"One of the URLs is labeled as having been nuked "twice - so far." I saw one that said 4 times. Not sure what the ones that went away from "sewer side" died of or what they mean by ones they've "taken over." Doesn't look like an outfit I'd want my company associated with.

Well I did a search on the trademarks database (US government website) and could not find any listings for "Poser Store" being trademarked. Poser, yes, but not Poser Store. And as far as Ebay is concerned, it's a pain. A friend of mine sells old license plates on there. He got his account locked because he listed one that showed Indian Artifacts in the design (I think it was one that Oklahoma issued at one time). He was told that you can't sell anything that has to do with Indian Artifacts. He did a search and found that there were other listings for things with Indian Artifacts in them, but yet he was the one under scrutiny. He tried to mention this and got an email telling him to not try and dispute their ruling and to wait his thirty days for them to "maybe" reinstate his account.

Message edited on: 04/22/2005 07:53

Trademark rules are different than what most people understand and the use of even a part of a Trademark name in a competive business (or part of the competive business name contain the Trademarked Name, such as PoserStore), falls under the theory that it might cause consumer confusion is protected under Trademark. Vicotoria's Secret has successfully blocked company's that sell women's garments from using the word Secret in their name. This whole crack down on use of Trademarked names in Domains and in Promotional material stems from some companies loss of Trademark Protection in this manner due to lack of enforcement. The case that recently (last year) involved an Electronics Company that tried to stop sites that were selling add on products from using the Trademarked name. The company lost and now companies like Canon, Epson, etc.. are cracking down on these types of sites when they find them. It is important to them, now that the supply side is their money maker.

" Who hired nukepirates.com?"

Curious Labs hired nukepirates in 2001. You would have to ask them why.

"...It could be eBay..."

eBay doesn't do proactive anti-piracy investigations, however they do have a separate group (VeRO) that "fast-tracks" complaints from registered rights holders & removes infringing material.

"...it could be a consortium of companies who make digital products..."

No such animal exists. edited to correct the inevitable typos Message edited on: 04/22/2005 12:22

eBay was cool in the beginning but it's not any more. People used to just go on there and sell their old junk but it's always "stores" now and the prices are usually more than you'd pay if you just went to your local Wally World and bought the item. My suggestion......instead of using "Poser".......use... NVIATWASC (Nekkid Vicki In A Temple With A Sword Creater)

Bookmark...out of interest. I was one of the poser-free-store.com people....