Southern California Regional Rail Authority v. Arkow [1]

In March 2008, the Southern California Regional Rail Authority (SCRRA), which operates the regional commuter railway service in southern California known as Metrolink, filed an administrative complaint with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center against Robert Arkow pursuant to the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) [2]. (The UDRP is a policy that website operators automatically agree to when they register a domain name; the policy enables trademark owners to initiate an administrative proceeding challenging the registration of a domain name in "bad faith.") Arkow, a self-styled consumer advocate, registered the domain name "metrolinkriders.com" in August 2006, in connection with a forum website he created to host rider discussion and commentary (much of it critical) about Metrolink train services and policies. After the SCRRA threatened Arkow with legal action [3], he also registered the domain name "metrolinksucks.com."

Arkow represented himself in the administrative proceeding and filed a response to the SCRRA complaint in April 2008. In May, the WIPO-appointed decision-maker, W. Scott Blackmer, dismissed the complaint against Arkow, finding that he had registered the two domain names for purposes of engaging in consumer commentary and criticism, and not in bad faith.