Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Oversee Resolves SnapNames Lawsuits
Los Angeles-based Oversee.net, the operator of Internet marketing and domain monetization services, said today with subsidiary SnapNames that they have resolved two lawsuits filed as a result of a former employee's improper bidding activity. According to Oversee and SnapNames, they have reached a preliminary settlement in the class action lawsuit Resmer vs. SnapNames.com and Oversee.net. The lawsuit had been filed shortly after the firms announced a rebate program for customers last year. The two said that the settlement terms and amounts are identical to the amounts offered to bidders in the rebate offer last year. In addition, Oversee and SnapNames said they have reached a separate lawsuit it had filed against Nelson Brady--the former employee responsible for the shill bidding scandal. Financial terms of that settlement were not disclosed, however, the firm said the financial penalty of the settlment was "appropriate" considering the seriousness of the activity.
In a statement, SnapNames General Manager Craig Snyder said that the firm is "pleased to have these matters settled and are moving on with our business". Oversee and SnapNames were thrown into a massive scandal over the shill bidding by Nelson back in November of 2009, when it was revaled that a then-unnamed employee had been placing automated bids on domain auctions on SnapNames. SnapNames collects and auctions off expiring and expired domain names to the highest bidder. Brady--until the scandal--was VP of Engineering at SnapNames. The shill bidding had apparently gone on since March of 2005, well before Oversee.net bought SnapNames.