www.battlefieldthree.co.uk

[lionheart]

As long as battlefieldthree isn't a registered trademark I don't think we need to worry. Heres a quote from the Wikilink :

As the name-jacked domains are set up using non-trademarked names and  they have a purpose other than selling the domain name back to an  individual, they circumvent the "Anti-cybersquatting Consumer Protection  Act"

[smilodon]

'circumvent' being the operative word. I just remember some horror stories about fans of Harry Potter (some as young as fifteen) finding themselves on the receiving end of some really frightening legal threats from Warner Brothers. My only concern is that as we receive paid subscriptions we could be considered to be a commercial entity. While we might not be guilty of an offence of cyber squatting we could quite conceivably be sued in a civil action by EA for copyright infringement i.e. we are driving traffic away from EA and to us for the purpose of increasing our subscription base and making more money by using a name that is associated with their trademarked property i.e. the Battlefield 3 game. While this might not be likely do we or more importantly does Arithon want to take a chance?

I'm not sure we do.

[ArithonUK]

I will email DICE and EA and if they have any objections to our registration of the domain, they can have it for the fee I paid.

I'm not a domain squatter and the reasons for registrations were to attract fans of the game to dMw who are also fans of of the game.

Since joining our forum and playing our server is free and we have no commercial advertising on the domain, or our site and make no outlandish claims or defamatory comments, I cannot see what legal action they could or would take.

Battlefield is a word in the English language, not a registered trademark and we are not using copyrighted materials. In fact the screenshots and background on the domain are from DICE's own fan kit for BF3.

I'll keep you posted on DICE/EA's response.

18:00 EA support dude says there is no policy on this, so he is escalating me to tier 2 (is this support, or MOH)

[TeaLeaf]

I think the bottom line is we're grateful for the help Arithon, but just want to make sure we're not getting anyone in trouble!

[ArithonUK]

My query, is what is EA's policy on clan / fan websites? I have registered www.battlefieldthree.co.uk as a landing page for bf3 fans, for news of the game on our forums and to promote our gaming community which will be running a bf3 server once the game is out.

 Our forums and game servers are free and we carry no advertising and there is nothing derogatory about EA, DICE or BF3 on the page.

 My forum admins are just concerned that we are not accused of domain camping or anything else, so I am seeking clarification from yourselves whether you have any issue with my website and its link to our clan page.

 If you DO have issues, I'm sure these can be worked out. If need be I can redirect the domain to your site, or you can buy the domain from me for the fee I paid (a little over £7).

 I am a big fan of the BattleField series and my intention here is to promote the game and support the gaming community, not upset anyone at EA or DICE, hence my enquiry.

 Regards

 Anthony Hunt

EA are "coming back to me". I think that by taking this approach they'll either say "we don't care" or "take it down". Either way, not a problem.

Dear Anthony,

 Thank you for providing us the valuable information.

 Due to the nature of your issue, more time is required for  investigation. I apologize for any prolonged delays this might cause,  but please rest assured that we are trying to handle your issue in a  timely manner. During this time, you may still update your incident with  additional information that might help us resolve your issue without  causing any additional delay. To update your incident click the link  that says, “To view or update your question from our support site, click  here."

 I can definitely understand the frustration. Hopefully, you'll hear back from our higher level team within 24-72 hours.

 Best Regards,

 Bob
 EA Support Centre, UK and Ireland
 http://electronicarts.co.uk
 http://electronicarts.ie

Also of note, //www.battefieldthree.com is a Croatian website which is a battlefield 3 fansite, online since may 2010 and is still online, despite having leaked Alpha stuff on there.

[smilodon]

Here's hoping they don't mind at all. Frankly it would be the sensible thing to leave us to promote the game and drive purchasers and subscriptions etc their way and then back to us for our community support and social fun, but when are large corporations ever sensible.

[Gone_Away]

Sorry I'm a bit late to this thread. Been in the woods camping...

My thoughts are that unless EA or DICE or someone official complains, we keep the the URL. Look at the success with BC2 in growing our ranks. BF3 could easily be the same or better (as long as the beta looks good) and by driving traffic through the URL we can't lose.

I'm sure if we're pushed we can roll over and play nicely. We're not after the money after all..

NF

[Blunt]

Sorry I'm a bit late to this thread. Been in the woods camping...

My thoughts are that unless EA or DICE or someone official complains, we keep the the URL. Look at the success with BC2 in growing our ranks. BF3 could easily be the same or better (as long as the beta looks good) and by driving traffic through the URL we can't lose.

I'm sure if we're pushed we can roll over and play nicely. We're not after the money after all..

NF

I agree
well done on all the work Ari :dmw:

[smilodon]

It was always an option to just not worry and see if EA / Dice complained. However as it was Arithon who kindly secured the domain, the worry was that it would be him as an individual that would have to deal with the consequences rather than us as a community. As it is they have been made aware off the situation and so personally I think we can carry on using the domain without concern until and unless EA come back to us.

[ArithonUK]

EA Sent me another template-generated Dear John email basically saying they didn't have menu option for my enquiry (Kit Kat anyone?)  and I could talk to public relations if I wanted any other assistance...

I'm going to email them to see if I can get a response - anything along the lines of "we looked at it and we're okay with that" so I can wave it around at a later date if they change their mind.

Hopefully they will treat it as a promotional platform, which might get us early news, or a cardboard cutout soldier for us to play with!

[smilodon]

I think if you get no joy from public relations then I'd leave it at that, if you're happy. At least we're covered if EA do ever come back to us.