back to article easyGroup railroads easytrain.com owner

easyGroup has won back the easytrain.com domain after it failed to renew it ... back in 2009. Despite having not owned the domain for five years, and only registered a trademark for EasyTrain in 2011 – two years after the domain was picked up – domain arbitrator WIPO decided the low-cost operator should have the rights to the …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The real question

    Is does Easy Group have any remotely realistic prospect of running a rail franchise, anywhere. The answer is no. WIPO are pretty useless.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Actually, the real

      Question is: why would you split your subject and content like that? :)

    2. pompurin

      Re: The real question

      Megabus run a small offshoot called MegaTrain. I can see EasyTrain fulfilling a similar niche.

      1. DreadPirateRobot

        Re: The real question

        Megabus is owned by Stagecoach who own:

        East Midlands Trains

        South West Trains

        Sheffield Supertram

        Island Line Trains (Part of the SWT Franchise I believe)

        and own 49% (or there abouts) shares in:

        Virgin Trains West Coast

        Virgin Trains East Coast (To commence in 2015)

        That is how Megabus are able to offer tickets so cheap on those train services. As I understand it easygroup do not own or part own any TOC in the UK.

        1. Cliff

          Re: The real question

          Well that was was easypeasylemonsqueezy.com wasn't it?

          Easyjustice.

    3. Voland's right hand Silver badge

      Re: The real question

      The key element of EasyPricing is dynamic demand driven pricing. That works well with airlines, hotels, car hire and long range bus services because they have a natural availability constraint.

      It does not work with trains period. Short range/commuter trains are packed until they bulge to the sides so no way to operate skin yer hide pricing as there is no way to price gouge more than is already being price gouged (unless you put into the network at least 4 times the current capacity). There is just no point (and no way) to try to charge 32£ for a weekly season ticket bought half a year in advance vs 400£ for one bought on the day. You can (and rail companies do) charge 400£ throughout. You decant a pint of blood and a first born and pay it.

      Long range trains nearly everywhere in the world run under capacity. The very few exemptions which are long range _AND_ have a capacity constraint (hello Eurostar, Elipsos, etc) operate "skin yer hide" pricing already and there is no way they will allow anyone else to operate the same route.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Assumptions

    You're of course assuming that easyTrain will be something rail related...

    They could be looking at hiring out the bits dragged along behind extravagant dresses.

    Or incorporating it with the easyGym stuff.

    Or inventing a new form of precipitation: t-rain.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Easy Sleazy

    About a decade ago I received lawyers letters representing EasyG, asking me to hand over the a domain that was in use by a client, something like easycars.com, claiming that they had "rights" to the word "easy".

    My client couldn't afford a law suit, even though they had purchased the domain several years before, and never pretended they were any relation to EasyG.

    They could easily have offered my clients some cash, but instead bullied them. As far as I'm concerned, EasyG are scum. Will never trade with them ever again.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Easy Sleazy

      They have form in this area, the sensible answer is go fuck yourselves and make every email / letter public and get the papers / social media behind you.

    2. nsld

      Re: Easy Sleazy

      Didn't they try this with Easynet way back in the day and fail dismally.

      That should set the precedent for anyone else who is threatened by Easy Group.

  4. jason 7

    Sounds like someone got a brown envelope stuffed with cash to me.

  5. JaitcH
    WTF?

    And for William R. Towns ...

    free tickets for life?

    This matter needs investigation.

  6. Crazy Operations Guy

    What kind of idiot lets a company domain expire?

    A .com is like $10 a year, even cheaper when you do multiple years at a time. So what kind of idiot decided to not just buy the damn thing for 20-25 years and keep on adding time each year? Most registrars even offer auto-renewal. They must be intentionally doing this as it exceeds even government-levels of incompetence.

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