Aimster Has To Give Up Domain Names To AOL

from the that's-gotta-hurt dept

Aimster, the file trading program that relies on buddy lists instead of allowing you to trade with everyone, has lost a legal battle and now must give up their domain names to AOL. AOL claimed that it was infringing on their trademark for AIM (AOL Instant Messenger). Aimster claimed that the program was named after the creator’s daughter, Aimee (though, for some odd reason, until recently she was actually known as Madeleine), and has nothing whatsoever to do with AIM. While you can definitely use Aimster without AIM, a lot of people associated Aimster with AIM. I wonder what this will do for Aimsters recent publicity campaign.


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Comments on “Aimster Has To Give Up Domain Names To AOL”

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Ed says:

Domain Squatters and Their Kids

I recall another squatter case where some guy claimed his domain ‘msdwonline.com’ was so his teenage son could run ‘mud sweat’s downhill world online’ (supposedly a mountain biking site), and it was simply a coincidence that MSDW also stood for Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. It later came out that the same guy had registered a bunch of variations of other investment banking companies, too. It’s one thing to squat (and although Aimster isn’t precisely squatting, I think that they have been capitalizing on its association with AIM), but it seems even lower to drag your kids into it.

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