Solid Host, NL v. Namecheap, Inc.
Opinion
Opinion
Morrow, J.
ORDER DENYING DEFENDANT NAMECHEAP’S MOTION TO DISMISS
On August 17, 2008, plaintiff Solid Host, NL filed this action against defendants NameCheap, Inc., dba Whois Guard Protected; Demand Media, Inc., dba eNom, Inc.; and John Doe l. Solid Host alleges that Doe “hijacked” its domain name, < solidhost.com >. On March 20, 2009, NameCheap filed a motion to dismiss • the claims asserted against it for failure to state a claim under Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
A. Technical Background
This action requires knowledge of certain of the technical aspects of registering domain names for internet web sites. The court will briefly summarize this technical background before outlining the facts of the case.
The location of individual sites on the internet is denoted by an internet protocol (“IP”) address composed of a string of four groups of digits separated by periods. Each site has a unique numeric internet address. Lockheed Martin Corporation v. Network Solutions, Inc., 141 F.Supp.2d 648, 650-51 (N.D.Tex.2001) (“Lockheed Martin II”); see also Smith v. Network Solutions, Inc., 135 F.Supp.2d 1159, 1160 (N.D.Ala.2001). For ease…