U.S. movie director wins cybersquatting case vs R.P. operator

GENEVA, Switzerland -- U.S. movie director Spike Lee has won his cybersquatting case against a Philippines-based operator who misused the domain name spikelee.com to redirect surfers to a pornographic Web site, arbitrators ruled Friday.


The African-American, who has directed and produced 25 films, filed the complaint against Mercedita Kyamko of the Philippines who registered the domain name in 1999, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) said.


It forwards users to a pornographic Web site located at (clubhongkong.com), and was registered in "bad faith," according to Canadian lawyer Edward Chiasson, the neutral arbitrator named by WIPO to rule on the dispute.


Lee joins other entertainers including Madonna, Celine Dion and Eminem who have won cases in the fast-track, low-cost procedure at the Geneva-based United Nations agency.


The domain name is automatically transferred within 10 days unless the loser launches a court case challenging the decision.

Reuters/abs-cbnNEWS.com