant done.

2011 SCORE CARD

2011-12-31T05:51:07Z

With 2011 almost over, it is time for us to turn our attention to the long-standing tradition of scoring our prior year's predictions against what actually happened during the past year. Last year, we were down to 60% on 2010 predictions, as compared to 75% for 2009. So, let's see if we were able to get back to our winning ways.

Here were our predictions for 2011:

1. Sarah Palin will continue her meteoric rise in popularity among conservatives. She will also continue to attract huge crowds and followers, until she gets serious about running for president, at which time the Republican base will run to other more serious and qualified candidates.

TRUE: While Palin can still draw a massive crowd at a political rally, gets paid huge fees for giving a speech, and was recently rated the fourth most admired woman in the country, now that the Republican primary campaign season is in full swing, there is not a peep about her being a serious candidate and her approval/popularity rating among the general population has plummeted.

2. President Barack Obama's approval rating will slowly begin to improve after bottoming out in mid-2011. The media will support his return to popularity and major news outlets will run specials about the many achievements of the first three years of the Obama Administration.

TRUE: The president's approval rating at the end of the year is about even with where it started, and it bottomed-out mid-year, as predicted.

3. Tech IPOs will make a major comeback with Facebook and other tech IPOs reaching Biblically huge proportions.

TRUE: While Facebook didn't go out in 2011, and appears to be exploring a public offering in 2012, Groupon, Pandora, Zynga, and LinedIn, all major tech companies, created a feeding frenzy when they each filed S-1s and went public in 2011, signaling a renewed market appetite for tech IPOs for the first time in several years.

4. The unemployment rate, which has been hovering at around 10% for the past two years, will begin to go down.

TRUE: Although there is some suspicion about how official unemployment numbers are calculated, the numbers published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate a reduced level of unemployment from December 2010 (9.4%) to December 2011 (8.6%).

5. The Stock Market will gain over 1,000 points, and experts will claim there was a major improvement in the economy.

TRUE: The Dow started the year a bit over 11,500, went up to around 12,800, and then settled in to close the year at 12,300. While Americans see the economy improving, many say they haven't experienced a personal improvement.

6. There will be a major troop reduction in Afghanistan.

TRUE: The number of US troops in Afghanistan is down by at least 10,000 to about 90,000, as of a few days ago. As a side note, the final US troops also returned from Iraq on December 24, 2011.

7. Conversely, there will be a huge troop increase along the US/Mexico Border as Americans demand border security.

TRUE: As compared to this time last year, the number of troops along the US-Mexico border is substantially increased. And, apparently the increased numbers are working because arrests are down significantly and authorities are actually considering reducing the numbers again in 2012.

8. Secretary Hillary Clinton will become even more powerful and well-respected as she negotiates for America overseas. This will have the side-effect of causing pundits to acknowledge she should have been the Democratic candidate for president in 2008.

TRUE: Not only was Secretary Clinton selected as the most admired woman in American for an unprecedented 16th time, but she has been basically single handedly running US relations with foreign governments. In fact, admiration for her has grown so substantially, there have been several grass roots movements to either get her to run for president and challenge president Obama in a Democratic primary, or at the very least, to replace vice president Biden on the 2012 ticket.

9. There will be an increase in home-grown terror attempts, and a similar increase in the number of attempts foiled by the law enforcement community, as we approach the 10th Anniversary of the September 11th attacks.

FALSE: It could be this was a poorly chosen prediction because it is nearly impossible to verify. While we suspect we are right on this one, there is no publicly available information to substantiate the claim, so we will subtract a point from our score card for this one.

10. New airport screening machines that don't show body parts, require shoes to be removed, or liquids to be disposed, will be developed and deployed to quell the outrage over privacy violations in the current airport screening methodology.

FALSE: Looks like we were a bit ahead of the manufacturers on this one. There were some talks about machines of this nature in 2011, but so far, none have been deployed into production in any US airports. So, we lose a point here.

In summary, looks like we got 8 out of 10 this year. So, at least we redeemed ourselves from the not-so-great performance last time. Predictions for 2012 will be here soon. But, first, a quick historical recap, just for posterity.

Historical Recap
2009	75%
2010	60%
2011	80%
2012	TBD

There you have it, friends. Have a healthy and happy 2012 and always remember to develop your skill on par with your talent.

Update on SOPA

2011-12-23T18:32:08Z

Go Daddy has been an active supporter of legislation that allows US businesses to address the theft of their intellectual property by foreign criminals, most recently the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). This legislation relies upon current US federal law. In recent weeks, it has become apparent that our support is no longer sustainable. It's critical that the Internet community is behind any legislative efforts to combat the theft of US property by foreign criminals. Unless and until the Internet community can get behind legislative language that accomplishes those goals, we must withdraw our support.

