Georgia Department of Transportation fails to take down adult massage site - Domain Name Wire

[Andrew Allemann]

It’s concerned about the services being offered at GDOT .com.

The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) has lost a cybersquatting complaint it filed against the registrant of gdot .com.

The state’s department of transportation uses the domain name gdot.ga.gov. It no doubt became concerned when gdot .com was developed this year into a site called “Girls Delivered On Time”.

Girls Delivered On Time offers massage services and strongly implies that it’s more than just massages, although its FAQ section denies that any sexual services are provided.

While GDOT was concerned, the site isn’t related to transportation or licensing, making it hard to show that it was created to cybersquat on GDOT’s brand.

GDOT also goofed in its filing, which irked the panelist. After the registrant’s identity was revealed, GDOT’s amended complaint still claimed that the registrar Namecheap was the bad actor. It also claimed the subject domain was identical to its domain. Panelist Debrett G. Lyons wrote:

…Both the Complaint and the Amended Complaint then state that:

“there can be no doubt that NameCheap chose, registered, and is currently using a domain name that is confusingly similar to—and, in fact, identical to—GDOT’s own domain name gdot.ga.gov in an effort to profit from consumer confusion based on GDOT’s legitimate, official government website.”

Namecheap, the Registrar, did not do anything of the sort. Further, the disputed domain name is not identical to the domain name Complainant has registered, even if that was a relevant consideration under the Policy. Furthermore, how Respondent might profit from confusion is unclear. The related claim that “NameCheap [or Respondent] is disrupting Complainant’s business by misleading and confusing the relevant public into believing that Girls Delivered On Time is affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Complainant” is unconvincing. Finally, the assertion that the use of the disputed domain name misdirects an unwitting public to a website that may push sex trafficking, phishing, or spreading malware, is speculative and unfounded.

The domain registrant didn’t respond, and Lyons found that he failed to rebut GDOT’s prima facie case that he lacked rights or legitimate interests.

However, Lyons found that GDOT did not show the domain was registered in bad faith and ordered the domain to remain with the current registrant.

Quicker Law, LLC represented GDOT.