MyPalm.com website address dispute

Posted By: Ryan Saturday, November 25, 2000 11:48:24 AM

Two weeks ago Palm Inc. announced a new wireless Internet portal called MyPalm. The portal is expected to be launched on Dec 25th in beta.

Shortly after that announcement, Dominic Hulewicz, the registered owner of the domain MyPalm.com received a letter from Palms legal team.

Dominic states on his site, "I am a long term loyal Palm customer and use the domain name as my email address so I can keep in touch on the move using my PDA and GSM mobile phone. I have been using my domain name in this way for nearly a year.

I have never attempted to sell my name and although I have received several unsolicited offers for it, on every occasion I made it very clear that I have no wish to sell and politely refused all offers. I have even met with Palm Inc staff at trade shows and parties where they found it amusing that I am so into my PDA and have such a great email address for it. On no occasion during this period has Palm Inc ever contacted me to voice their concerns at my use of the mypalm.com domain name."

Shortly after the announcement Palm Inc's lawyers sent a letter in which the last two paragraphs state:

Accordingly, we must insist that your company immediately transfer registration of the mypalm.com domain name to Palm, Inc.

In order to avoid a legal dispute, we request that you immediately confirm your agreement to transfer the mypalm.com domain name to our client. Our client regards this as a serious and urgent matter, and therefore requests your reply by November 29, 2000.

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Makes Palm look bad and stupid

pfloyd @ 11/25/2000 2:08:14 PM #
He doesn't look like a cyber squatter to me.
I think the only thing left for Palm to do now to save face is fly someone out to his house with an apology and a pile of money and a promise in writing to allow him to continue to use the email addresses for 100 years. It's only the right thing to do.

RE: Makes Palm look bad and stupid
DRBliss @ 11/25/2000 3:17:38 PM #
I agree. If Palm continues to play this out badly, they'll come off looking like Microsoft - bullying the little guy with the threat of legal action. The individual who's done nothing wrong but can't afford to defend himself against corporate lawyers loses what he's legally entitled to. Here's a chance for Palm executives to show themselves as a bunch of scumbags.

DRBliss
More work from the champions in the sales prevention dept.
adrianheath @ 11/25/2000 7:43:29 PM #
Ted ladd where are you?
I feel sorry for Ted Ladd, the devoted palm Evangelist who just completed a nationwide PUG tour to affirm to devoted Palm users everywhere how much they are appreciated. Yankowski should step down and let a real pro like Ted actually run the company. Run vs. Ruin.

I volunteer to personally strangle the attorneys- for free!


RE: Makes Palm look bad and stupid
I.M. Anonymous @ 2/5/2001 4:47:53 PM #
I agree with you all that some lawyers use a crow bar before trying the door knob... but let us do look at it with a cool head.

Let's say I go an register myUSADepatmentofDefense.com
Do you really think some guy with a buzz cut in a pretty white parade uniform will one day show up at my door and ask me if I may consider giving up said domain name registration and give me a bucket of greenbacks? NOT!

Trademarks, brands, copyrights and all that crap exist so that legitimate folks can make legitimate money. The moment one uses the word "palm" in any context that even remotely brings handheld devices or operating systems and such to mind it is a clear copyright and trademark infringement. With all do respect to our innovative friend, he did break the trademark the very moment he went and registered his domain name. Just because you register it it does not mean you actually have a right to it.

As for companies who adopt a nice guy attitude free-for-all trademark enforcement practice, take a look at Xerox bordering on the edge of bankruptcy and thing again!

mypalm.com

I.M. Anonymous @ 11/25/2000 2:53:18 PM #
Screw'em...I am a "fellow" palm-addict. So what there say'n, the parasites that call themselves lawyers, is 'if the letters p-a-l-m in that order appear in a web address, it is their clients'. That is such BS and I'm sure further up the ladder, money will talk and you'll get rooked out of your address. Great Country huh?

o-2-b-screwed

Agreed

I.M. Anonymous @ 11/25/2000 3:01:41 PM #
Palm is really making some bad decisions latley. This just goes to show you that once a compy states doing some things good, they go to the top floor and forget about the consumers and philosophy that made them what they are today.
Check out the http://www.gmate.co.kr/english/products/photos.htm">YOPY, I sure hope they finish it soon, my palm III is about ready to retire.


