Domain Name Expert Witness

Bill Hartzer is a trusted and highly sought-after Domain Name Expert Witness with decades of hands-on experience in internet infrastructure, digital forensics, and online intellectual property disputes. Recognized as a pioneer in the domain name industry, Mr. Hartzer provides expert testimony, consulting, and forensic analysis in complex legal cases involving domain names and internet technologies.

With a deep, technical understanding of domain name systems (DNS), WHOIS records, registration lifecycle protocols, and domain ownership history, Bill Hartzer is frequently retained by law firms and corporations for his expertise in matters involving domain name theft, cybersquatting (UDRP and ACPA cases), trademark infringement, domain hijacking, and domain name valuation.

His comprehensive knowledge spans across top-level domains (TLDs), ccTLDs, and new gTLDs, as well as domain registrars, registries, and DNS hosting environments. Mr. Hartzer has authored numerous expert witness reports and rebuttal reports that have played pivotal roles in high-stakes litigation. He is known for his ability to distill highly technical topics into clear, understandable explanations for judges, juries, and arbitration panels.

Mr. Hartzer has been deposed multiple times and has provided live expert testimony in U.S. federal and state courts, as well as in international legal venues. His testimony and findings have been instrumental in helping attorneys prevail in cases involving disputed domain ownership, bad faith registration, and online brand abuse.

In addition to his expert witness work, Bill Hartzer is a respected author, speaker, and consultant in the fields of SEO, digital marketing, and online reputation management. His ongoing contributions to domain name policy and DNS security make him a trusted authority within the broader internet governance community.

Whether advising counsel on technical aspects of domain disputes or testifying in court, Bill Hartzer is committed to providing objective, defensible, and thoroughly documented expert analysis.

Bill Hartzer’s domain name expertise stems from his real-world experience managing domain portfolios, recovering stolen domain names, and conducting background checks through services he founded, including Verified Domains and DNProtect. His development of DNP Score—a domain risk assessment algorithm—has further established him as a go-to resource for law firms needing credible insights into the value, history, and potential liabilities of domain names.

As a domain name expert, Hartzer brings clarity to complex disputes involving ownership rights, registrar transfers, bad faith usage, and SEO implications. His ability to bridge the technical and legal aspects of domain name issues makes him an indispensable partner to attorneys and legal teams handling digital asset litigation. Whether the case involves cybersquatting, domain hijacking, or brand protection, Bill Hartzer delivers expert analysis that holds up under scrutiny in court.

Domain name expert witnesses are professionals who provide testimony in legal cases concerning the rights and responsibilities of domain name owners. A domain name expert witness, such as Bill Hartzer, has specialized knowledge of the legal, technical, and historical aspects of domain names, as well as an understanding of how the law has been applied in the past. Mr. Hartzer is often called upon to provide his expertise in legal cases involving domain names. As such, a domain name expert witness such as Bill Hartzer can play a key role in resolving domain name legal issues.

Expert Witnesses

An expert witness is a professional who has a specialized knowledge of a particular subject, and who is called upon to provide testimony in a legal case. Expert witnesses are expected to have a deep understanding of the topic they are testifying on, and they must be able to explain their knowledge in a clear and concise manner. In cases involving domain names, expert witnesses are expected to have a thorough understanding of the legal, technical, and historical aspects of domain names. Bill Hartzer is highly qualified to provide expert testimony and expert witness regarding domain names because of his expertise in the domain name industry. He previously ran a domain name background check service called Verified Domains, has developed the algorithm behind DNP Score, a ‘risk score’ of domain names, and has personally dealt with hundreds of stolen domain name cases in the past few years.

Bill Hartzer – Domain Name Expert Witness

Bill Hartzer Expert Witness: Recent Legal Cases

The following are a just a few of the recent legal cases where Bill Hartzer has been retained as a witness. A current, full list is available upon request.

