Gripe sites

One of the major controversies surrounding decisions in domain name arbitration proceedings is the issue of whether panellists are (or should be) empowered to order the transfer of gripe site domain names. Gripe sites are also known as "suck sites" - from the fondness of webmasters for the URL form companynamesucks.com.

Third party resources

Freebeagles' Guide to Domain Disputes - This website provides legal information to campaigners, with a focus on UK law; this article deals with domain names for gripe sites.

Sucksites: Remedies under English Law - A short note from UK IP firm Bristows outlining the ways in which gripe sites can be dealt with through the UK courts.

Owners' Battles with Gripe Sites Continue - An article by Virginia Richards.

Where do the Courts Stand? Likelihood of Confusion vs Freedom of Speech - Virginia Richards considers the position of the US courts in trade mark proceedings.

Public Citizen "Gripe Site" Representation - Public Citizen has represented a number of gripe site owners. Full details are on this webpage.

How Courts are Handling Complaints against Critical Web Sites - A short article focusing on the approach of the US courts. This was written by Shari Claire Lewis, a partner at Rivkin Radler LLP, and was first published in the New York Law Journal on 9 August 2005.

Cyber-griping: Complain, But Don’t Go Commercial - A July 2004 article by Jonathan Hudis, a Partner in Oblon, Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt, PC.

Haters.info - Dan Tobias' site offering free addresses of the form company.haters.info.