COS registers Marty & Mike Domain Names, causing consumer confusion.

COS registers Marty & Mike Domain Names, causing consumer confusion.

The Church of Scientology (COS) Religious Technology Center (RTC) has registered domain names for Mark "Marty" Rathbun and Mike Rinder, causing consumer confusion.

TL;DR version: The COS has registered domain names for Marty and Mike. This is very important because an Independent Scientologist has already mistakenly sent e-mail to a person who they believed to be Marty via one of these sites.

From Moving On Up a Little Higher (Marty's blog): David Miscavige wants to be like Mike:

More info from a comment:

And at least one reason this is important:

ESMB Thread: COS registers Marty & Mike Domain Names, causing consumer confusion.

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Re: COS registers Marty & Mike Domain Names, causing consumer confusion.

These registrations can easily be challenged by Dupont & Dupont (aka Mike & Marthy).
The cult will have to give them up.

Re: COS registers Marty & Mike Domain Names, causing consumer confusion.

‘Consumer’ confusion?

Re: COS registers Marty & Mike Domain Names, causing consumer confusion.

I don't necessarily mean "consumer" in a commercial sense, but in the sense of "consumers of information." I'm trying to express the concern that the public is being deceived. I do not like it that an Independent Scientologist mistakenly attempted to contact Marty through a COS RTC owned website.

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Re: COS registers Marty & Mike Domain Names, causing consumer confusion.

lmao, way to show you aren't afraid of them, osa

fucking retards

Re: COS registers Marty & Mike Domain Names, causing consumer confusion.

But how? Those sites have NO content.
Check out:
markrathbun.com and mikerinder.com

How are those misleading when they have nothing on them??

Re: COS registers Marty & Mike Domain Names, causing consumer confusion.

Is this legal?

Re: COS registers Marty & Mike Domain Names, causing consumer confusion.

I think the name registrations are by themselves deceptive. Many people who go to "markrathbun.com" are going to believe that it is Marty's site. Many people who go to "mikerinder.com" are going to believe it is Mike's site. There is no indication from the domain name (in contrast to, say, a markrathbunsucks.com domain name) that the site is not owned by the named individual.

Also, I know a lot of people (I've done it) who do an initial "search" for a person by simply typing in FirstnameLastname.com in to the url window. It very often works.

It is also a way to divert search engine traffic from Marty's legitimate site. If someone searches for Mark Rathbun, which site will come up first on Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.?

Perhaps I should have said, "will be deceived" as opposed to "are being deceived." Who knows what content will be put up?

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Re: COS registers Marty & Mike Domain Names, causing consumer confusion.

So far the domain names has only been registered. Right now they're pointing to a default site, provided by the registrator. Later the domain names might re-direct to Cof$, or to a site containing hate stuff about Mike & Marty. The cult controls where traffic leads. The cult has no rights to those names. The cult will be forced to give them up I hope. It is CYBERSQUATTING and ILLEGAL.

Re: COS registers Marty & Mike Domain Names, causing consumer confusion.

Phew!

That was a narrow squeak guise!

For a minute I thought they'd scooped up mortyrathbone.co.uk & mickyrinder.xxx

Get in there, Morky and Mind!

Re: COS registers Marty & Mike Domain Names, causing consumer confusion.

Yes, if your name is Marty Rathbun or Mike Rinder. Otherwise, no.

Re: COS registers Marty & Mike Domain Names, causing consumer confusion.

I think this would prove to be yet another huge foot bullet for COS and should be pooned to the media and to anyone who would listen.
What "church" would do this? is the message to convey.

I say spread it far and wide to show the general public that COS buys up domains of the names of their ex members. And also stress ....what are COS's intentions with these domains?
How do you think people would react to this? Not too well. It will show paranoia, bad intentions, childish behavior, and possible illegal activity down the line. Not a very cool move for a "church".

Seems like something Gawker or Tony Ortega would love to hear about?

Re: COS registers Marty & Mike Domain Names, causing consumer confusion.

Indeed..they're pretty much saying: "These are our buttons - push here". Silly scilons.

Re: COS registers Marty & Mike Domain Names, causing consumer confusion.

came across this link a few days ago...got a snicker out of it....

a wee bit paranoid..the Asthmatic Midget Dwarf is...

DM is turning it into a schoolyard spat...

Re: COS registers Marty & Mike Domain Names, causing consumer confusion.

Delcicious fail, and delicious irony yet again that M & M get to taste the srs bzns end of the machine they used to run.

Hey, Shorty: waste more of their time and your money. I LOVE IT.

Re: COS registers Marty & Mike Domain Names, causing consumer confusion.

They forgot martyrathbun.xxx

Re: COS registers Marty & Mike Domain Names, causing consumer confusion.

Had they bought just one or two domains I wouldn’t have fancied R&R’s legal chances. But that they bought truckloads? Question is, could R&R really have a shot in court given CoS tactics?

Re: COS registers Marty & Mike Domain Names, causing consumer confusion.

the TLD xxx doesn't exist yet.

Re: COS registers Marty & Mike Domain Names, causing consumer confusion.