Online copyright laws won't prevent a flourishing Internet

2011-10-28T16:56:53Z

This is an opinion piece I wrote (with significant help from Andrew Kline) regarding the new Stop Online Piracy Act that was introduced in the House Judiciary Committee this week. My thanks to Politico for being the first publication to publish it. I'm hoping others in the mainstream press will do the same. In the meantime, I have pasted it below.
Opinion: Online copyright laws won't prevent a flourishing Internet

By Christine Jones

10/28/11 11:01 AM EDT

This week, the House of Representatives introduced its long-awaited bill, H.R. 3261 (the Stop Online Piracy Act), aimed at protecting the intellectual property of hard-working Americans, U.S. business and the American public from the harm that necessarily flows from the purchase of counterfeit products.

It's a welcome step in the right direction, and we at GoDaddy.com applaud the leadership in the House Judiciary Committee, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition and the Internet and the Senate Judiciary Committee, for taking decisive, bicameral and bipartisan action.

The debate about the contents of this bill, and its companion bill in the Senate, the PROTECT IP Act, has been heated in recent weeks, as companies within the Internet ecosystem have rallied to lobby against the passage of legislation which might hold us accountable.

That myopic view has never been shared by Go Daddy.

In our view, Internet policy should strive to balance the sometimes competing goals of the global free flow of information (which is clearly critical to U.S. businesses), with enforcement of the rule of law. We don't see those competing goals as mutually exclusive, but rather, complimentary. In fact, that balance is essential to a flourishing, yet safe, Internet.

Why some members of the Internet ecosystem do not believe it is their responsibility to participate in finding that balance is unclear to us. We've found that balance in the past in the child protection and counterfeit pharmaceuticals contexts, for example, where we voluntarily take action against customers whose websites or domain names violate the law. So far, none of our voluntary action has stifled legitimate capitalism online. And neither will robust intellectual property enforcement.

The question should be how, not whether, we develop a notice and takedown regime in a responsible and responsive way. At Go Daddy, we are proud of our best practices and believe that they exemplify a model for the rest of the ecosystem. In 2010, we voluntarily took action and shut down more than 30,000 illegal online pharmacies. And, I spend a great deal of my working (and non-working) hours each day working to keep the Internet a better and safer place, especially for children.

And we are responsive to intellectual property holders, even absent a clear mandate by Congress to take action.

This debate does not have to be paralyzing. We certainly shouldn't be suppressing free speech, but the Internet should not function as the Wild West either. We need to be focused on developing codes of conduct that reflect compromise. To do this, everyone in the Internet ecosystem needs to be committed to taking voluntary action. And everyone must understand that if we are unwilling to act responsibly, that Congress has a duty to step in.

While increasing demands on intermediaries are less than desirable for all of us, we can't just turn a blind eye to illegal conduct online. If we don't want the government to be the gate-keeper, then we have to set expectations for ourselves. And those expectations must respect the predicament that U.S. businesses and American consumers are facing — that they are getting duped, that their intellectual property is being stolen and that the Internet ecosystem has a duty to help.

As the debate intensifies in the coming weeks, I hope that all of us in the Internet ecosystem can work together to solve this problem. That is, after all, the American way. And it is the only way forward.

Christine Jones is the general counsel and corporate secretary of GoDaddy.com.

Why the 60-Day Lock Is Essential

2011-09-09T23:40:38Z

Seems some of the online writers in the domain name community have raised the ire of my staff again. They (my staff, that is) have asked me to post the following in response to an attack on the so-called Go Daddy 60-Day Lock.

Recently, two writers at Tech Broiler apparently decided they could drive traffic to their website by criticizing the legitimacy of Go Daddy’s 60-day lock process. Kevin Murphy, of Domain Incite, noticed this and took it upon himself to correct some of the errors in the Tech Broiler post. We thank him for that. In addition to Mr Murphy's defense of Go Daddy's compliance with ICANN rules, we feel compelled to respond, because we use the 60-day lock to benefit domain name registrants every day, and will defend it against all critics.

To readers who are not familiar with the process, the 60-day lock is a security measure implemented by Go Daddy to guard against domain name “highjackings,” the industry term for the fraudulent transfer of domain names away from their rightful registrants. In sum, the process is that if a domain name registrant’s first name, last name, or organization name is changed, Go Daddy “locks” the domain name for 60 days following the change. The only effect of the lock is that it prevents the name from being transferred to another registrar during the next 60 days. Any other desired change to the domain name, for example, making an update to the DNS, can continue to be made during this period.

