Earlier this year, hundreds of NCAA member schools were surprised to learn that a "business development" company had acquired more than 23,000 school-related domain names and was planning to use them for marketing purposes.

The company, called BDC Partners, Inc., which is a subsidiary of BDC Capital, Inc., registered the new domain names by combining the institution with its nickname, such as "universityofnotredamefightingirish.com" or "harvarduniversitycrimson.com."

The purchase, which the company is calling "one of the most comprehensive acquisitions of a single category of domain names in e-commerce history," includes domain names from 312 of 327 Division I institutions, 320 of 321 in Division II and 466 of 468 in Division III. The acquisition also includes all NAIA schools and most high schools.

Several NCAA institutions believe the acquisition violates the Anti-cyber-squatting Consumer Protection Act, which prevents a name or trademark from being used by others in a domain name. After attempts from many schools failed to convince BDC Partners to cease and desist, Dickinson College has taken the lead on behalf of all schools considering legal action.

Dickinson officials appealed to the NCAA for assistance, as did many other schools, but the NCAA has no standing to address the issue because its own trademarks are not being misused.

Dickinson General Counsel Dana Scaduto said many Divisions II and III schools do not have in-house legal staff or the means to aggressively pursue what they view in this case to be actionable, so she is seeking a cost-effective approach in which schools may have more influence collectively than individually. Scaduto said she is considering arbitration with the help of a law firm that has experience in handling intellectual property and in resolving cyber-squatting claims.

"BDC claims they are doing colleges a service by marketing their teams, but they're actually violating the anti-cyber-squatting law," Scaduto said. " 'Squatting' in this sense is no different than the property concept in which you occupy land owned by others and claim it as your own. In the cyber realm, BDC has taken two pieces of information to which the institutions have proprietary rights and claimed the ensuing combination as its own. We see that as clearly wrong -- and actionable.

"Those domain names, if they are to exist, are our names, not those of BDC."

BDC Capital is a business development company (thus the initials "BDC") established in December 2004 with the purpose of, as it says on its Web site, "building an investment portfolio consisting of revenue-generating assets and emerging companies well-positioned for future growth."

In a June 20, 2005, press release announcing the acquisition of the domain names, BDC President and CEO Richard Pomije said, "We believe that both the individual and the aggregate values of these largely undeveloped domain names hold promise as marketing, communications and outreach vehicles. Most educational Web sites are designated by an '.edu' or '.org' suffix, which often are complex and difficult to remember. Ours are straightforward -- the name of the school and the mascot. And '.com' and '.net' remain the most easily memorized addresses."

The company claims in the release that the new domain names will facilitate services such as "sports reporting and marketing, integrated marketing, alumni association membership and communications and contact information." The release states that "the company plans to work with private sector marketing organizations and with the schools themselves to develop effective strategies to communicate with current students and alumni and to promote easier and deeper contacts with the educational institutions."

Jeff Mills, a BDC board member, said the company has "parked" the college domain names for now (meaning that entering the domain name brings up a "page unavailable" prompt) until initiatives being tested with the high schools gain momentum. Mills said in fact that it might be several years before BDC offers programming to the college market. He also said BDC would not do anything without written consent from an institution.

"At the point that we have a great story to tell based on what we're doing with the high schools, then the colleges and universities can choose to participate or not," Mills said.

Though specific initiatives with the high school market have not been finalized, Mills said they could include online activities that "pit" institutions or conferences against each other through various contests, games or debates. A portion of any proceeds or revenues would be returned to the participating institutions, Mills said.

Mills said that BDC's legal counsel believes no laws have been violated. "We only want to do something that is good for everybody in the institution," he said.

Scaduto and others believe, however, that BDC may be misleading institutions about its intentions.

"We think that by offering 'assistance' or 'service' to institutions in exchange for institution access to its own name or trademarks, BDC not only is violating anti-cyber-squatting laws but also is acting in bad faith," she said.

Scaduto said institutions interested in more information about the matter should contact her at scadutod@dickinson.edu.

universityofnotredame
fightingirish.com

harvarduniversitycrimson.com

stanforduniversitycardinal.com

universityofmichigan
wolverines.com

universityofminnesota
gophers.com