"Domain.Disputes" wrote:
>
> Dear Mr. Aquilino,
>
> It appears that during the suspension period the disputed domain name
> has been transferred to an entity called "Minnesota Mensa". Kindly
> indicate whether the Complainant has control over the domain name.
>
Dear Ms. Ballard,
Please allow me to answer your question from
Respondent's point of view.
First, from a purely literal reading of your question:
To quote from Complainant's website, at
http://us.mensa.org/local_groups/overview.php3,
"While the local groups of American Mensa are a part
of the national
organization with activities on the regional and national levels,
members of American Mensa are also part of a smaller group, based in
their immediate area, with weekly programs and activities. The local
groups of American Mensa publish calendars in their newsletters, listing
the activities for the month. The activities usually include business
meetings, guest speakers, games nights, gifted children's activities,
and Special Interest Group (SIG) meetings.
"Each local group is unique and their programs and
frequency of events
vary."
Excerpted from the "American Mensa Bylaws" (Includes
amendments passed
prior to and including the May 2000 referendum.)(rev. 6/29/2000 - DBB):
"X
"(1) An application to form a Local Group shall be referred to the
appropriate Regional Vice-Chairman for investigation and recommendation.
"(2) On recommendation of the appropriate Regional Vice-Chairman, the
American Mensa Committee may grant permission for the formation of a
Local Group, which is then subject to the following:
"(a) Each Local Group must designate a Local Secretary who shall report
to the appropriate Regional Vice-Chairman.
"(b) Each Local Group shall adopt and maintain By-Laws, which meet the
minimum standards set by the American Mensa Committee. Such By-Laws, and
any amendments thereto, shall be effective when approved by both the
American Mensa Committee and the membership of the Local Group."
Therefore, we see that Complainant, through granting permission for
Local Groups (like Minnesota Mensa) to exist, and by mandating that all
Local Groups adopt and maintain By-Laws with minimum standards set by
the governing committee of Complainant, certainly has a degree of
"parent organization" control over Minnesota Mensa and much of its
activities.
As previously reported to you, Minnesota Mensa and Respondent are
parties to a signed written agreement naming Respondent as Webmaster for
Minnesota Mensa. See
http://www.millcityrecords.com/mndensa/agreement.htm.
Respondent asserts that this signed written agreement was written to not
require confirming action by Minnesota Mensa's governing Board of
Directors, but rather imposed requirements on said Board and certain of
its members (some but not all of which requirements have been met yet).
Respondent therefore also asserts that this signed written agreement is
not only binding on Minnesota Mensa (see
http://www.millcityrecords.com/mndensa/emails/ag-email46.htm), but is
also subject to Minnesota and U.S. Federal contract law.
Then, from Complainant's published "Local Secretary Handbook", Page
2-17:
"IX
(...)
"(5) A member may be suspended from specific activities, offices,
positions or functions, for a specified time, ..."
Thus, Complainant, through its control over Minnesota Mensa, also has
the ability to request that the local officers of Minnesota Mensa fully
honor that signed written agreement, and to remove any officer that
refuses such a request.
Complainant also has "has control over the domain name"
minnesotamensa.org in that Complainant, either directly or through the
Local Group Minnesota Mensa, has the ability to negotiate and enter into
a new signed written agreement with Respondent subsequent to the current
one referenced above, and thus end or modify the current arrangement
under which Respondent is Webmaster of Minnesota Mensa.
In short, Complainant does have the ability, through procedures in
place, to intervene in any situation involving the domain name
minnesotamensa.org and to work to resolve any issues which affect use of
that domain name.
Second, to answer your question from a practical point of view:
As I have written to you previously, Complainant actually requested
Respondent to transfer the name to Minnesota Mensa. The request is
clear; the exact quote is "must be transferred to Minnesota Mensa at
once."
(A copy of this request may be examined at
http://www.millcityrecords.com/mndensa/pld2-ltr.htm.)
It should be noted that Ms. Donahoo's first sentence is false, although
I am reasonably sure that the reason is that she has not been fully or
honestly informed about the situation.
I was also the original Webmaster of Minnesota Mensa. Please see
http://www.millcityrecords.com/mndensa/board_meetings.htm. The minutes
of the Board Meeting on April 28, 1998, include:
Old Business:
Web Site: Al Heigl was present to discuss web site.
Motion
approved to allocate $400.00 for star-up(sic) and first
year service.
Webmaster: Al Heigl appointed Webmaster.
As Webmaster at that time, I was fully authorized to
arrange for the
site hosting and the domain name registration of the original domain
name (mnmensa.org). This authority continued for over four years, and
was renewed by the signed written agreement referenced above.
As a matter of long-standing policy, American Mensa,
Ltd. has given wide
autonomy to the Local Groups. At last check, 21 Local Groups had their
own domain names. None of them are registered to Complainant.
Reference:
http://www.millcityrecords.com/mndensa/domains/. Also note
http://www.millcityrecords.com/mndensa/domains/index1.htm which shows
that seven of Complainant's Local Groups have domain names that aren't
even registered in the name of their own Local Group!
I think the reason for the confusion, and why you are asking your
question, is that Jason Aquilino made a serious (and material) mistake
when he started preparing the paperwork for this case number.
