Actress Nicole Kidman has won her case against a cybersquatter, the same day that news broke of her separation from husband Tom Cruise, after 10 years of marriage.
The couple's publicist issued a statement citing career strain as the cause of the break-up. The report quickly set chat rooms abuzz, where expressions of shock and disappointment spilled out alongside unsubstantiated speculation about other possible causes for the split.
Meanwhile, Kidman, along with tennis sisters Venus and Serena Williams is the latest celebrity to be awarded contested domain names. They join Hollywood's top actress Julia Roberts, singer Madonna, French stars Isabelle Adjani and Alain Delon, and the estate of the American rock legend Jimi Hendrix.
All have won their complaints at the United Nations agency which protects trademarks and patents, the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).
Cybersquatting - often done by people who register famous names as domains in the hope of making a quick profit - is seen as the hottest online issue among celebrities, experts say.
This month, American rock star Bruce Springsteen is also due to receive the verdict in a case he filed at the Geneva-based WIPO, whose network of independent arbitrators issue rulings.
Venus and Serena, fresh from completing a Grand Slam of doubles crowns by winning at the Australian Open 10 days ago, won back the top-level domain names according to the WIPO.
Kidman, who married to superstar Tom Cruise with whom she starred in "Eyes Wide Shut", won her case against American John Zuccarini who had registered but failed to respond to the complaint.
In both cases, the complainants proved that the domain names were "identical or confusingly similar" to a trademark, that the defendant had "no rights or legitimate interests" and that the domain name had been registered and was being used in bad faith.
More than 2,000 cases have been filed since December 1999 when WIPO's arbitration centre began receiving cybersquatting cases. Of the roughly 1,300 cases completed, about 80 percent have ordered transfers of sites, a spokeswoman said.
personally i think it's a bit sad
she seems a good laugh
and he has good in mish imposs
so yeah,
anything that's lasted that long,
its a bollox when it goes titsup.