June 16, 2005 - (HOSTSEARCH.COM) - Domain registrar and web host DirectI.com won the lawsuit brought against it, by Dodora Unified Communications, who had claimed Directl took illegitimate control over its domain names, in the Federal court of Massachusetts.
The 10 member jury panel unanimously ruled in DirectI’s favor and acknowledged Dodora’s claims as baseless.
“Dodora had made 3 claims against DirectI and the jury ruled for DirectI on all 3 counts,” said Bhavin Turakhia, CEO & Chairman, DirectI. “We have always practiced firm business ethics and values. We were disappointed when are fellow registrar filed a lawsuit against us without any foundation or foothold to the charges. We respect the jury and the court for taking a fair and just decision.”
The CEO and Owner of Dodora, Mr. Ron Garraud, had filed lawsuit against DirectI, seeking damages by falsely claiming that DirectI had taken illegitimate control over its domain names, during the time Dodora was under receivership due to a prior litigation filed against it in Texas. As defendants, DirectI asserted that it was simply working as a contractor of Mr. Michael Bernstein, the receiver appointed in the Texas litigation. The judge and the jury upheld DirectI's claims and pronounced a verdict in favor of DirectI.
"Dodora claimed that we harmed their business by assisting the court receiver," said Divyank Turakhia, President & Director, DirectI. "They had their facts completely wrong. If anything, we actually helped Dodora during the receivership by assisting in the management of its business and supporting its Customers and Resellers. It is only due to our support and service that a majority of those customers remained with Dodora. If it were not for us - there would not be a Dodora today."
DirectI essentially provides a complete ICANN Accredited Registrar Management software solution to various organizations through its consulting arm called LogicBoxes. LogicBoxes software powers the business of several Registrars worldwide. DirectI provided this software and additional support services to Mr. Bernstein who was in control of Dodora from June 2004 to Dec 2004. In Dec 2004, Mr. Ron Garraud, the CEO of Dodora regained control of his company by settling the previous litigation. As part of the settlement he released Mr. Bernstein and the Texas plaintiff from all liability. Mr. Garraud then turned around to file a lawsuit against DirectI for damages.
“It was clear to us that Dodora had no claim against DirectI,” said Mr. Dustin Hecker, a Partner at Posternak Blankenstein & Lund, the firm that represented DirectI in this case. “However the case involved several technical concepts and our only challenge was being able to present the entire picture to the jury in a matter of 3 days.”
DirectI’s win over Dodora demonstrates that a fair judgement can be obtained despite a jury trial involving an industry and concepts that are not very well-known.
