Microsoft is continuing its hunt for holders of domain names related to their new console, the Xbox One, filing another dispute with the National Abitration Forum, this time over "xbox1.com."
According to results from a whois search, the domain is currently registered to an address in Japan, registered through DigiRock Inc. There's been a total of three owners of the site over the last ten years, long before anyone had any idea that Microsoft was going to call their new system the Xbox One.
Going to the site, visitors are greeted with a DNS error message, meaning that the site currently isn't in use by the owner, likely because he or she is simply using it for parking or squatting.
On one hand, it's fairly clear that the current owner's intentions are less than noble, but on the other hand, the site's been around for ten years. First come first serve. Microsoft obviously doesn't feel nearly as sympathetic. Filing with the NAF (National Arbitration Forum) typically isn't the first action to be taken during these sorts of disputes. It's theorized that Microsoft may have made the owner some sort of an offer before resorting to this strategy. Obviously, the offer wasn't well received.
Just last week, Microsoft filed a similar dispute with the owners of XboxOne.com and XboxOne.net. Both sites are owned by a resident in the UK, and were created in December, 2011. The dispute is still under review with results pending.
These latest filings are likely to wind up as another victory notch in the company's belt. Microsoft's track record with domain disputes is quite impressive, having won control of domains such as XboxSmartglass.com, XboxPhone.com, XboxFitness.com, XboxMusic.com, XboxSports.com, and XboxVideo.com, and others.
This seems to be an unfortunate part of online business in this day and age. Other companies have had their own share of dealings with cybersquatters as well, from League of Legends developer Riot Games winning control of domains previously used for pornography, Blizzard over the "HeroesofWarcraft" domain, and Apple suing over "iphone5.com."