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Miami man sues France — the country — for seizing his domain name

Peter Haden Aug 21, 2018
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PHILIPPE LOPEZ/AFP/Getty Images

Miami man sues France — the country — for seizing his domain name

Peter Haden Aug 21, 2018
PHILIPPE LOPEZ/AFP/Getty Images
HTML EMBED:
COPY

Domain names are hot property for countries. Israel.com sold for almost $6 million in 2008. Korea.com went for $5 million in 2000. Now, a Miami man is suing France – the country – for seizing his domain name: France.com. France’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs convinced the domain registration company Web.com to hand over the domain name on the basis of a French court ruling. It said the word “France” is a trademark of the Republic of France, so any domain with “France” in it rightfully belongs to the Republic of France. But some legal experts say this argument won’t fly in U.S. court.

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