Although I presume he read the letter to Respondent
from Ms. Donahoo, he
read it carelessly, or forgot what he read. When he started preparing
the paperwork, he mistakenly typed in "American Mensa, Ltd." instead of
"Minnesota Mensa" for where he was demanding the domain name
minnesotamensa.org be transferred to. Perhaps by that time he had
forgotten the wording of Ms. Donahoo's letter to Respondent and combined
that with a natural (though incorrect in this case) assumption that any
Complainant would want a disputed domain name transferred to itself.
Do I have any evidence that his substituting "American
Mensa, Ltd."
instead of "Minnesota Mensa" was a careless mistake? Yes, I have at
least a half dozen examples (so far) of Jason Aquilino failing to pay
attention to details. I first noticed this when he sent me a seriously
malformed e-mail
(http://www.millcityrecords.com/mndensa/emails/venable03.htm).
Since
then, he has misspelled my first name at least twice
(http://www.millcityrecords.com/mndensa/venable11.htm),
sent copies of
e-mails to a nonexistent address ("minnesotamenta.org", and even
e-mailed Camille Ede asking to be notified "when MINNESOTAMENSA.COM
has been unlocked."
(http://www.millcityrecords.com/mndensa/emails/venable12.htm).
In short, Jason Aquilino has a track record of failing
to pay attention
to details and making careless mistakes, and I believe his original
filing, to have the domain name minnesotamensa.org transferred to
Complainant, was just another (and the biggest) example of a mistake.
Once the mistake had been made and disseminated,
however, Jason Aquilino
apparently felt that his best bet was to carry on with the mistake,
rather than apologize and re-file the paperwork in a correct form.
Perhaps he hoped that no one would notice the mistake or comment on it.
Respondent noticed it, first because Complainant
simply does not hold
the registrations for its Local Groups' domain names.
Jason Aquilino may write you, trying to assert that he
did prepare the
paperwork correctly, and that Complainant's filing is indeed to have the
domain name minnesotamensa.org transferred to Complainant. I would
suggest that you reject this assertion, as Complainant's original letter
to Respondent says otherwise, and there is ample evidence that Jason
Aquilino routinely makes careless mistakes in what he prepares and sends
out.
Further, Pam Donahoo of American Mensa, Ltd. may also
write you,
perhaps asserting (at this late date) that she has changed her mind, or
agrees with Jason Aquilino that the domain name should be transferred to
Complainant. I would suggest that you discount this, too, as it is most
likely that, were she to tell you that, it would only be in response to
a suggestion or request by Jason Aquilino that she "back him up" and
complicitly perpetuate his mistake in order to save time, money, and/or
face (reputation).
However, and to repeat, as a matter of long-standing
practice,
Complainant simply does not hold any registrations for its Local Groups'
domain names.
Finally, Ms. Ballard, you no doubt wrote the e-mail to which I'm
replying in hopes of getting information and guidance as to what you
should do next.
As Respondent, I would ask that you drop this case at
this time, because
whether Complainant has control over the domain name minnesotamensa.org
is irrelevant and immaterial, since the original request from
Complainant to Respondent was to transfer the domain name to the entity
called Minnesota Mensa, and Jason Aquilino's filings averring otherwise
were the result of a careless mistake on his part.
The evidence presented shows that Respondent was asked to transfer the
domain name to Minnesota Mensa, and I did so. Minnesota Mensa and I are
parties to a signed written agreement designating me as Webmaster for
Minnesota Mensa, making it appropriate for my name to be shown as
contact for the various registration areas.
While there are some ongoing problems between a couple of other members
of Minnesota Mensa and me, and I take this case to be primarily another
instance of harassment in which Complainant has allowed itself to be
unwittingly involved, Mensa itself has avenues in place to resolve the
issues. Minnesota Mensa has an Ombudsman who is currently looking into
these issues. Furthermore, Complainant itself has an Ombudsman, as well
as its governing committee, who can also work to settle internal
disagreements. Perhaps Ms. Donahoo herself would care to become
involved to the extent of trying to mediate some things.
All of this, however, is internal to Mensa, and should not be allowed to
be the business of WIPO.
You are also quite welcome to visit
http://www.minnesotamensa.org/, and
explore it as much as you wish. You will find that it is a perfectly
normal Mensa Local Group website, fully supportive of both the Local
Group and American Mensa, Ltd. It has been nominated for awards (by
Complainant) while under my "webmastership"
(http://www.millcityrecords.com/mndensa/kudos.htm).
In essence, since I have a signed written agreement
with Minnesota Mensa
to be its Webmaster, and Minnesota Mensa is a part of American Mensa,
Ltd., one could make the assertion that Complainant is actually trying
to sue itself, and WIPO should decline to take part in that sort of
thing.
So I can assure you that you would be doing the right
thing by
dismissing this case, or at the least, suspending it for 60 days or so,
with the admonition that Complainant American Mensa, Ltd. get in contact
with its individual members who are disagreeing with (and about) each
other, and make a good faith attempt to work things out within the
existing structure(s) that Mensa provides for its members, Local Group
officers, volunteers, and contract vendors.
Please get in touch with me if you wish me to clarify
or expand on
anything I have presented in this message, or if you would like
additional information that I might be able to provide.
Sincerely,
Al Heigl
Webmaster,
Minnesota Mensa
--
Alan Heigl
Mill City Records
P.O. Box 177
Northfield Minnesota 55057-0177
507-663-6090
Professional Proofreading,
Web Site Work using FrontPage 2003)
http://www.millcityrecords.com/webwork/