Chicago's bid for the 2016 Olympic Games may be over but the battle over the Chicago2016.com Internet domain will continue in the courts says Steve Frayne who registered the address five years ago.
"There is a broader issue" Frayne told GamesBids.com by telephone.
Frayne says he set up Chicago2016.com and Tokyo2016.com to facilitate a "balanced discussion" on Olympic bids by engaging economists on socio-economic issues.
Last year Chicago 2016 and the United States Olympic Committee filed an action with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to try to snatch the coveted domain from Frayne citing trademark violation, cybersquating and bad faith. But Frayne filed an action in the U.S. court system and convinced WIPO to surrender the case to the domestic court. Frayne says a trial date is due to be set next Thursday.
There are five counts against the United States Olympic Committee and nine counts against Chicago 2016. According to court documents Frayne seeks relief in the form of various declarations and "money damages".
Among the declarations Frayne wants it acknowledged that the "websites have neither infringed, nor diluted, nor tarnished the Defendantsâ trademarks or service marks", and are "not in violation of the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act".
Most significantly, court documents filed by Frayne say that he wants the bid to "declare that Chicago 2016âs actions and improper conduct violate Frayneâs rights under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution."
Frayne believes that Chicago 2016 cannot shut down with a legal case against it. After losing the race to Rio last Friday, the bid says it expects to shut its doors for the final time before the end of the year.
The IOC has made a habit of using the dot-com with the city name and year to market their Games franchises on the Internet. In application documents to potential bidders the IOC requests that they use whatever means necessary to secure these domains. along with similar domains using the regional extensions instead of dot-com.
Rio 2016 has already registered their domains.
Frayne also registered the domain Tokyo2016.com but he said he has already arranged an undisclosed settlement with that bid.
"I have no further disputes with them" he said.
But Frayne admitted that things didn't go as expected with Chicago.
"I always planned that Chicago would get the Olympics - I planned to keep the site active during the bid phase and throughout until about 2021.
"Now the site will remain active. I will engage with the same economists - I want to look at the situation of not having the Games and what they might have missed out on.
"I want to do this with other cities - to engage the community in a balanced discussion on socio-economic issues."
As of last year Frayne has reportedly registered over 40 city-year domain combinations; prospective bids be aware.
Frayne's persistence against an organization that is no longer a going concern suggests that he is trying to force a landmark court decision regarding domain names and freedom-of-speech. The stakes seem high for many but this is clearly a fight that Chicago 2016 will have no interest in.
With counts also against the USOC - this may be their fight to protect their Olympic trademark rights.
Source With Links
