Also, PIR, who runs the .ORG registry, sent out a reminder to registrars last week that the wholesale cost of .ORG domains will rise to $8.25 on July 1, 2013 (a 55 cent jump). Registrars are free to set what they charge you at any level they wish, so the rate you pay will depend on where your domains are registered and, for large portfolio owners, how much of a discount you can negotiate. 

Elsewhere, there was some good news from the legal front with industry veteran George Kirikos winning a court case he filed against an Italian cosmetics company that tried to reverse hijack his domain name - Pupa.com (Last year Michael Berkens wrote about the MICYS Company S.P.A. filing a UDRP against George's company - Leap of Faith Financial Services Inc. - in an effort to wrest the generic .com domain away from him without paying for it). 

Kirikos, not one to take this kind of thing lying down, filed suit against the Italian company in Ontario, Canada (where he resides) and Madam Justice Victoria Chiappetta of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled in his company's favor in a default judgment, and also ordered the defendant to pay court costs. 

When lawsuits are filed UDRP cases are suspended, leaving the matter for the courts to 

Cyber law image from Bigstock

decide. You can read the judgment details in two documents on the WIPO site: Court Case and Decision.

Kirikos credited attorney Zak Muscovitch for his "superlative representation in the UDRP and legal advice" and also thanked Andrew Bernstein and Sarah Whitmore of Torys LLP for "their excellent performance in the court action."