• Mickey Schaefer & Associates, LLC d/b/a Tourism Ambassador Institute, and Arizona limited liability company, v. Tourism Academy, Inc., a Florida corporation, Stephen Ekstrom, a Florida resident, and Sheena Works, a Florida resident. United States Court for the District of Arizona, February 2024. Prepared an expert witness report, deposed in the case. Case is ongoing as of October 2024.
• Anicia V. Dela Cruz, Anicia V. Dela Cruz Living Trust, v. Virender K Luthra a/k/a Ravi Luthra; Ankur Luthra Krishna Business Center, Inc., dba FAB Associates, Luthra Trust, Shanda Natasha Love, PLM Loan Management Services, Inc.. Retained as an expert witness in the case. Deposed in the case, Case settled October 2024.
• Stephen Chagares, M.D., Plaintiffs, v. Plaintiffs, Monmouth Medical Center, Monmouth Medical Center Faculty Practice Plan, Inc., Barnabas Health, RWJ Barnabas Health, Bill Arnold, Barbara Mihelic, Joseph Jaeger, Dr. P.H., Dr. Tom Heleotis, Eric Carney, Dr. Manpreet Kohli, Dr. Negin Griffith, John Does 1-100 (fictitious names), and ABC Companies 1-100 (fictitious names), defendants, and, Monmouth Medical Center Barnabas Health, RWJBarnabas Health, Bill Arnold, Barbara Mihelic, Dr. Thomas Heleotis, Eric Carney, and Dr. Manpreet Kohli, defendants/third party plaintiffs, v. The Plastic Surgery Center, The Institute for the Advanced Reconstruction at The Plastic Surgery Center Shrewsbury, Andres Elkwood, M.D., Dr. Antonio Toesca, Marianne Maggs, Nicholas Fotopoulos, Kristie Rossi, John Does A-C (said names being fictitious), and John Does D-F (said names being fictitious), third party defendants. Superior Court of New Jersey Law Division: Monmouth County Docket No: MON-L-4063-19 Civil Action. Online reputation and social media reputation case. Retained as an expert witness, prepared an expert witness report, deposed in the case. Case ongoing as of October 2024.
• Benchmark Towing Systems, LLC, and Heavy Duty Towing, San Antonio, LLC, doing business as San Antonio Heavy Duty, plaintiffs, Civil Action No. 5: 23-cv-614, v. Chacon Business Group, Inc., Chacon Business Group, LLC, Chacon Heavy Towing LLC, Luis Esteviz Chacon III, and Lance E. Chacon IV, defendants. United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, San Antonio Division. Retained as an Expert Witness. Case ongoing as of October 2024.
• Tamera Sweeton, on behalf of herself and others similarly situated, and Jason Moss, on behalf of himself and others similarly situated, plaintiffs, v. WebMD, LLC, defendant. Case No. 4:23-cv-00094-BCW. United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri at Kansas City. Retained as an expert witness, prepared an expert witness report. Case ongoing as of October 2024.
• Jonathan Kindler, on behalf of himself and other members of the putative class, plaintiffs, v. Healthgrades Marketplace, LLC, defendant. Case No. 2316-CV00209 In the Circuit Court of Jackson County, Missouri at Kansas City. Retained as an expert witness. Case ongoing as of October 2024.
• Tamera Sweeton, on behalf of herself and others similarly situated, and Jason Moss, on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated, plaintiffs, v. Vitals Consumer Services, LLC, defendants. Case No. 4:23-cv-00088-BCW. In the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri at Kansas City. Retained as an expert witness. Case ongoing as of October 2024.
• PPH Enterprise Solutions Limited v Go Up Ltd.. High Court of Justice, Queen’s Bench Division, United Kingdom. Retained as an expert witness by the Defendant, June 2022. Prepared an expert witness report, other related consulting regarding search engine data, analytics data needed in the case. Case Settled in mid 2024.
• Crowley, Hoge & Fein, PC v Yoseph Seyoum (Joe Seyoum) v. Christopher G. Hoge, Circuit Court for Montgomery County Maryland. Case Number C-15-CV-22-004124. Prepared several expert witness reports in the case. Deposed in the case. December to October 2024.
• William Willner, plaintiff, v. Seilevel Partners, LP, doing business as Blue Fish Development Group, Ltd, Lisa Hill, Joy Beatty, and Anthony Chen, defendants, in the 201st Judicial District, Travis County, Texas. CAUSE NO. D-1-GN-21-002460. Retained as an expert witness, October 2023.
• Express Gold Cash, Inc., v. C.J Environmental, Inc. d/b/a CashforGoldUSA.com, Emma Johnson Inc., d/b/a WealthySingleMommy.com, Steer Digital Ltd., Daniel Brown, and Adam Toutain. Case Number 1:22-cv-352, United States District Court Western District of New York. Retained as an expert witness by the Plaintiff, August 2022. Prepared an expert witness report.
