What's in a name? A lot, if you are Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen -- the software mogul who has tied his well-known moniker to high-profile philanthropic, research and business ventures.
But for the longest time, there was one important piece of the digital frontier that Allen didn't own: PaulAllen.org. That has now changed, after a 3-person panel of the National Arbitration Forum ruled that Allen was entitled to the domain name.
But there's more to the story. The Web site -- at www.paulallen.org -- had previously been owned by a Seattle-area independent filmmaker and monthly newspaper publisher who had used the Web site to promote his films, including a sci-fi satire of Allen known as "Paul Alien."
The decision granting the site to Allen was actually made Oct. 27. But Alex Mayer, the filmmaker who registered the domain in 2005, said he learned only recently that he had lost control of the site to one of the world's richest men. Mayer found out when his hosting provider sent him a copy of the decision from the National Arbitration Forum.
"You think they would have notified me of it," said Mayer. "It brings up a free-speech thing. I understand registering BradPitt.com, but in this case it was a parody."
David Postman, a spokesman for Allen, said the company attempted to reach Mayer on a number of occasions but the email and physical address provided on the domain registration papers didn't work.
As to Mayer's claims that his ownership of the site was protected by his right to free speech, Postman said that the parody and satire claims didn't hold much water in this case. "He was selling videos of his project and doing it by trading on the name of Paul Allen," said Postman. "It is a domain name that should clearly be in Paul's control and not someone who is trying to make a buck off his name."
Postman noted that Mayer had taken large portions of the legitimate Paul Allen Web sites in order to make his site look as if it was connected to the billionaire.
Postman said they don't have any big plans for the URL, though they will most likely re-direct visitors to one of Allen's other Web sites. Allen already owns PaulAllen.com and PGAFoundations.com.
Mayer said he probably wouldn't have fought the issue had he been notified.
"This project is long over," he said. "I have two kids now and live in the suburbs."
However, Mayer did say that he recently reduced the length of "Paul Alien" film to 20 minutes in length so it could be posted on Facebook. He thinks the shorter version is funnier, but it's not quite a cult classic yet.
"I never made any money on it, but I did get some street cred," Mayer said.
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