Do Your Homework – EA did not buy ModernWarfare3.com (directly)

So you’ve all probably clicked the link to: www.modernwarfare3.com. Quickly you realize this is NOT the official site for Activision’s third installment on the series, Modern Warfare 3 – CallOfDuty.com is. I did my homework, and despite what rumors there are floating around that Electronic Arts bought the domain, they haven’t. At least, not directly – perhaps they’ve contracted the purchase to not be directly linked.

But here are the results of a WHOIS search on Battlefield.com:

WHOIS information for battlefield.com :

[Querying whois.verisign-grs.com]
[whois.verisign-grs.com]

Whois Server Version 2.0

Domain names in the .com and .net domains can now be registered
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net
for detailed information.

   Domain Name: BATTLEFIELD.COM
   Registrar: CSC CORPORATE DOMAINS, INC.
   Whois Server: whois.corporatedomains.com
   Referral URL: http://www.cscglobal.com
   Name Server: SEDNS.EA.COM
   Name Server: SWDNS.EA.COM
   Status: clientTransferProhibited
   Updated Date: 27-sep-2010
   Creation Date: 02-oct-1998
   Expiration Date: 01-oct-2011

Now compare to the results of a WHOIS search on ModernWarfare3.com:

WHOIS information for modernwarfare3.com :

[Querying whois.verisign-grs.com]
[Redirected to whois.godaddy.com]
[Querying whois.godaddy.com]
[whois.godaddy.com]
The data contained in GoDaddy.com, Inc.'s WhoIs database,
while believed by the company to be reliable, is provided "as is"
with no guarantee or warranties regarding its accuracy.  This
information is provided for the sole purpose of assisting you
in obtaining information about domain name registration records.
Any use of this data for any other purpose is expressly forbidden without the prior written
permission of GoDaddy.com, Inc.  By submitting an inquiry,
you agree to these terms of usage and limitations of warranty.  In particular,
you agree not to use this data to allow, enable, or otherwise make possible,
dissemination or collection of this data, in part or in its entirety, for any
purpose, such as the transmission of unsolicited advertising and
and solicitations of any kind, including spam.  You further agree
not to use this data to enable high volume, automated or robotic electronic
processes designed to collect or compile this data for any purpose,
including mining this data for your own personal or commercial purposes. 

Please note: the registrant of the domain name is specified
in the "registrant" field.  In most cases, GoDaddy.com, Inc.
is not the registrant of domain names listed in this database.

Registrant:
   Domains by Proxy, Inc.

   Registered through: GoDaddy.com, Inc. (http://www.godaddy.com)
   Domain Name: MODERNWARFARE3.COM

   Domain servers in listed order:
      NS3043.HOSTGATOR.COM
      NS3044.HOSTGATOR.COM

   For complete domain details go to:
   http://who.godaddy.com/whoischeck.aspx?Domain=MODERNWARFARE3.COM

Alternatively, try: http://who.godaddy.com/whois.aspx?domain=modernwarfare3.com&prog_id=GoDaddy

We will have to wait for an official announcement from Electronic Arts whether they were involved or not. Activision never owned ModernWarfare3.com – so it’s not a case of “swooping” the domain.