The 60-day lock is activated if, and only if, the registrant is changed. Registrants can and do change any of the other registrant fields, including email address, telephone number, and mailing address, or any of the fields for the administrative, technical, or billing contacts, without triggering the lock. So, although Mr. Raymond of Tech Broiler claims that a 60-day lock was placed on his unidentified domain name following his email address change, he fails to mention that he must also have changed either the registrant or organization name prior to his transfer attempt.

Go Daddy has established the 60-day lock process for one reason and one reason only – and it’s the same reason Go Daddy does lots of things. Simply put, it’s the right thing to do. In our long experience of registering domain names, we have found that that a high percentage of highjackings take place in the context of a change to the registrant’s name or organization information, followed by a transfer to a different registrar, often followed by multiple changes and transfers after that. By the time the rightful owner determines that the domain name has been highjacked, the domain name may have been transferred or sold several times over. It is incredibly difficult to recover a highjacked domain name, particularly where the name has been transferred to a rogue or offshore registrar.

When a customer notifies Go Daddy of a highjacking-in-progress, and the domain name is within the lock period, we can investigate the issue in-house and ensure that the rightful party retains the rights to the name. Preventing names from being transferred for a limited 60-day period following a name or organization change puts Go Daddy in a MUCH better position to help wronged registrants and to return highjacked names as quickly as possible, without the added complication of a potentially uncooperative registrar.

Here’s one true-life example. A Go Daddy customer was recently the victim of a phishing scheme/email compromise by a domain name hijacker. Through fraudulently-obtained information, the hijacker was able to access the customer’s account. The highjacker then moved 41 of the customer’s domain names to a new account and updated the registrant name, which initiated the 60-day lock. The highjacker also transferred 5 additional domain names to an offshore registrar without changing the registrant domain name. Thanks to the 60-day lock, the 41 domain names that were stolen and moved to another account did not leave Go Daddy, and were returned to the customer in short order. Weeks later, we are still waiting for the other 5 domain names to be returned.

Go Daddy advises its customers of the 60-day lock process right up front, prior to the customer making any change to the registrant name or organization field. When a customer attempts to update this information, conspicuous language is displayed, reminding the customer that the domain name may not be transferred for 60 days following the change. The customer must affirmatively check two boxes stating that he still wishes to make the change. The lock is triggered only in the event that the customer chooses to proceed. Should the customer not agree with the terms of the lock, there is an easy solution. He may simply transfer the name to another registrar, and THEN change the registrant name or organization. The vast majority of legitimate names changes and transfers are handled in this way.

Go Daddy’s practices with respect to the 60-day lock have been thoroughly examined by ICANN in relation to the ICANN Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy and the 2008 Advisory interpreting that Policy. The lock doesn’t implicate the Policy or Advisory in any way. Under the Policy, WHOIS updates are allowable at any time, and are not grounds for denying a transfer. The fields addressed by the 60-day lock,registrant name and organization, go beyond a simple WHOIS update. Instead, they act to essentially reassign the domain name registration to a new responsible party, the newly-named registrant.

The 60-day lock is just one of many measures Go Daddy has implemented to preserve the security and integrity of our customers’ domain names, and it is a big part of the reason we are so successful in doing so. Time and again, the 60-day lock has proven to be an effective tool in assisting us to thwart hijacking attempts and to recover hijacked domain names, and we have done so thousands of times already this year. No, fellow bloggers, the lock is not a devious ploy to keep domain names registered at Go Daddy. We have no interest in holding customers or domain names hostage. We prefer to rely on our low prices and industry-best service. Oh, and the world-class security practices that protect our customers from the threat of domain name hijacking.

We here at the Rudy Syndrome enthusiastically encourage Messrs Raymond, Perlow and/or Murphy to dispute the foregoing. But, inasmuch as it is purely based in fact, we doubt they will bother to submit a post.

What do we do about domain name hijacking?

2011-08-01T22:21:50Z

After reading a recent post in the Domain Name Journal, several of my more vocal Domain Services folks decided they couldn't stay quiet and they asked me to post the thoughts below. Anyone in the domain name community want to respond? Unlike DNJournal, we are happy to post what you have to say here at the Rudy Syndrome.

