Ronaldinho scores in the web

What is Ronaldinho's official website?. The first thing a normal person would think about would be www.Ronaldinho.com, following simple logics. However, did you know that this is NOT Ronaldinho's official website?. A few years back when Ronaldinho tried to take this name for his official website, the name was already taken by someone else. Yes, someone in Spain took that name for his own website.

A few days ago I heard that Ronaldinho finally has been able to take his own name on the web for using it as his official website. It seems that Ronaldinho began a legal battle to take this name for himself and it took a long time, but finally he made it. Some court of law ruled that he is entitled to take his name back, they say that the name Ronaldinho is like a trademark with copyrights or something like that. It seems that the name Ronaldinho has not been registered as a trademark, but a World Intellectual Property Organization arbitration panel said it considered the player's name a trademark because it identifies him and his professional activity.

Ronaldinho filed a complaint over the use of his name in the Internet address of a site registered by Eladio Garcia Quintas of Gran Canaria, Spain, who was using the page to direct unwitting surfers to online advertisers. This Intellectual Organization statement noted that the panel didn't consider the use of the disputed domain name to constitute a "bona fide offering of services." The arbitration panel, which was set up in 1999, allows those who think they have the right to a domain to gain control of it without having to fight a costly legal battle or pay large sums of money.

The ruling is the second time Ronaldinho has successfully defended the right to control the use of his name in website addresses. The player, whose real name is Ronaldo de Asis Moreira, has his official website at www.ronaldinhogaucho.com, which he was awarded after a similar ruling in December 2004. So-called "cybersquatters" register domain names for a small fee in order to sell them back to companies and individuals with a claim to the name.

In this case, the panel noted that Quintas, who has been named in a number of earlier disputes, had attempted to take "unfair advantage" of Ronaldinho's famous name and trademark to attract Internet users to a website devoted to promoting third-party products and services.
Other soccer stars who have recently won rulings in domain name disputes include Italian international Francesco Totti, England midfielder Joe Cole and Dutch soccer manager and former player Frank Rijkaard.

In my Soccer & Ronaldinho Blog I have a link to Ronaldinho´s official website, you can take a look at it if you look down & right into this site. I guess I will have to change that in the next few days.