Obama’s “Organizing For Action” files complaint against domain forwarded to NRA

Barack Obama’s “Organizing For Action” is filling a UDRP complaint at the National Arbitration Forum against the domain name OrganizingForAction.net that is owned by Derek Bovard and currently redirects to the National Rifle Association (NRA).

The domain name was registered on the 18th of January by Derek Bovard, a 40-year-old computer technician in Castle Rock, Colorado. He then proceeded to configure the domain so all visitors are directed to the website for the NRA – the group that Barack Obama is facing off against in his efforts to toughen gun laws.

“I’m for the Second Amendment,” Bovard said. “I’m not in agreement with a lot of things that are going on right now. If they don’t like it, they can buy it from me.” Bovard, who paid about $10 to register the site, said he’d sell it for “somewhere around $10,000.”

This quote appeared in LA Times but owners claim that “Ten thousand was mentioned in the conversation although taken out of context.”

“In spirit of free market capitalism we would gladly review fair offers.”

I was contacted by a partner of Derek Bovard and I was informed for the upcoming UDRP complaint for the domain OrganizingForAction.net. The complaint should commence on Tuesday at the National Arbitration Forum.  It should be noted the owners of the domain have filed for a trademark at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The trademark for the mark “ORGANIZING FOR ACTION” was filed on 1st of February 2013 and relates to “Providing an on-line website featuring information on the United States Constitution and Conservative values”. Date of “first use in commerce” for the trademark is the same as the registration date of the domain name: 18th of January 2013.

Derek Bovard and his partner’s comment on the UDRP complaint was:
“We feel we have a strong case based on no organization existed prior and political first amendment right is not in scope of UDRP.”

“We are conservatives and therefore very few of Obamas policies are we for.  This is not about guns only.  It is a much larger political movement based on Ronald Reagans conservative policies. Our spending and debt is a core issue with conservatives as we are running out of money.”

“We intend to develop our website with information on modern day conservatism.  The NRA forward was temporary.”

I was also informed that the Democrat party has had their employee register Derek Bovard’s domain names. The domain names DerekBovard.com, DerekBovard.net, DerekBovard.org and DerekBovard.info have all been registered. Derek Bovard and his partner’s comment told me that they will be filing a complaint for these domains soon.

Usually UDRP decisions are published within one to two months after a case is commenced.

Last week I wrote about how Barack Obama’s “Organizing for Action” failed to secure any of the corresponding domain names. The non profit organization failed to purchase any of it’s domain names before the news about the group were announced on January 18th. The result is that most of the domains were registered by other individuals and companies on the same date. On the 6th of February 2013 Barack Obama’s “Organizing For Action” filed a cybersquatting complaint at the National Arbitration Forum for the domain names OrganizingForAction.com and OrganizingForAction.org.

I am not quite sure how the “Organizing For Action” organization will prove the first element of the UDRP in both these complaints. The first element requires the complainant to have a registered trademark or a common law trademark. The organization hasn’t even applied for a trademark yet and most importantly it didn’t exist prior to the 18th of January.

Interestingly enough an individual from Texas has filed a trademark application for the mark “OFA ORGANIZING FOR ACTION” at the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The mark that relates to clothing was filed on the 21st of January 2013.

At a conference of Barack Obama’s volunteers held in Washington on the 20th of January to launch the new group, hand-painted posters listed the website address for the organization as OFA.BO. The domain name redirects visitors to barackobama.com, Obama’s official campaign website.