Recently, DNJournal published an article introducing DomainTheft.org and its founder, Morgan Linton. DomainTheft.org is a monthly, paid service where victims of domain name theft can list their domain names so anyone checking the site will know the domain names are stolen. Linton characterized "most" domain name registrars as unwilling to assist in cases of domain name theft, and theorized that domain name registrars should "stay-out" of domain name theft situations for that reason.

We whole heartedly disagree.

In Go Daddy’s case, we have a dedicated staff to deal with all forms of domain name hijacking complaints, transfer disputes, and domain name disputes. We have a successful process for handling hijacking complaints and we have been extremely proactive in tracking down and retrieving stolen domain names. Involving a third party with no authority to resolve domain name hijackings would simply slow down the process and get in the way.

To make the assertion that “most” registrars simply won’t help when a hijacking occurs is inaccurate and seems more like a ploy to sell Linton’s service. Worse, it seems a veiled attempt to capitalize on the misfortune of registrants who are victims of domain name theft. Before profiting from the bad acts of thieves, we encourage Linton to familiarize himself with what registrars can do, and what they actually do, before using scare tactics to sell his new service.

As the largest registrar in the world, we can attest to successfully working with other registrars, registries, and law enforcement agents, every single day. We can also confirm that most registrars are extremely committed to preventing domain name hijackings.

As a fundamental matter, registrants are responsible for their own domain names. However, the first thing the victim of a domain name theft should do is contact the registrar. Oftentimes registrars can rely on ICANN policies to help resolve domain name theft or a wrongful transfer. Additionally, most, if not all, registrars who help, do it for free.

Of course, with almost a thousand registrars world-wide, there are some that are unwilling to help. That is why we, along with other devoted registrars, continue to try to educate the industry on how registrants can protect their names and what registrars can do to help. Likewise, we tirelessly reach out to registrars as a way to "fix the hole in the fence" so that all registrars join the cause to prevent and recover hijacked domain names.

Paying to list a stolen domain name on a website will not get your domain name back. But, if you contact the registrar, you at least have a chance.

Thanks to the staff of hard workers at Go Daddy, who make it their business to make the Internet a better and safer place, for submiting this piece.

Anyone from DNJournal or DomainTheft.org care to issue a rebuttal? We will be happy to post it here.

Beyond Cybersquatting

2011-07-12T23:45:37Z

We have guest speakers for this post. Camille Ede, Director of Domain Services, and Matthew Bilunes, Domain Disputes Supervisor, both of Go Daddy, have co-authored an excellent piece on the reasons for the recent spike in domain name disputes. We publish it here, with their (and Go Daddy's) permission.

Beyond Cybersquatting:

Underscoring Additional Trends in the Recent Increase of Arbitration Filings

This year, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the National Arbitration Forum (NAF) reported a significant increase in UDRP filings during 2010. WIPO’s headline stated “Cybersquatting Hits Record Level.”[1] Although the number of filings is irrefutable (see annex 1), wholly pinning the reason for this trend on a surge in cybersquatting may not tell the whole story.

Rather, a closer examination of the statistical data these dominant forums offer, along with data available to Go Daddy (the registrar in nearly a quarter of all UDRP filings), demonstrates that new efficiencies in the filing process, along with heightened initiative on the part of trademark holders, are also prevailing factors contributing to the boost in UDRP filings. Domain name providers should take note of these additional factors so that they can conceivably make adjustments to how they manage UDRP disputes.

	WIPO Filings	NAF Filings	Total Filings	Percentage change
2002	1207	1264	2471
2003	1100	937	2037	-17.56%
2004	1176	1023	2199	7.95%
2005	1456	1369	2825	28.47%
2006	1824	1658	3482	23.26%
2007	2156	1805	3961	13.76%
2008	2329	1770	4099	3.48%
2009	2107	1759	3866	-5.68%
2010	2696	2177	4873	26.05%

Annex 1: Growth of UDRP filings (WIPO and NAF only) slow and eventually decrease, before a boom in 2010.

http://wipo.int/amc/en/domains/statistics/cases.jsp

http://domains.adrforum.com/users/icann/resources/DomainNameDisputeResolution-FactSheet..pdf

http://domains.adrforum.com/newsroom.aspx?itemID=1636

Data Show that Newer Registrations are not the Subject of Filings. The percentage of gTLD growth decreased between 2006 and 2009, and only rose slightly in 2010 (see annex 2). However, measuring the length of registrations for names that were subject to disputes between January 2009 and December 2010 provides compelling data that newly registered names do not represent the majority of these filings.

If there was a huge swell in cybersquatting, we might expect to see these newer registrations as the subject of the more recent UDRP filings. However, according to Go Daddy’s records, this is simply not the case. We can determine that it was not newer names that were the dominant subjects of that year’s arbitration filings.

