Kasparov Wins Battle for Domain Name
Canada's Globe & Mail reported that Garry Kasparov has been awarded ownership of the domain name www.kasparov.com. An arbitrator at the National Arbitration Forum in Minneapolis ruled that the domain name be transferred to Kasparov by American Computer Co. (ACC) of Cranford, NJ., which registered it for him in 1996.
Kasparov.com was considered identical to the famous chessplayer's name, which he has trademarked.
The arbitrator said ACC had used the domain name in bad faith and was holding it to enforce a supposed debt. www.kasparov.com apparently was being used as a portal to a website dedicated to attacking Kasparov. Among the intrigues of the dispute were supposed "unpaid debts and illegal hacking by Israeli cybermercenaries."
The article noted that Kasparov is one of a growing number of celebrities who have recently won control of their Internet domain names set up by other people but featuring their famous names.
*****
12 May 2000
Chess Killer Gets Prison Sentence
The Poughkeepsie Journal (New York) reports that a man who fatally stabbed another man over a chess game argument has been sentenced to 4 to 12 years in prison.
Reporter Larry Fisher-Hertz wrote that Laurence Douglas, 32, argued with Craig Williams, 25, after a chess game last September 13. The altercation apparently started when Williams took a $5 bill Douglas wagered on the result of the game. Douglas stabbed Williams 16 times when they began fighting at a party outside a home in Poughkeepsie. At the trial, Douglas claimed self-defense, said he was sorry, and said Williams had physically threatened him.
The judge, during sentencing, said the stabbing was a "disturbing level of brutality," and noted Douglas had fled the scene after the attack and didn't seek medical attention for his victim. The stabbing was an unjustifiable over-reaction to any perceived threats the victim may have made. A jury had earlier found him guilty of second-degree manslaughter.
|
|
