The World Intellectual Property Organization has ruled in favour of the band Dire Straits in relation to ownership of the domain direstraits.com.
The domain was registered and owned by Alberta Hot Rods, a Canadian company that has been involved in numerous 'cyber-squatting' disputes after it registered numerous domain names using the names of famous actors, musicians and bands. Past disputes have involved tomcruise.com and kevinspacey.com. The direstraits.com domain currently points to a website that says it is an "unofficial fan site" but which really carries advertising links to various ticketing and merchandising websites.
The members of Dire Straits argued that they had used their band name for thirty years, and that they owned all the intellectual rights associated with it. The WIPO ruled in the band's favour, mainly as a result of Alberta Hot Rods failure to respond to the lawsuit, but also because they ruled the Canadian firm had no rights or legitimate interest in the domain, which was identical to a trademark owned by the band. The IP body ruled that the direstraits.com domain should now be transferred to the band.