In fact, in 2007, domain names registered with GoDaddy that were part of proceedings were registered approximately 680 days before the filing was made[2]. The average in 2008 rose slightly to 685 days. In 2009, days jumped to 750. Finally, the correlation between new registrations and new UDRP filings weakened even more in 2010, to nearly 870 days. In other words, despite an increase in both gTLD registrations and arbitration filings, the average time a subject domain name was active actually lengthened.

Since newer names do not seem to be the subject of these recent cases, there could be other meaningful reasons for this swell in filings. Based on the cases submitted to Go Daddy, improvement of the filing process itself and the more active role that trademark holders are playing in defending their marks both seem to have contributed to the hike in UDRP filings, as well.

	gTLDs	Percentage change
2002	29,928,518
2003	35,071,742	17.19%
2004	45,626,026	30.09%
2005	58,586,334	28.41%
2006	77,815,148	32.82%
2007	95,388,565	22.58%
2008	104,972,413	10.05%
2009	112,056,100	6.75%
2010	123,168,741	9.92%

Annex 2: Growth of gTLD registrations slow in recent years.

http://www.zooknic.com/Domains/counts.html

http://www.hosterstats.com/DomainNameCounts2011.php

Annex 3: Visual comparison of Annexes 1 and 2. Percentage growth of gTLD registrations and UDRP filings follow similar patterns until 2010.

Cheaper, Streamlined Process Possibly Accounts for an Increase in Filings. It is reasonable to attribute some of the recent spike in UDRP filings to the recent efficiencies that WIPO and other arbitration providers have launched within the last few years. These changes in the filing process support IP holders’desire for high-speed and low-cost solutions.

Take, for example, the implementation of the e-filing system. In mid-December 2009, WIPO started allowing e-filing of complaints[3]. Subsequently, they reported a 13% increase in filing rates between December 2009 and February 2010.

Similarly, NAF amended its Supplement Rules in March 2010 to require that all complaints are filed via e-mail, no longer requiring paper copies of the complaint[4]. These changes, saving time and money, inevitably encourage IP holders and their representatives to take action on more infringements.

Likewise, several consultation firms have expanded their businesses to provide simple, one-stop shopping for IP holders striving to challenge online infringers.

More Cybersquatters are Setting up Sites on Their Infringing Names. The advice of some of these consultation firms may have been to lay low if the infringing domain name was not in use since it makes it more difficult to prove the UDRP’s element of “Evidence of Registration and Use in Bad Faith.”[5] This could explain why the average length of registration for more recent filings is so high. Perhaps those names did not have any infringing material up on the site until more recently.

WIPO’s “Areas of Complainant Activity – Industry and Commerce”[6], which categorizes complainants by their industry, supports that the largest percentage of complainants for 2010 are associated with retail, fashion, and “other.” Likewise, filings by complainants in the electronics field went up by 400% between 2009 and 2010. Grouped together, these are general and specific retail categories, categories where a consumer can expect to purchase something on an active site.

With an increase in online retail sales, both legitimate[7] and counterfeit[8] it seems that names registered a few years ago that may not have had anything on their site have now evolved into accessories for these online counterfeits. As a result, the concern for IP holders has become not just the infringing domain name but also the use of that name to propagate infringing material.

Therefore, as a way to maintain the complainant’s own online commerce, filings may be multiplying as a result of the burgeoning use of domain names to sell counterfeit goods, providing a viable bad faith argument.

Conversely, between 2005 and 2008, pharmaceutical brands were more readily active in the UDRP process. However, they have slowed in recent years, possibly due to increased awareness of illegal online pharmacies. Go Daddy began shutting down illegal online pharmacies, regardless of where they are hosted, in November 2008[9]. Swift actions on the part of the responsible registrars that make it less critical for pharmaceutical companies to pursue infringing domain names if they are able to get assistance from a helpful registrar to immediately shut down the website.

While non-pharmaceutical online retailers cannot take advantage of these same means to get a website suspended, the UDRP provides a quicker and less expensive resolution than the court system for other types of retailers who are attempting to control counterfeiting of their brands.

Trademark Holders are Becoming Serious about Their Web Presence. Related to the increase of counterfeit goods on the web, we suggest that the increase in filings is not just a consequence of cybersquatting, but possibly a fresh movement among trademark holders, both big and small, to defend their marks.

Likewise, drawing from WIPO’s data, one telling sign that trademark holders are taking more aggressive steps to protect their brand is how the category for “Other” in the type of complaint is seeing more activity.

