Originally Posted by loggy
This situation is very easy to explain. Dutch Boyd took a shot when he registered the name. It was a bad faith registration, and the intent was to infringe on the Two Plus Two trademark. Dutch Boyd had no idea that the name would not derive significant revenue. He almost assuredly expected that it would generated more traffic than it did. If that had occurred, he would have then been able to really infringe and profit from that traffic.
As to Mason Malmuth. He has the right to protect the Two Plus Two trademark. Also, if he doesn't protect his right once he realizes that someone is infringing on it, if there is a big problem down the road, his lack of aggressiveness can be used against him. On Mason's first inquiry about the domain name, Mason would have no idea how much traffic and revenue was being generated. It could have been quite significant, but he did not know. Once Mason goes down this road, spending his time and company resources on this, he has to finish the job, or else he will forever be chasing people down and asking for similar names to be returned to him.
Mason rightly assumes that most everyone attempting to infringe on the Two Plus Two trademark will likely be at least a somewhat frequent lurker/poster at this site, and if Mason can take a stand and go the extra mile against Dutch Boyd, a known poker name, then it will in all likelihood deter a number of potential would-be infringers, and it will save Mason and others at Two Plus Two a lot of time, money, and effort in the future.
Once in a while, you have to take actions that may seem like overkill to those not involved. In Mason's, and Two Plus Two's defense, anything less than a public burial of Dutch Boyd doesn't make any financial sense, and ethically speaking, Dutch Boyd is the one who has unclean hands. If you rob a bank and get caught, justice demands that the punishment is more than just a simple return of the money, otherwise, everyone can take a free shot. If you attempt to rob someone on the street, and it turns out that they only have $2 on them, you cannot argue that your robbery is less of a crime than the robbery of the bank.
That settles the legal and ethical questions. Now let's talk about what most of you are actually talking about.
Dutch Boyd, though known to have been involved in at least a handful of questionable ethical activities, seems to be a likeable interesting fellow. Throw out the allegedly shady activities, and he appears to be an extremely entertaining person, along the lines of the troubled genius. A likeable manic, bi-polar gentleman. Of course, those who believe that they have been victimized by Dutch Boyd in the past hate him, and others who have been victimized by poker generally, probably are not so fond of him and his alleged past dealings. Most neutral observers with no poker axe to grind would probably find Dutch Boyd an interesting person, with insights that are worth listening to.
As to Mason Malmuth, his image seems to be that of a curmudgeon. A somewhat soulless, unfunny dinosaur in the poker world. These are exactly the types of poker personalities that the younger crowd despises. The "Nit" who is never at risk of being homeless, and who can enjoy poker for decades on his own terms, paying his bills without owing people money, and likely living a pretty enjoyable normal life, with the freedom to do what he wants.
Dutch Boyd and Mason Malmuth/Two Plus Two got tangled up in a situation where the risk/shot taker met up with someone who had the staying power/resources to protect himself and put an end to the situation while sending a strong message to others not to mess with him.
The final point is that Dutch Boyd had some terrible terrible luck in this case. Trademark infringement is a somewhat gray area, especially when it comes to domain names, and the Internet, functionally speaking, was only about 10 years old when Dutch Boyd registered the name back in the mid 2000's. Practically speaking, the Internet was younger than 10 years old at that point. Domain Names have always been a bit like the Wild Wild West. There are still today many people who profit from infringing on trademarks. On blatant abuses using potentially valuable high traffic domain names, they will often disguise their ownership, or, if caught red handed, they will simply turn over the name or delete it. But once in a while, a person or company will go the extra mile and go for the knockout punch on the infringer.
This seems like overkill to the dispassionate observer, but it actually is the deal that those who infringe sign up for. When they register a name in bad faith, they know that a very small percentage of time they will be faced with a situation that can turn very bad. Just like when someone drinks and drives. Most times they will not get caught. Sometimes they will get a DUI, and every once in a while, someone who may have had only one or two drinks will wipe out a family and be staring at a manslaughter charge. But it all starts with the initial bad idea of drinking and driving. There are a range of possibilities that can happen on the way home, and the truly horrendous result can certainly be explained as being bad luck.
Dutch Boyd's actions are very light if put on the scale of moral wrongs. His intentions were not good, but it still doesn't qualify as an outrageous human action. But Mason Malmuth had to do what he had to do. He really had no choice. I don't think they will let Dutch Boyd off the hook. Yes, they have proved their point, and will likely deter others in the future from infringing on the Two Plus Two trademark, but it will probably be an unpayable judgement forever, and my guess would be that Mason and Two Plus Two would be fine with that.
If I had one suggestion it would be for Mason and Dutch Boyd to agree to a small settlement, with a strict confidentiality agreement. Neither side would be allowed to make a public or private statement about the settlement. That way Dutch could put this behind him, and Mason and Two Plus Two could still get full value from the fact that they have a large judgment that will deter others. But in reality, there is no reason for Mason and Two Plus Two to give up that hard won leverage. They are probably content to have the publicized judgment. Getting paid is just gravy. They did what they had to do.
So maybe a medium sized settlement the next time Dutch Boyd makes a score would be best for all.
