Bodog to Fetch New Domain

Bodog has been a popular sportsbook, serving American gamblers with horse races, casino and poker games. Its domain was provided throughout the years (it was founded in 1994) by technology licensing company 1st Technology LLC. A recent fallout between the companies, which brought the two sides to court and resulted with a decision wholly in favor of 1st Technology, has sent the betting company looking for a new domain.

1st Technology supplies advanced Internet and multimedia innovations. Some of its developments were the first of their kind at the time, and remain industry leaders. The company developed the first single integrated circuit chip with on-board video and audio compression in the world, among other broadband technologies it has introduced to the web.

One of its clients was Bodog. The two had a fallout over what 1st Technology described in court documents as its licensee illegally using a "method and system for interactively transmitting multimedia information over a network which requires a reduced bandwidth." The case was brought to a judge in a federal court in Nevada in June, to which Bodog failed to appear and defend its stand.

Judge Roger L. Hunt ruled in favor of the plaintiff, and ordered Bodog to pay it $48,937,456 for patent infringement. Bodog failed to appear again in a later court date, this one in Washington, to enforce the verdict. Judge John Erlick ordered all Bodog domains be confiscated and transferred to the control of 1st Technology.

Since this order was given on August 21, Bodog cannot be found at their domains any longer. 1st Technology is in fact allowed by the court to auction the domain names or operate them in any way it sees fit. For now the domain names are simply down and nothing is found there.

Intellectual property or a petty dispute? A company spokesman stated clearly that no company that has customers in the US is above the law. In other statements they seem upset about the ignoring treatment it received from its former licensee. Such ignoring is no longer the case. A Bodog spokesperson said 1st Technology is now in contact with its lawyers. On its site, befittingly called Newbodog, it states vaguely that it is encountering "DNS issues related to several of its Web sites." It adds that the site and all aspects are without change, only the domain new.

Though Bodog may hold on to its customers and traffic with the new domain, though may not be so lucky with the $49 million, the case serves as a warning to other online casino companies. These days, as the US law is not accommodating with the gambling activities of Americans, there are various ways it can tackle the issue. Bodog may have added to the dispute by failing to defend itself altogether. But its bad break could be repeated with other companies. Surely the industry will be better prepared next time around.