The “Areas of Complainant Activity – Industry and Commerce” data listed only 40 decisions involving “Others” between 2000 and 2006, as opposed to 655 decisions between 2007 and 2010. This is relevant because the trademarks being violated in the “Others” category are, for the most part, not as well-known as they are in alternative categories.

In other words, more brand owners are looking out for their marks, whether they represent a famous enterprise or not. More than ever, trademark holders recognize the arbitration option as a more cost-effective plan, rather than having to go through the slower and more expensive court system.

In conclusion, the UDRP process is more prominent than ever before. However, it would be misleading to solely blame cybersquatting for the sudden increase in UDRP filings. Although there is little doubt that the ongoing practice of cybersquatting factors into the tide of arbitration cases, the ease of filing, along with more vigilance on the part of IP holders, undoubtedly influenced the measurable increase in cases.

Registrars and registries, both small and large, should pay attention to these contributing trends in UDRP filings and should proactively reinforce their support teams for a possible influx of UDRP complaints, even if they are not drastically accumulating domain name business.

[1] http://www.wipo.int//pressroom/en/articles/2011/article_0010.html

[2] Per internal Go Daddy data

[3] http://www.wipo.int/pressroom/en/articles/2010/article_0007.html

[4] http://domains.adrforum.com/users/icann/resources/UDRP%20Supplemental%20Rules%20eff%20March%201%202010.pdf

http://domains.adrforum.com/users/icann/resources/UDRPSuppRules20071101.pdf

[5] http://www.icann.org/en/dndr/udrp/policy.htm (see 4.b)

[6] http://wipo.int/amc/en/domains/statistics/legalindex.jsp

[7] http://techcrunch.com/2010/03/08/forrester-forecast-online-retail-sales-will-grow-to-250-billion-by-2014/

[8] http://www.internetretailer.com/2011/01/05/online-counterfeit-sales-will-cost-businesses-135-billion

[9] Per Go Daddy’s Abuse Department Management

OMG Abercrombie, WTF?

2011-03-28T22:00:00Z

I don't usually write this blog from an emotional perspective, but I admit it, this time I'm mad. By now you've probably heard about the fire storm over Abercrombie & Fitch, the trendy children's clothier, offering little girls push up bikinis. Just in case you haven't, you can view the story from Good Morning America here.

In a nutshell, Abercrombie decided, in its infinite, and always tasteful, wisdom, that it would be okay to sell padded string bikinis to seven and eight year old little girls. Let's just state clearly for the record, in case anyone was wondering, that Abercrombie is wrong. It is not okay to sell body altering swim wear to little kids, especially not string bikinis designed to make little girls' boobs look bigger! Abercrombie did change the name of the product from "push-up" to something less descriptive because of the consumer outrage, but the bikinis are still available for sale.

Now, here is why I'm really mad on this one. This is my personal blog and I don't speak on behalf of Go Daddy here, but we do have a 24/7 Network Abuse team who make it their business to remove images of small kids being photographed in sexually compromising positions. Those images, sadly, often begin with little girls in lingerie and bikinis. It's usually just a matter of time before the bikinis come off and these little girls go from being exploited to being abused. And, that is not okay. Not with me and not with any of the hard working and diligent people I have working for me to rid the Internet of this filth.

So, Abercrombie, changing the name of the product is not enough. Stop selling that crap.

If I were a seven year old girl, I might say something like: OMG Abercrombie, WTF?

Congrats, Christopher

2011-01-10T20:48:00Z

About eight years ago, a scrawny little kid, we'll call him "Christopher," walked up to the ROTC Instructor at his local High School and said, "Hi, I'm Christopher and I want to be a Navy SEAL!" Christopher was short and skinny and wore a wrinkled shirt with the buttons fastened wrong. He had the worst case of bed-head you've ever seen. And, he could barely even walk straight, let alone run and perform the physical demands of a Navy SEAL.

The ROTC Instructor, we'll call him "Colonel Smith," looked down at messy little Christopher, breathed a deep sigh, and said, "You're kidding me, right?"

When they first met, Christopher was about to enter his Freshman year in High School. Colonel Smith, who admits he didn't have high hopes for Christopher, told him to sign up for ROTC and he would see him in class. Sure enough, Christopher signed up. And, he showed up. And, despite being a skinny little guy with no apparent coordination or athletic ability, Christopher did everything Colonel Smith told him to do.

