Ali Baba’s booty.
Ali Houssein Ishmael Baba comes from a long lineage of shepherds, raising sheep and goats at the oases of Saudi Arabia.
Wind-blown for centuries, the Arab sands have sang the stories of Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves and how it all became part of the One Thousand and One Nights folklore.
In a recent trip to Riyadh, Ali Houssein Ishmael Baba was exposed to the Internet for the first time; his successful sale of 500 goats and 275 sheep was the result of online trading through a cattle broker.
That trip produced one shocking result: Ali Houssein Ishmael Baba could not register AliBaba.com, because some Chinese company is clearly squatting his family name.
“Make heart hurt, make head hurt, see name family, many year ago, and now foreigner far land want insult my name. I want back. Is insult name of Ali Baba stay this?” asks Ali Houssein Ishmael Baba, shaking his head.
After hiring a domain lawyer in Saudi Arabia, he now plans to file a UDRP for the domain AliBaba.com, in order to restore his rights to the name.
“Many peoples say, what good is if not have name story talks? What good is Ali Baba without dot com for show important father of father of fathers? I will take!” exclaims Ali Houssein Ishmael Baba.
The UDRP is expected to be filed in June, and it would cost about 70 goats to finance it at the WIPO.