• San Juan Products, Inc., and American Environmental Container Corp. v. River Pools and Spas, Inc., River Pools Franchising, Inc., Thursday Pools LLC, Jason Hughes, Jim Spiess, Marcus Sheridan, Cristian Shirilla, Alex Planes, Does 1-10, inclusive. Case Number 8:21-cv-02469-TPB-JSS, United States District Court For the Middle District of Florida, Tampa Division. Retained by the Defendants, July 2022. Prepared an expert witness report. Case ongoing as of March 2023.
• Product Manufacturer, Intellectual Property Report. Hired by an Orlando, Florida based Law Firm to research and provide my opinions in the form of an expert report related to internet search engine results and archived internet web pages. June 2022.
• Bob Agahi and Valley East Properties, LLC v. Kevin Richard Kelly and Krista Kelly, Case CV2021-009873, Arizona Superior Court, Maricopa County. Retained as an expert witness by the Defendants, April 2022. Prepared and expert witness report.
• Todd Graves Golf School, LLC v. Kirk Alan Junge, D/B/A Single Plane Golf Schools, Civil Action No. 9:21-cv-80793-AMC, United States District Court, Southern District of Florida, West Palm Beach Division – Retained as an expert witness by the Plaintiff, January 2022. Prepared an expert witness report and supplemental report, deposed March 2022.
• William Handel, Karen Synesiou, CSP Holdco, Inc., v Ovation Fertility, FPG Services, LLC, FPG Labs, LLC, and Does 1-20, Case Number 20STCV17139, Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Los Angeles. Retained as an expert witness by the Plaintiff, December 2021. Prepared expert witness report June 2022, Deposed August 2022. Case completed February 2023.
• O’Connor Enterprise Group, Inc., DBA EPC Group, v. Kaiser Group Ventures, LLC and Aaron Kaiser, No. 2020-71475, District Court of Harris County Texas, 164th Judicial District – Retained as an expert witness by the Plaintiff, May 2021. Prepared an expert witness report, October 2021.
• Soter Technologies, LLC v IP Video Corporation, A+ Technology & Security, Inc., & Advance Convergence Group, Inc., Civil Action No. 20-cv-05007-LJL, United States District Court For The Southern District of New York – Retained as an expert witness by the Plaintiff. May 2021.
• Paid Search Engine Tools, LLC v. Google Canada Corporation, Google LLC, and Alphabet Inc., Docket Number T-40-18, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (Federal Court) – Retained as an expert witness by the Plaintiff, December 2020.
• St George Executive Shuttle, Inc. v. Western Trails Charters & Tours LLC, d/b/a Salt Lake Express, Civil Action No. 2:17-cv-00900-BCW, United States District Court for the District of Utah Central Division – Retained as an expert witness by the Plaintiff. Prepared an expert witness report, August 2020.
• Michelle Schilling v. Frank Schilling, Cause Number FAM 227 of 2017, Grand Court of the Cayman Islands – Retained as an expert witness by the Plaintiff. Prepared an expert witness affidavit (submitted to the court). Testified in the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands, October 2019.
• John Hart v. Michael Galantino, John Walker, Case Number 1106, Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County – Civil Division – Retained as an expert witness by the Plaintiff. Prepared an expert witness report, August 2019.
• Opportune, LLP v Oportun, Inc. and Oportun, LLC, Case Number 4:18-CV-7, United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division – Retained as an expert witness by the Defendant. Prepared an expert witness report, provided rebuttal report, deposed, August 2019.
• A.B. Cernelle v. Graminex, LLC and Cynthia May, Case Number 03-10291 – Retained as an expert witness. Prepared an expert witness report, testified in Federal District Court, Detroit, in April 2019. Retained by the Plaintiff, A.B. Cernelle.
• New England Based Marketing Company – Retained as expert witness in upcoming Online Reputation Management case. Case has not been filed yet. Retained by the Plaintiff in 2019.
• RGB Plastic, LLC dba Restaurantware v. First Pack LLC dba Pack N Wood, Case No. 17-cv-6283. Retained as an expert witness by the Plaintiff. United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. Retained by the Plaintiff, RGB Plastic, LLC dab Restaurantware.
• XYZ Media, Inc. v. Mark Maris, Adam Alfia, Michael Terrell, and Lead Crank, LLC – Civil Action No. 3:17-cv-00854-B. Retained as an expert witness in SEO and lead generation case by one of the Defendants. United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas. Retained by the Defendant.
• Christopher Hamilton v. Summa Consulting – Case 37-2014-00011235-CU-FR-CTL – Retained as SEO and Domain Name expert witness. Superior Court of the State of California for the County of San Diego. Retained by the Defendants.
• Brightedge Technologies, Inc. V. Searchmetrics GMBH and Searchmetrics, Inc. – Case 3:14-cv-01009 WHO – Retained as an SEO expert witness by the Plaintiff, June 2017. US District Court for the California Northern District.

