Victory for the righteous!
Lo! I've come over all biblical.

The Register today reported that the original Barcelona.com decisions have been reversed by the US Court of Appeals, reversing the original WIPO UDRP decision and the later Virigina District Court decision (which just mimicked the WIPO decision).

I am really glad for Joan Nogueras and his wife. They have been through hell since 2000. Joan has fought and fought and fought in the US courts following the original WIPO decision by a frankly dubious Chilean lawyer, despite having no money.

To obtain the original decision in its favour, the Barcelona City Council did things which were frankly unimaginable (by non-paranoid people) and definitely despicable (I have documentary evidence). I doubt that this entire waste of Barcelona citizens' tax funds (a very expensive international consultancy was employed in several countries) will be reported in the Barcelona press - such failures never are (I speak as a former long-time resident, who spent far too much time as a reporter speaking to politicians): most of the newspapers are filled with press releases from the very same institution, with some even having their printing presses paid for by the government, so always 'unaccountably' shy away from spilling the beans when the editors gets on the case. But Joan is one of those guys who doesn't fear any evil, wherever he walks, and even when it comes from the his own press.

Hooray for Joan, his wife and the kids (and for Shahab and all the rest of the team too). A good bottle of champagne (some occasions call for something more than cava) lies waiting...

Of course, the bizarre thing about the UDRP process is that there's nothing to stop the Council from launching yet another case against Joan, sending us all back to square one - others have done the same in that position. Let's hope the Council finally sees sense, and that ICANN finally addresses this loophole in the process.

US Court of Appeals decision (2 June 2003): http://pacer.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinion.pdf/021396.P.pdf
Some of my original articles on barcelona.com:
Industry Standard: Geographic Domains on Shaky Ground
Public Finance: What's in a name.com?
There was one in The Guardian too, but the night editor cocked up the editing, making it look like PwC were working for Joan, and they never were, so I don't post that link..
There was a lot that didn't come out in the press at the time, that IS and others did not want to report (for fear of seeming unbalanced)....I'm going to have another rummage back through my file of incriminating correspondence from the Barcelona City Council people, for old times' sake.