In Geneva this week, International pop music icon/superstar Madonna managed to win her case against a New York “cybersquatter.” A “cybersquatter” is a person who buys domain names such as madonna.com knowing that people looking for Madonna will go there looking for the material girl.

According to Reuters, the United Nations arbitrates disputes over domain names at its copyright and intellectual property agency called the World Intellectual Property Organization.

Madonna filed the complaint in July against businessman Dan Parisi who originally registered the Internet address for his pornography business but recently donated it to Madonna Rehabilitation hospital.

Parisi failed to prove he registered the name in good faith or that he had a legitimate interest in the Internet domain name. Parisi was ordered to transfer ownership to the singer by the WIPO’s three-member panel.

Madonna argued that the site which originally contained pornography had tarnished her good name.

Parisi had finalized a deal to donate the domain name to Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital which currently owns madonna.org. Parisi said the deal was finalized in June of 2000, before the singer brought her case before the WIPO.

According to the WIPO, Parisi has been involved in other cybersquatting cases. Parisi also registered wallstreetjournal.com

As the Internet grows, cybersquatting cases are becoming more prevalent as individuals register domain names in the hope of making money by selling the names to more appropriate users later. Because there has been no method of regulating domain names, it was bought up on a first come first serve basis.

The WIPO is currently operating a fast-track arbitration system to allow those with greater claims to domain names the right to win in court rather than having to pay squatters.

The WIPO currently has 1,000 cases in arbitration concerning domain names including Christian Dior, Deutsche Bank, Microsoft and Nike. Past cases involved Julia Roberts and the British rock band Jethro Tull. Pop singer Sting recently failed to win the rights to sting.com because “sting” is too common a word in the English language.

ABC may be in the mood for `Buffy’

The witch is gone, but will the vampire slayer save the day? ABC is currently denying rumors that it is considering trying to woo “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” away from the WB, according to E! Online. In an E! Online report, a spokesman for ABC denied rumors from Entertainment Weekly that the network was willing to spend $2 million an episode for the wildly popular vampire-slaying show.

The WB and Buffy’s production company 20th Century Fox had no comment on the rumored deal. Speculation and rumor surround all re-negotiation deals and all parties were quick to note these rumors are no different.

ABC has been trying to coax “Buffy” creator Joss Whedon to write a show for quite a while. Whedon’s contract is being negotiated in January, and he might get the chance to walk away with a successful series under his belt.

In its fifth season, “Buffy” garners $1 million per episode. Insiders are predicting that Fox is looking to double its payday, and if the WB is unwilling or unable to up the ante, ABC might be lurking in the shadows to pounce on the successful teen hit.

Rumors are a mainstay of the re-negotiation process and help production companies raise their rates.

Titanic’s Kate Winslet calls new kid Mia

Kate Winslet, 25-year-old star of “Titanic,” with the biological assistance of husband, film worker Jim Threapleton, 26, gave birth to a baby girl she intends to call Mia in London last Thursday, according to Reuters News Service.

Winslet’s agent Robert Garlock said many names were considered before Mia was settled on at the last minute.

“Kate and Jim had drawn up a list of 10 names but when the baby was born, none of them seemed right,” Garlock said. “Then Mia came to them, and it seemed just right. There is no family significance. They just thought it was a really beautiful name.”

Winslet is currently taking a seven-month break from acting to spend time with her new offspring.

Dr. Seuss musical to be released late

Not since the good doctor himself shuffled off his mortal coil has bad news plagued Seuss fans to this degree. According to Reuters/Variety, “Seussical the Musical” has had its preview date pushed back from Oct. 18 to Oct. 29 and its Broadway premiere from Nov. 9 to Nov. 30. Due to late changes in the production staff, the move was not unanticipated.

Costume designer Catherine Zuber was replaced by William Ivey Long before the shows September practice run in Boston. Two week ago, director and choreographer Rob Marshall was hired to work with the current director Frank Galati and choreographer Kathleen Marshall.

Harry Potter to do charity work

Harry Potter’s best-selling author J.K. Rowling has agreed to put her magical pen to work in the name of charity to raise money for Comic Relief, according to Reuters. The teenage wizard who has been popping up on bookshelves around the world will now appear in two short books in order to raise money for third world causes.

The books are tentatively entitled “Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them” and “Quidditch Through The Ages” and are slated for publication by March 16, 2001.

“I have always had a hankering to write these two books so when [film screenwriter] Richard Curtis wrote to me, I thought it was a wonderful opportunity to be involved with a charity I have always supported,” Rowling said.

After producing four wildly successful Harry Potter novels, Rowling, a 34-year-old single mother, recently donated 500,000 pounds to Britain’s National Council for One Parent Families earlier this month.

Later next year, “Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone” is expected to pack theaters in a manner unseen in recorded history.