The recent cybersquatter case, in which several hotel/casino companies have reportedly sued John Dunn, The Stardust Company, Ed Servicio, Starluck Corporation and other unknown entities, has taken some interesting turns.
(A cybersquatter is "a person who buys a domain name corresponding to a famous brand name or trademark, hoping to resell it for big bucks when the company wants to open a website," as defined by Computer Currents High-Tech
Dictionary.)
In fact, Rob Stillwell from Boyd Gaming Corporation (parent company for Mirage Resorts) said that they have contacted probably a dozen or so businesses that are using the company names wrongly. A few are online casinos, but Stillwell didn't have the exact number or names available. According to Stillwell, a letter from their lawyers usually is sufficient
to stop cybersquatters, which makes this case unusual in its complexity.
The case against The Stardust Company, Starluck Corporation et al is supposedly coming to a close, however, with negotiations currently under way... which is news to Mario Wells, marketing manager for Starluck Corporation.
When contacted, Wells expressed disbelief and said that he had no knowledge of any lawsuit being filed against Starluck. After researching it, however, he did come up with this answer: John Dunn had set up links with two of their sites as part of a partnership program, links that actually weren't bringing in any players for Starluck. The last time they had cut him a check was in August. Wells said he would be writing Dunn to
remove any links to their sites.
Dunn's sites, according to the lawsuit, include miragecasino.net,
thegoldennuggetcasino.com, themontecarlocasino.net, thestardustcasino.com,
stardustgaming.com, stardustcompany.com, dunescasino.net and thecircuscircus.com sites with casinos operating under the names Mirage, Golden Nugget, Monte Carlo and Stardust. Several sites include either a photo from the actual casino or else use of a headline that closely
resembles the company marquis. There's even a quote from Mirage CEO Steve Wynn on the home page of stardustgaming.com.
The lawsuit claims trademark infringement, unfair competition, trade dress infringement, dilution, common law trademark infringement, deceptive trade practices and intentional interference with present and prospective economic advantage and opportunity. IGN was unable to reach John Dunn for comments.