Wednesday, October 27, 2010

SnapNames Resolves Two Lawsuits

Portland-based SnapNames, which operates an online marketplace for selling expired and expiring domain names, has resolved two lawsuits related to the firm, the company said Tuesday. The firm--which is a subsidiary of Los Angeles-based Oversee.net--said it has reached a preliminary settlement in a class action lawsuit filed against the firm, and also reached a settlement with prior SnapNames VP of Engineering Nelson Brady. Both lawsuits centered around automated, shill bidding on SnapNames' auctions by Brady, which were uncovered in November of 2009. In the lawsuits, SnapNames said it will provide rebates to certain bidders on SnapNames whose auctions were affected by teh shill bidding. In the second lawsuit, which had been filed by SnapNames and Oversee against Nelson Brady, the firm said it has received an "appropriate" financial penalty from Brady over his role in the shill bidding. Financial details of the two legal suits were not disclosed. SnapNames had been embroiled in a scandal over mysterious shill bids on its auctions, later determining they were made by Brady.