He learned how to put on a uniform and he actually managed to get all the buttons lined up. He learned how to march and salute and spin a rifle. He learned respect for authority and flag etiquette and citizenship and manners. He learned that the harder he worked, the better cadet he would become. And, after working at it day in and day out for four solid years of High School, Christopher became a solid leader, a buttoned down Cadet, and an above average athlete

Christopher and Colonel Smith became very good friends. Colonel Smith mentored and developed Christopher and admired his dedication and passion. In fact, Christopher was so dedicated to developing his skill on par with his talent that Colonel Smith actually let Christopher work out with him, the only time he had ever done that for a Cadet in all his years working with ROTC. As a result, Christoper was in top physical condition at the end of his time in the Cadet Corps.

When he graduated from High School, Christopher reminded Colonel Smith that he wanted to be a Navy SEAL. By this time, Colonel Smith was somewhat less skeptical. So, he encouraged Christopher to enlist in the Navy. And, after he graduated from Basic Training, Colonel Smith helped him navigate the extremely competitive Navy SEAL selection process.

The Sea, Air and Land (SEAL) Teams are the Navy's principal special operations force. Navy SEALs are trained for, and have been deployed to, a wide variety of missions, including special reconnaissance operations, hostage rescue, counter-terrorism, and other extremely difficult and demanding missions.

To make an incredibly long story slightly shorter, we will fast forward a few years and tell you that Christopher was eventually selected to attend SEAL Training, something only the most elite and admired members of the Navy can claim. The drop out rate for a typical SEAL class is 75-80% of all those who begin. It is generally acknowledged to be the most rigorous and difficult training of any special operations program in the world.

When he shipped off to SEAL Training, Colonel Smith told him, "Christopher, whatever you do, don't you ring that damned bell. You're better than that." Colonel Smith was referring to voluntarily dropping out of training when it becomes too difficult. The SEALs call it "DOR." Drop on request. Clearly, with a 75-80% drop out rate, there are plenty of men in each SEAL class who do "ring the bell."

But, not Christopher. He didn't ring the bell. In fact, a few weeks ago, Colonel Smith flew to San Diego with Christopher's family to attend Christopher's graduation from SEAL Training. And, today, that scrawny little kid who walked into Colonel Smith's class almost eight years ago is now a full-fledged member of the most elite special operations force in the world.

So, congratulations, Christopher! We salute your accomplishment. And, we admire your commitment to work hard every day to attain a goal you set so long ago. You are a person who doesn't give up. You do whatever it takes. Thank you for being a perfect example of a guy who refused to have the Rudy Syndrome.

And, to Colonel Smith, thanks for shepherding Christopher to greatness over so many years. You are an example of what we can all do when we spend time developing others.

Predictions for 2011

2011-01-01T22:26:00Z

It's January 1, 2011. Our annual predictions article is back, by popular demand. Given our not-so-hot 60% accuracy record from our 2010 Score Card, you may not want to hedge any bets on the veracity of what follows. But, here are ten things we think might happen in 2011.

1. Sarah Palin will continue her meteoric rise in popularity among conservatives. She will also continue to attract huge crowds and followers, until she gets serious about running for president, at which time the Republican base will run to other more serious and qualified candidates.

2. President Barack Obama's approval rating will slowly begin to improve after bottoming out in mid-2011. The media will support his return to popularity and major news outlets will run specials about the many achievements of the first three years of the Obama Administration.

3. Tech IPOs will make a major comeback with Facebook and other tech IPOs reaching Biblically huge proportions.

4. The unemployment rate, which has been hovering at around 10% for the past two years, will begin to go down.

5. The Stock Market will gain over 1,000 points, and experts will claim there was a major improvement in the economy.

6. There will be a major troop reduction in Afghanistan.

7. Conversely, there will be a huge troop increase along the US/Mexico Border as Americans demand border security.

There you have it. Our ten predictions for 2011. Let us know what you think.

Remember to develop your skill on par with your talent this year.

Happy New Year from the Rudy Syndrome!

2010 Score Card

2010-12-27T19:36:00Z

Yeah, yeah, we know we have to do our score card for 2010. And, we know we didn't do as well this year as we did last year. But, you take the bad with the good. So, we'll own our results proudly. As we look back, 2010 turned out to be the year of voter outrage, Chilean miners, LeBron James, and huge unemployment. We did predict some of that, but let's take a closer look and see exactly where our inexpert predictions landed.

Here is what we predicted, along with the results:

It's January 1, 2010. As per our long-standing, two-year tradition, it's time to make some predictions about the year to come. As we disclaimed last year, we don't really know if these things will happen, but given our 7.5 out of 10 track record from our 2009 Score Card, it's possible at least 75% of the following will come true.

