BOSTON — An arbitrator on Friday ruled for the operators of adult tube site xHamster.com, handing over to the company the xHampster.com domain name in a cybersquatting claim.
The registered holder of the domain name xHampster.com signed up the site through TLD Registrar Solutions Ltd. but allegedly used a bogus identity in Panama, according to xHamster's claim.
The domain holder failed to respond to the proceedings, but odds were against holding on to a xHampster.com domain.
xHamster's counsel said in the complaint that xHampster.com resolved to an error page instructing users to update software, “thereby presumably installing malware for respondent’s profit.”
Counsel also emphasized that the xHamster brand is an established and legal one. Hammy Media Ltd. and xHamster IP Holdings are the holders of the xHamster mark, registering it in November 2015 in Benelux. xHamster counsel further contended that it has used the domain name since 2007 and, thus, protected by common law rights.
Arbitrator Richard Hill ruled for the xHamster companies, deciding that the xHampster.com domain holder was typosquatting by adding a "p" to the famous tube site brand's name.
Hill ordered xHampster.com transferred to Hammy Media Ltd. and xHamster IP Holdings.