Posted on 02/11/2013 3:32:14 PM PST by ksen
Earlier today, Ron Paul filed an international UDRP complaint against RonPaul.com and RonPaul.org with WIPO, a global governing body that is an agency of the United Nations. The complaint calls on the agency to expropriate the two domain names from his supporters without compensation and hand them over to Ron Paul.
On May 1st, 2008 we launched a grassroots website at RonPaul.com that became one of the most popular resources dedicated exclusively to Ron Paul and his ideas. Like thousands of fellow Ron Paul supporters, we put our lives on hold and invested 5 years of hard work into Ron Paul, RonPaul.com and Ron Paul 2012. Looking back, we are very happy with what we were able to achieve with unlimited enthusiasm and limited financial resources.
Last month, after Ron Paul expressed regret on the Alex Jones show over not owning RonPaul.com (in an interview titled “Ron Paul: The Internet Is Our Last Chance to Awaken America“), dozens of supporters urged us to contact Ron Paul to work out a deal.
We sent Ron Paul the following respectful offer [View/Download PDF File], explaining that we’d prefer to keep RonPaul.com due to reasons explained in our letter.
At the same time we offered him RonPaul.org as a free gift so we could keep using RonPaul.com and he wouldn’t have to use something like RonPaulsHomePage.com.
Our offer went on to explain that in case Ron Paul insisted on obtaining RonPaul.com, we would prepare a complete liberty package consisting of RonPaul.com and our mailing list of 170,000 liberty lovers.
The value we put on the deal was $250k; we are getting our mailing list appraised right now but we are confident it is easily worth more than $250k all by itself. Claims that we tried to sell Ron Paul “his name” for $250k or even $800k are completely untrue, and there is little doubt that our mailing list would have enabled Ron Paul to raise several million dollars for the liberty movement this year. It would have been a win/win/win situation for everyone involved.
Instead of responding to our offer, making a counter offer, or even accepting our FREE gift of RonPaul.org, Ron Paul went to the United Nations and is trying to use its legal process related to domain name disputes to actively deport us from our domain names without compensation.
Below is a copy of Ron Paul’s complaint and our original offer to Ron Paul. We have 20 days to prepare a response and we are tentatively looking for a lawyer to represent us in this case.
Hopefully it won’t have to come to that!
What in the world is going on? Earlier this week we were hit in the face by Ron Paul’s entirely out-of-character anti-Chris Kyle tweet, and now Ron Paul, the Internet grassroots candidate, who was at the right place at the right time to lead the rEVOLution, attacks his own grassroots supporters through an agency of the United Nations to deport them from their own domain names after 5 years of nothing but unlimited, unconditional support on our part?
Back in 2007 we put our lives on hold for you, Ron, and we invested close to 10,000 hours of tears, sweat and hard work into this site at great personal sacrifice. We helped raise millions of dollars for you, we spread your message of liberty as far and wide as we possibly could, and we went out of our way to defend you against the unjustified attacks by your opponents. Now that your campaigns are over and you no longer need us, you want to take it all away – and send us off to a UN tribunal?
That’s not cool! We want our old pre-retirement Ron Paul back!
Ok... Ron we know you're nuts...
You didn't need to PROVE it!!
They acquired the domain name before Ron Paul did. Hence they are not squatting, any more than you are squatting on your own property. Its nothing more than confiscation, and I find it appalling that Paul is trying to involve the UN in his grab for someone else's private property.
Ron. Here is your blanket. Get a chair with a view.
You did good things in your day.
Now is your time to relax and enjoy your retirement.
It’s squatting.
They acquired it for extortional purposes.
>> “Who gave the UN the power to expropriate anything?” <<
A treaty signed by the US and over 100 other countries.
How could they be trying to extort him, when they offered him one of the domains as a free gift?
Its a dangerous precedent to set, having an outside party (especially, I repeat, the UN) tell you why you chose to acquire a piece of property in your possession and then decide that you have less of a claim to it than someone else.
Today Ron Paul, tomorrow the federal government.
You’re an idiot.
I’m not the one bescumbering the virtual countryside with steaming heaps of misspelt words, thank you very much.
It's Karma, I tell ya..........
8:}
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