Heavy metal heroes Slipknot filed a federal lawsuit last week, seeking to reclaim the Slipknot.com web address from an anonymous cybersquatter who has controlled the domain for more than two decades.
According to a report by Billboard, the band filed the suit on Oct. 15 under the federal Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, while also citing trademark infringement and unfair competition.
The cybersquatter registered the domain in 2001, several years after Slipknot’s formation, and has operated it using only a post office box in the Cayman Islands as contact information, the report said.
As per the outlet, for decades, the anonymous domain holder has profited from Slipknot’s brand through pay-per-click ads that direct visitors to bootleg merchandise. When accessed, the website prompts users to disable their browser’s ad blocker.
Meanwhile, Slipknot has been forced to use the less straightforward Slipknot1.com as their official website throughout their career, the report said.
According to the lawsuit, the domain holder registered the address to profit from Slipknot’s reputation and mislead fans.
“The domain name was registered in an effort to profit off of plaintiff’s goodwill and to trick unsuspecting visitors — under the impression they are visiting a website owned, operated or affiliated with plaintiff — into clicking on web searches and other sponsored links,” Slipknot’s attorney Craig Reilly wrote in the suit.
Reilly added that fans seeking authorized merchandise “would undoubtedly visit the slipknot.com website assuming it belonged to plaintiff and then purchase the slipknot merchandise linked to on the site, causing damages to plaintiff.”
Legal experts would likely say Slipknot has strong grounds. The Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act allows individuals and companies to assume control of domain names identical or confusingly similar to their own, provided they can prove the domain holder acted in bad faith, the report said.
The band’s legal team is asking a judge to issue an injunction transferring ownership of Slipknot.com to the group, plus unspecified financial damages for trademark infringement and unfair competition, the report said.
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