RE: Agreed
I.M. Anonymous @ 11/29/2000 10:03:55 AM #
I Think Palm is making a big mistake.
I was thinking of getting a Palm/visor a while back. I got a Pocket PC instead. The built in MP3 Player makes it worth the extra cost.

Yopy? Too bulky
I.M. Anonymous @ 12/13/2000 11:43:22 PM #
Are you kidding? The thickness and size of Yopy seems unacceptable, even bigger than a Palm III?
Anyway, I don't like Palm Inc.'s action if it is true. Maybe let me make a MyPalms.com, PalmX.com, etc. haha.

MyPalm.com owner speaks

I.M. Anonymous @ 11/25/2000 4:55:24 PM #
There is a great discussion about this going on over at pdabuzz.

http://www2.pdabuzz.com/Discussion/Forum4/HTML/001100.html

The owner of MyPalm.com is participating as well.

mypalm.com is NOT a TLD

I.M. Anonymous @ 11/26/2000 4:18:14 AM #
Top Level Domains (TLDs) are the *last* part of a domain name: .com, .net, etc. "MyPalm.com" is a second-level domain.

Simply eToy?

digichimp @ 11/26/2000 5:41:21 AM #
"Simply Amazing"

Amazingly shortsighted, that is.
Palm should learn from eToys and understand what negative PR can do.

I can hear Microsoft now with their new campaign:
Palm, just another eToy.

I hope there is enough grassroots support to back up the individual over the insensitive corporation.

As a devoted PalmOS user, it saddens me to see another mis-step by Palm. The competition is heating up.

Palm, get a clue.



Palm Inc WAKE UP!!

Kent @ 11/26/2000 8:24:58 AM #
Hey, looks Palm Inc is shooting themselves in the foot & giving themselves a PR nightmare.
Hope they remember it's loyal users like us all who make 'em what they are.

Simple solution

I.M. Anonymous @ 11/26/2000 10:31:40 AM #
Why can't Palm just use the domain "my.palm.com" -- it adds to the palm.com branding and serves the same purpose, without stripping a domain from a legitimate user.

RE: Simple solution
I.M. Anonymous @ 11/27/2000 4:15:32 AM #
I agree...

Law, Litigation, Courts

EGarrido @ 11/26/2000 10:50:05 AM #
Believe it or not, Palm may very well be the appropriete owner of the domain under the law. Numerous American laws state that a company has the right to go to court over a domain name if the domain resembles the company or the product name.

Actually, the UN just set up a new regulation that anyone can come to them if they feel they are the rightful owner of a domain. For example, I would be able to sue the guy who owns "enriquegarrido.com". I wouldn't even think of doing it, but it is certainly an option.

So yeah, maybe Palm isn't justified in the eyes of the user, but in the blind eyes of the law they may very well win the domain.

I, personally, like the solution that my fellow Infocenter reader proposed: my.palm.com. I think it works better than mypalm.com, and would produce a lot less pain on the part of Palm and the current owner of mypalm.com.

Eric Garrido

Sounds like fun...
ardiri @ 11/26/2000 12:36:20 PM #
Actually, the UN just set up a new regulation that anyone can come to them if they feel they are the rightful owner of a domain. For example, I would be able to sue the guy who owns "enriquegarrido.com". I wouldn't even think of doing it, but it is certainly an option.

so, my brothers and sisters (or anyone holding the "ardiri" name) can sue me for registering "www.ardiri.com"? :)) aren't i lucky the name isn't that common. would hate to see "www.smith.com" being disputed. i think Palm, Inc need to resolve this issue without the force that has been pushed onto the domain owner. There are much more friendly ways to resolve such an issue. He wants to keep his email, Palm should have no problem doing this.


// az
aaron@ardiri.com
http://www.ardiri.com/

RE: Law, Litigation, Courts
I.M. Anonymous @ 11/27/2000 10:49:23 AM #
I totally disagree... Mypalm.com can be anything non-related to the PDA. It could be a sick porn site, or a Palm reading site, or anything else. I think if someone had a good lawyer they could fight this. MyPalm could be anything. The fact that it has MY in front of Palm does not give Palm the exclusive right to use any name that has Palm in it. Can you imagine all the law suits going on if everyone had decided to sue just because part of the name resembled something they own a trademark too? It's stupid and ridicules. I like Palm's os alot, but I think they are shooting themselves in the foot, again. I hope this gets beg enough wakes palm up for their stupitity. Appearently this guy had registered the MyPalm.com name way before Palm had a clue what their devices could be used for in the wireless world. I hope this guy fights this.