1 or 100 domains, doesn't matter. The cult has no rights to these domain names, and can be prosecuted via ICANN
Have to be done by M&M, though.

Re: COS registers Marty & Mike Domain Names, causing consumer confusion.

Will they do it??

Re: COS registers Marty & Mike Domain Names, causing consumer confusion.

if they do it will cost m&m a postage stamp or two, the cult will incur considerable expense dragging their heels

i hope they do do it!

Re: COS registers Marty & Mike Domain Names, causing consumer confusion.

Internet Bosses Set to Approve .xxx for Porn Sites - International Business Times
"The company that oversees Web addresses is expected to give the go-ahead on Friday for the creation of a .xxx suffix"

That's today.

Re: COS registers Marty & Mike Domain Names, causing consumer confusion.

didn't scientology, or at least moxon flip out when pope bought kendrickmoxon.com

nice how they do the same thing back but at a larger scale

Re: COS registers Marty & Mike Domain Names, causing consumer confusion.

Who gives a fuck, it's their problem. Either way it's all fully exploitable. By us, by them. Pretty much damn near everybody. Everybody except CoS that is.

Re: COS registers Marty & Mike Domain Names, causing consumer confusion.

I would.
If my name was taken by another person with the same name: bummer, first come first serve (who has a right to the name).
But if the cult (or other non-related business like porn industry) registered it: Pass the domain & GTFO.
Standard practice, has been done many times with celebrity names and trademarked brands / business names.

Re: COS registers Marty & Mike Domain Names, causing consumer confusion.

RIGHT ON!
At last I can get my name .xxx
And I want Scientology.xxx (!!)

Re: COS registers Marty & Mike Domain Names, causing consumer confusion.

TRUFAX

Re: COS registers Marty & Mike Domain Names, causing consumer confusion.

Quite apart from cyber squatter no-nos how does registering dozens of unrelated (to RTC) domains fit into a tax exempt charity??
Could this be used to show just how off kilter the "charity"/fake religion is? We are talking blatant misuse of charitable donations here.

Re: COS registers Marty & Mike Domain Names, causing consumer confusion.

2 thoughts...

$cientology might be able to get away with it. "Saved by the Bell" actor Dustin Diamond sued the YTMND.com guy Max to get the rights to DustinDiamond.com and lost. It's been a while, but last I checked, it was a mock fan site, done in Geocities, amateur, sparkly-shit style.

Will Marty and Mike actually care enough to sue? I doubt it. It's part of their grand "don't go to authorities" efforts to keep the church as intact as possible so they can take over whenever Kleine Fuhrer goes to the 25-to-Life Buttse.cx Summer Camp. At least, that's the way it looks to me. I have no proof they wanna take over, but the fact they won't REALLY go after them (dropping dox) says volumes.

Re: COS registers Marty & Mike Domain Names, causing consumer confusion.

I think the cult's owned these domains for literally years. I looked at the info for markrathbun.com (and then the .org) and they were set up on June 8, 2002. Godaddy.com also helpfully recommended that there were a bunch of domains the cult hadn't snapped up. GOGOGOGOGO little short man, buy up markrathbun.asia!

Re: COS registers Marty & Mike Domain Names, causing consumer confusion.

If Mark and/or Marty contest these domain names via the World Intellectual Property Organization's Uniform Doman-Name Dispute Resolution Policy, they will almost certainly be able to seize the domains from the cult.

Re: COS registers Marty & Mike Domain Names, causing consumer confusion.

And I LOLed Hard when Pope did that.

Re: COS registers Marty & Mike Domain Names, causing consumer confusion.

As noted above, at least one reason this is important:

My response on Marty's blog to MissBridgett on the subject:

Re: COS registers Marty & Mike Domain Names, causing consumer confusion.

Another warning from Marty's blog:

Jonathan even made a video with nice dramatic music:

Re: COS registers Marty & Mike Domain Names, causing consumer confusion.

Marty, you're doinitwrong.

Seriously we've been down the don't connect to entheta sites on the scary Internet before. What's next, your own version of the cults laughable "ScinoSitter" software?

If you can show real evidence that any site squatting your name as a domain name is in fact attempting to distribute malware, then by all means run with it.

Until then, the cult has handed you a golden egg. Don't fuck it up with your moonbattery

kthx.

Re: COS registers Marty & Mike Domain Names, causing consumer confusion.

I find it hard to believe that Marty was not aware of this. These domains were registered in 2002 - when he was still drinking the Kool Aid.

Re: COS registers Marty & Mike Domain Names, causing consumer confusion.

Now, here;s a question. Did Marty and Mike register these themselves using RTC funds back in 2002??

Re: COS registers Marty & Mike Domain Names, causing consumer confusion.

mikerinderdotcomsucks.com etc

Re: COS registers Marty & Mike Domain Names, causing consumer confusion.

I tried seeing about

markyager.com
markingber.com
guillaume lesevre.com
normanstarkey.com

and none were registered to anyone in RTC and most were available.

Strange Coincidence don't you think?.

Strange coindidence that Mr Barbera would show up at the same time TomNewton rears his stupid head - whoever is using the name - innit?