Network Solutions, Inc. v. Hoblad, B.V. , 82 F. App'x 845 ( 2003 )


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  •                          UNPUBLISHED
    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
    NETWORK SOLUTIONS, INCORPORATED,      
    Plaintiff-Appellee,
    v.
    HOBLAD, B.V.; HYUNGHAE BYUN,                      No. 03-1226
    a/k/a H. Byun, a/k/a H. H. van
    Bladel Byun, a/k/a Bion,
    Defendants-Appellants.
    
    Appeal from the United States District Court
    for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Alexandria.
    James C. Cacheris, Senior District Judge.
    (CA-02-479-A, CA-02-480-A)
    Submitted: October 20, 2003
    Decided: December 19, 2003
    Before WILKINS, Chief Judge, and TRAXLER
    and DUNCAN, Circuit Judges.
    Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
    COUNSEL
    James C. Sargent, Jr., Maureen M. McBride, LAW OFFICES OF
    WINDLE & MCERLANE, P.C., West Chester, Pennsylvania, for
    Appellants. Brian A. Davis, Philip L. Sbarbaro, NETWORK SOLU-
    TIONS, INC., Dulles, Virginia; Timothy B. Hyland, LEFFLER &
    HYLAND, P.C., Fairfax, Virginia, for Appellee.
    2             NETWORK SOLUTIONS, INC. v. HOBLAD, B.V.
    Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit. See
    Local Rule 36(c).
    OPINION
    PER CURIAM:
    Appellants, Hoblad, B.V. (Hoblad) and Ms. Hyunghae Byun,
    appeal a district court order granting summary judgment to Network
    Solutions, Inc. (NSI) in its breach of contract action relating to the
    registration of Internet domain names. Finding no reversible error, we
    affirm.
    I.
    NSI provides Internet-related services, including the registration of
    "second-level domain names" (SLDNs). SLDNs are the names imme-
    diately to the left of "top-level domain" designations such as ".com"
    and ".org"—for example, the name "google" in "google.com."
    Between November 1998 and April 2000, NSI registered approxi-
    mately 3,400 SLDNs in the name of Hoblad, a Dutch corporation
    owned by Wil van Bladel. During this same period, NSI registered
    approximately 1,500 SLDNs in the name of Byun, van Bladel’s wife.
    The process by which each of these SLDNs was registered was
    substantially the same. Appellants contracted with one of two domain
    name registration services ("the intermediaries") to submit a registra-
    tion application to NSI on Appellants’ behalf. In particular, Appel-
    lants submitted their requested SLDN and their contact and billing
    information to one of the intermediaries by entering the information
    on the intermediary’s website. The intermediary then submitted this
    information to NSI on an electronic form. At that time, the intermedi-
    ary agreed—on behalf of Appellants—to the terms of NSI’s Domain
    Name Registration Agreement ("the registration agreement"), which
    required the party for whom the SLDN was registered to pay a nonre-
    fundable registration fee of $70.* Upon receiving Appellants’ regis-
    *Two different versions of the registration agreement were used by
    NSI during the relevant time period. The differences between these ver-
    sions do not affect our resolution of this appeal.
    NETWORK SOLUTIONS, INC. v. HOBLAD, B.V.                 3
    tration application and verifying that the requested SLDN was
    available, NSI registered the SLDN and mailed an invoice to Appel-
    lants for the registration fee. Enclosed with each invoice was a copy
    of the registration agreement.
    Appellants failed to pay for the registration of 4,280 SLDNs. NSI
    sued Appellants for breach of contract and unjust enrichment, and
    both sides moved for summary judgment. At the outset of its sum-
    mary judgment analysis, the district court explained that two interre-
    lated issues were presented: (1) whether Appellants were subject to
    personal jurisdiction (an issue the court had previously reserved pend-
    ing resolution of the merits) and (2) whether Appellants breached
    their alleged contracts with NSI. The court recognized that the resolu-
    tion of both issues turned on whether valid and enforceable contracts
    existed between Appellants and NSI.
    Regarding personal jurisdiction, the district court noted that the
    registration agreement contained a clause under which the registrant
    (here, Appellants) consented to jurisdiction in the Eastern District of
    Virginia, and that such clauses are generally enforceable, see Burger
    King Corp. v. Rudzewicz, 
    471 U.S. 462
    , 472 n.14 (1985); Vulcan
    Chem. Techs., Inc. v. Barker, 
    297 F.3d 332
    , 339 (4th Cir. 2002).
    Appellants argued, however, that they were not bound by this clause
    because they never executed the agreements with NSI. Rather, Appel-
    lants asserted that they only entered into agreements with the interme-
    diaries, and, if the intermediaries subsequently entered into other
    agreements on Appellants’ behalf, Appellants were not bound by
    those agreements. Alternatively, Appellants claimed that even if they
    could be bound by the registration agreements executed by the inter-
    mediaries, those agreements only became effective when the contracts
    were formed. According to Appellants, the contracts did not become
    enforceable until Appellants paid the registration fees—an event that
    never happened for most of their SLDN registrations.
    The district court determined that Appellants were bound by the
    registration agreements because the intermediaries had acted as
    Appellants’ agents in executing those agreements. See Acordia of Va.
    Ins. Agency v. Genito Glenn, L.P., 
    560 S.E.2d 246
    , 249-50 (Va. 2002)
    (reciting standards for existence of agency relationship). Based on this
    conclusion, the district court explained that Appellants were liable to
    4             NETWORK SOLUTIONS, INC. v. HOBLAD, B.V.
    NSI for all registration contracts that the intermediaries had entered
    into on Appellants’ behalf.
    The district court next determined that the alleged contracts
    between Appellants and NSI became enforceable when NSI accepted
    the registration applications and registered the SLDNs. The court
    based this conclusion on the unambiguous terms of the registration
    agreement, which made clear that "a contract was formed at the
    moment [NSI] accepted the registration application from [Appellants]
    or their agents." J.A. 1142a; see World-Wide Rights Ltd. P’ship v.
    Combe Inc., 
    955 F.2d 242
    , 245 (4th Cir. 1992) (recognizing that when
    contract language is unambiguous, courts need not look beyond that
    language in interpreting contract as a matter of law). Thus, based on
    its conclusion that the parties had entered into an enforceable contract
    in which they agreed to be subject to the jurisdiction of the district
    court, the court concluded that the exercise of personal jurisdiction
    over Appellants was proper.
    Turning to the issue of whether the contracts between Appellants
    and NSI were breached, the district court reiterated that Appellants
    were contractually obligated to pay NSI $70 for each SLDN that NSI
    registered for them. The court also recognized that it was undisputed
    that, following NSI’s registration of Appellants’ SLDNs, Appellants
    failed to pay fees for over 4,000 SLDNs. Finally, the court noted that
    the parties did not dispute the amount of damages incurred by NSI.
    Thus, finding that all the elements of NSI’s breach of contract claim
    were satisfied as a matter of law, the court granted summary judgment
    to NSI, entering judgment against Hoblad for $206,430 and against
    Byun for $93,170.
    II.
    Having reviewed the parties’ briefs and the applicable law, we con-
    clude that the district court correctly granted summary judgment to
    NSI. Accordingly, we affirm. We dispense with oral argument
    because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented in the
    materials before the court and argument would not aid the decisional
    process.
    AFFIRMED
    

Document Info

Docket Number: 03-1226

Citation Numbers: 82 F. App'x 845

Judges: Wilkins, Traxler, Duncan

Filed Date: 12/19/2003

Precedential Status: Non-Precedential

Modified Date: 11/6/2024