That's it!

Don @ 11/26/2000 6:47:19 PM #
I had enough of Palm's strong arm tactics. I had enough of Palm making all the wrong move lately. It really reflects badly on Palm.
Because of this I just dumped my Palm Vx for a iPAQ.
It's a great machine and I really love the screen.
RE: That's it!
I.M. Anonymous @ 11/28/2000 12:43:16 PM #
Turning to a vendor (MS) who wrote the book on strong arm tactics doesn't appear to be an appropriate response to Palm's heavy-handed approach. Maybe a better approach would be to forward the known info about this situation to a national newspaper so that more than just the Palm community becomes aware of the Draconian approach to branding that Palm has instigated.

RE: That's it!
I.M. Anonymous @ 7/26/2001 7:21:33 PM #
... One less palm user.. Back off Palm Snobb, palm is by far worse than MS in the handheld arena, since Palm has yet to innovate (unless you call changing serial ports innovation) and MS has. In the desktop area, that’s a different story.

Palm Bully

I.M. Anonymous @ 11/26/2000 8:58:58 PM #
Shame on you Palm!!! Shame! Don't you EVER forget that WE made you who you are. Bullying your way around us is not the way. Hands off this tactic Palm or you are gonna get a slap on your face with MyPalm!

mypalm.com

I.M. Anonymous @ 11/26/2000 9:47:00 PM #
I think we should all goto Register.com and file for every kind of palm.something site name to lock palm out of this whole thing. I just registered my.palm.com, let them send me a big check - then they can have it!

Dr.Scott

RE: mypalm.com
I.M. Anonymous @ 11/26/2000 10:34:07 PM #
Re: my.palm.com I don't think that will hold up in court. PALM owns palm.com and with that anything that has a '.' before palm.com. my.palm.com is part of palm.com.

RE: mypalm.com
I.M. Anonymous @ 1/13/2001 12:09:09 PM #
This is the kind of stuff the bulletin is talking about! squatters like you give bad names to small time people with domain names they rightfully own.

Palm Dorks

I.M. Anonymous @ 11/26/2000 11:50:46 PM #
Palm is being stupid. The guy had it first and if he registered it Palm has no right to it.

why do they need it?

monster zero @ 11/26/2000 11:55:20 PM #
I don't understand why Palm needs a new domain. "My Yahoo" is my.yahoo.com -- notice the dot -- it's not myyahoo.com!

Palm Developer Here!

I.M. Anonymous @ 11/27/2000 12:24:44 AM #
Dear Palm:

You better Listen up Palm. If you pursue legal action, I will drop any applications that I have developed for you in a heartbeat and begin writing for the Palm PC.

I can't believe how you treated this individual who rightfully paid his $75-100/year for the domain name MyPalm.com. If you wanted it so bad, you should have had the foresight enought to register it your damn self! After all, you knew your new company name before he did (or did you). You should have protected your rights long before now. Come on, two months before release of your "MyPalm.com" name. What fools you are! You're begging for a slap in the face. You'll surely get it too.

I have been an avid Palm Developer and Palm User for the past three years. Although, if you continue down this path I WILL SWITCH to PPC even if it does suck. Just to spite your ass!

Without the Palm Developers, you are nothing (you may soon learn that the hard way). We made you what you are and will flock to greener pastures if the grass starts to turn brown. This doesn't effect just Palm but it's licensees too (Handspring). What would happen if Palm OS developers left you tomorrow? We wouldn't need Palm, TG nor Handspring. Think about it?

It's getting there... You better think long and hard about your next step. We are watching.

Want to start a petition? Developers, sign below...

Might want to try "mipalm.com" ;)



RE: Palm Developer Here!
I.M. Anonymous @ 11/27/2000 4:17:50 AM #
better yet, tie it to visor...I know somehow you "twisted" appdev people can grab some piece of the ".H" ver of the OS or some '1's & 0's' thing from the hardware to make it only work on a Visor..

