Microsoft doesn’t own XboxOne.com; files complaint for ownership

Microsoft’s Xbox One may have the world’s attention, but it doesn’t have its own website. Yeah, you read that right; Microsoft doesn’t own the domain XboxOne.com. WhoIs information for the website indicates that it has been registered by a guy from the United Kingdom.

However, it doesn’t look like the folks at Microsoft are twiddling their thumbs. According to a report by Fusible, the Redmond-based company has filed a complaint with the National Arbitration Forum over ownership of the domain name. 

It may have lots of power, but it doesn’t have a website

You’d wonder why Microsoft didn’t do such a simple thing and register the website itself, but the guy who currently owns it registered the domain almost two years ago, way back in December 2011. It’s likely Microsoft hadn’t even decided on a name for the console back then. 

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Besides, registering domain names is a public process and Microsoft’s management probably didn’t want to give away the name of their new console by entering into a public dispute before they announced it themselves. In case you’ve been living in a box for the last six months, rumours and speculation about what the company would call the next Xbox were rampant, and Microsoft probably wanted to keep quiet until it was time to get its hands dirty.

The website doesn’t have anything on it right now, so Microsoft has a good chance of winning its case as the site is a clear case of cybersquatting. What’s more, the company can say that the domain will cause confusion for consumers, which is a valid claim as lots of people will probably type in that URL. Microsoft also has a history of meeting success in cases involving domain names, so we think it’ll probably get its way without having to pay the current owner lots of money.