1. Janet Napolitano, Secretary of Homeland Security and former Governor of Arizona, will step down, return to Arizona, and run for Senate against four-term Senator and former GOP Presidential Nominee, John McCain (R-AZ).

FALSE. Secretary Napolitano stayed in Washington and completely ignored the Senate race in Arizona. Probably just as well since Arizona voters sent Senator McCain (R-AZ) back to the Senate for a fifth term in November.

2. The decline in the commercial real estate market in 2009 will turn out to be just the beginning of the devastation for commercial properties, as commercial tenants fail and major commercial developers declare bankruptcy.

TRUE. Developers like Trevor Davis (individual), General Growth Properties (Public co), and First UAE (international) filed for bankruptcy protection leaving room for companies like Google and Go Daddy to pick up commercial properties at bargain basement prices.

3. The stock market will dip significantly again, trending toward 8,000, before it begins to regain lost ground.

TRUE/FALSE. We get half a point here. The Dow started the year at about 10,500. There was a huge market dip in July, bottoming out at around 9,600, but not quite the 8,000 we predicted. The market then regained all of its lost ground to close the year near 11,500

4. The "call it twenty-ten" movement will catch on and, by the end of the year, 2010 will be ubiquitously referred to as "twenty-ten" rather than "two-thousand-ten" or "oh-ten." As a side note, oh-ten would make the year 20,010, which is a really long time from now.

TRUE. While we don't know if the use of the "twenty-ten" reference is ubiquitous, the National Association of Good Grammar did step in and decree that (2010) should officially be pronounced "twenty-ten," and all subsequent years should be pronounced as "twenty-eleven," "twenty-twelve," and so on.

5. Voters will declare the 2010 elections a time for new representation in Washington, which means the Republicans will gain significantly in both the House and the Senate, as incumbents are run out of office by the dozens.

TRUE. This was perhaps our most accurate prediction of the year. The voter backlash during the 2010 mid-term elections was felt across the entire political spectrum. One bumper sticker we saw said "Re-elect No One." That just about summed up the result of the election, which President Obama referred to by its technical definition: "a schellacking."

6. Wealthy families all over the country will take in and provide for needy kids as Baltimore Ravens star, Michael Oher's, story inspires people to reach out and care for kids who would benefit from having a family and stability in their lives. If you aren't familiar with his story, see the movie Blind Side, which tells the true story of the Tuohys, the Memphis family who adopted Oher when he was in high school.

FALSE. This could be true, but we have no way to prove it, so we wont take a point on this one.

7. Health Care Reform will stall as the discussion between the House and the Senate devloves into an old-fashioned, knock-down, drag-out debate over abortion.

TRUE/FALSE. One of the biggest victories thus far for the Obama Administration, the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act became law on March 23. Although there was an old-fashioned, knock-down, drag-out debate over abortion, led by our good friend, Congressman Bart Stupak (D-MI), it wasn't enough to stall the passage of the legislation.

8. More and more Americans will begin to stock pile ammunition, guns, food, and water as concerns over the decline in the social fabric lead citizens to a survivalist mentality, where they believe they have to take basic survival matters into their own hands. This will make already hard-to-find ammunition and guns virtually impossible to buy.

TRUE. Ammunition and guns became even more difficult to find as gun owners focused on government restrictions.

9.Because we still believe we were right on this one, but just slightly off on the timing, we are repeating this 2009 prediction: Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen will regret firing Head Coach Mike Shanahanwhen Shanahan is picked up by another NFL team, beats the Broncos, andmakes it to the playoffs in his first year with his new team.

FALSE. While Mike Shanahan did get picked up by the Washington Redskins, they neither played the Broncos, nor made the playoffs. So, we were wrong on both accounts here. We still believe Pat Bowlen secretly regrets firing Coach Shanahan, however.

10. Churches and other places of worship will see increased attendance as people seek solace from the economy (which will continue to decline) and unemployment (which will continue to increase).

TRUE. According to research organization, Gallup, Americans' self-reported church attendance inched up somewhat in 2010. According to the Bureau of Labor Statictics, the seasonal unemployment rate at the end of November was 9.8%, up slightly from 9.7% in January.

Bottom line: 6 out of 10, with partial credit for 7 out of 10 predictions. Turns out when you only make 10 predictions, missing one more than the year before takes your accuracy percentage from 75% to 60% faster than you can say, "Happy New Year!"

Stay tuned for predictions for 2011. Or should we say, "twenty-eleven?"