RE: Palm Developer Here!
ardiri @ 11/27/2000 8:15:07 AM #
come on.. now, *this* is stupid. you are only going to hurt yourself by dropping your applications.. remember, there are over 100,000 registered developers now. also, think of the fact that Palm licenses its operating system - if you target for SONY, Handspring et al, you are still helping them.

i seriously doubt Palm, Inc are being this stupid. lets see what Palm have to say about it? maybe the letter was taken the wrong way from the mypalm.com owner? maybe the letter was not approved by Palm, Inc in the first place? lets get a lot more facts before we start throwing around flames..

look what happened with the Liberty trojan issue. some people just dont get the facts before they start raving on.

// az
aaron@ardiri.com
http://www.ardiri.com/

Corp V little guy

Adamski @ 11/27/2000 3:00:32 AM #
All you people are right, Palm need to be taught some PR. As people have posted befor, we put them up there, we can bring them down. We should email our thoughts to them. Another case of Madonna.com me thinks? It wouldn't happen here in England!

My next stop

I.M. Anonymous @ 11/27/2000 8:20:05 AM #
..is to palm.com to tell them just where I stand on this issue. They should have checked out the availability of the domain and made an offer to buy it before announcing the new portal. I will return my brand spanking new m100 post haste if palm continues this domain piracy.



[ No Subject ]

I.M. Anonymous @ 11/27/2000 10:35:57 AM #
Agree with all- I've been a loyal & enthusiastic Palm user, but it's distasteful to see the company turn into another corporate bully.

Use of Palm Name

I.M. Anonymous @ 11/27/2000 12:22:35 PM #
Is PalmInfoCenter a "cyber squatter" as well? What about PalmGear, PalmStation, Palm Boulevard, PalmGuru, PalmZone, etc etc? All of these sites help promote Palm's business to hundreds of thousands of loyal palm customers, at no cost to Palm! How would the creators and users of these sites feel if overnight, Palm attempted to shut one or all of these sites down?

Even if, unimaginably, Palm has the legal standing here, they certainly lack common sense!

MyPalm is a stupid name anyway.

I.M. Anonymous @ 11/27/2000 3:05:18 PM #
Palm should just call their portal something else, and avoid the bad PR. If you think about it, MyPalm is a pretty stupid name for the service Palm wants to provide. It's not a name that grabs people's attention or sticks in the mind, like, say, "AvantGo". The name isn't worth the hassle. It's obvious that some drooling idiot in Palm's marketing department came up with the name and didn't do their homework, and now Palm's trying to cover itself by directing an all-out slander and intimidation campaign against someone whose only "offense" was to think of a neat domain name before anybody else did. Palm doesn't need a black eye like this. If they go to court, even if they win, they lose.


RE: MyPalm is a stupid name anyway.
I.M. Anonymous @ 7/26/2001 7:25:58 PM #
Funny, (Ya... way over done) when a company with money talks about thier palm, you get this reaction, but when a poor student talks about his... he just gets looks

Big Guys Always Win

BK @ 11/27/2000 10:34:18 PM #
See subject!

I'd like to register my domain name as Your, Our, MyPalm ...

I.M. Anonymous @ 11/28/2000 9:40:49 AM #
That's not fair to be approved by Palm, Inc. when we like to register as YourPalm.com, MyPalm.com, OurPalm.

I think every domain name contains "Palm" word which has Palm, Inc. approve.Ha! That's ridiculous. How about
"Palm"Gear.com



RE: I'd like to register my domain name as Your, Our, MyPalm ...
ardiri @ 11/28/2000 10:17:21 AM #
"Palm"Gear.com --- they pay for the name (trust me). why do you think palmcentral was renamed to handango? they didn't want to pay the license free.

// az
aaron@ardiri.com
http://www.ardiri.com/

O comon!

Jay @ 11/28/2000 12:00:55 PM #
Okay now, why won't Palm inc. just give up MyPalm.com (which I think, personally, would be a pretty good name), and brianstorm other names. Here let me help......ummm........how about MyPalmOS.com! :)

O comon!

Jay @ 11/28/2000 12:19:29 PM #
Okay now, why won't Palm inc. just give up MyPalm.com (which I think, personally, would be a pretty good name), and brianstorm other names. Here let me help......ummm........how about MyPalmOS.com! :)
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