Apple Files Complaint Against Porn Sites Using iPhone in Domain Name

Apple is not afraid to protect its name and products. The company has recently filed a case with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) over seven domain names that use Apple's trademarked term iPhone. The seven sites in dispute lead to mobile porn services and are not related to Apple or Apple products.

The domains include (and for obvious reasons, these sites are not safe for work):

-- iphonecamforce.com
-- iphonecam4s.com
-- iphoneporn4s.com
-- iphonesex4s.com
-- iphonexxxforce.com
-- iphone4s.com
-- porn4iphones.com

According to Domain Name Wire, the name of the owner of the seven domains is currently protected by Moniker's privacy service (Whois), which is most likely the reason Apple issued a complaint with the WIPO rather than contacting the owners themselves.

The WIPO is a special agency of the United Nations established in 1967 that focusses on protecting international intellectual property from theft and misuse. The company also helps prevent cybersquatting or domain squatting, the practice of purchasing certain domains with bad faith hoping to profit from the trademark of another company.

Apple is not new to fighting companies over the rights to certain names. Apple fought a battle with Cisco for the right to the name iPhone, but reached a settlement in February 2007. Between 1978 and 2006, Apple also had a number of trademark disputes with Apple Corps, a holding-company owned by The Beatles. The dispute was settled in 2007 as well.

The company recently purchased at least 50 domains following announcements at the annual developer conference, including domains related to iCloud, Mac OS X Lion, iTunes Match, Launchpad and Photo Stream, CNET reported. Apple has also purchased domain names in the past to protect its trademarked products. According to AppleInsider, Apple bought icloud.com from a Swedish cloud computing company earlier this year for a rumored price of $4.5 million. The company also ordered the domain name ipods.com be transferred to Apple.