 

Domain Names

Domain names are unique addresses that identify a website on the internet. Domain names can be used to identify a website or to direct users to it. Domain names are not identical to trademarks or copyrights but are still subject to the same legal protections. Disputes over certain domain names could lead to legal action.

Domain Name Experience

Domain name expert witnesses should have an in-depth understanding of all aspects of domain names, including the technical and historical aspects. They should be able explain both the legal implications of domain names registration and transfer as well as technical aspects of domain resolution. They must also have an in-depth knowledge of the history and law of domain name disputes. As previously mentioned, Bill Hartzer previously ran a domain name background check service called Verified Domains, and developed the algorithm behind DNP Score at DNProtect. He personally has been involved with the recovery of hundreds of stolen domain names. It would be difficult to find someone who is more qualified and knowledgeable on issues related to domain name background checks and stolen domain names.

Bill Hartzer and DNAccess: Leading the Charge in Domain Name Protection and Recovery

As the founder and lead consultant behind DNAccess, Bill Hartzer brings decades of domain name industry expertise to businesses and individuals who need advanced protection, monitoring, and recovery of their digital assets. With a proven track record in resolving high-stakes domain disputes, recovering stolen domains, and preventing online brand abuse, Hartzer has positioned DNAccess as a go-to authority for domain name security and consulting.

Under Bill’s leadership, DNAccess offers comprehensive domain name consulting services tailored to today’s digital threats. He understands that registering a domain is only the beginning—securing that domain and maintaining its integrity over time requires strategic planning, technical oversight, and proactive defense. That’s why DNAccess provides tools like DNShield for real-time domain monitoring, domain background checks, registrar security assessments, and expert guidance on implementing preventative measures to safeguard domain ownership.

Through partnerships with NameBlock and GlobalBlock, DNAccess also delivers powerful brand protection solutions that block deceptive lookalike domains and shield clients from phishing, impersonation, and cybersquatting. Whether it’s deploying BrandLock to prevent identical domain registrations across top-level domains, or using AbuseShield to detect homoglyph attacks, Hartzer ensures DNAccess clients are protected from every angle.

Perhaps most critically, Bill Hartzer and DNAccess specialize in the recovery of stolen domain names—having successfully reclaimed over 500 stolen domains. His forensic approach, industry connections, and deep understanding of registrar protocols allow him to act quickly and decisively, often recovering domains before they’re resold or weaponized.

With DNAccess, Bill Hartzer combines technical know-how, investigative skill, and a passion for digital brand protection to deliver peace of mind in an increasingly volatile online environment. Whether you’re acquiring a domain, safeguarding a portfolio, or responding to a theft, DNAccess offers the experience and resources to keep your online identity secure.

Legal

In cases involving domain names legal issues, domain name expert witnesses can often be called upon to testify. Their expertise may be used in cases that involve the the registration of domain names, or issues related to cyber squatting or trademark infringement, as well as “bad faith” use of a domain name. Domain name experts witnesses can also be called to offer advice on the best way forward in certain situations.

An Expert in Domain Names and Related Legal Issues

An expert witness related to domain names is someone who has extensive knowledge and experience in domain names and legal issues related Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Bill Hartzer has extensive knowledge in these areas and can provide reliable guidance for both individuals and businesses who need help in understanding how to protect their online assets, how to build a strong domain name, and how to implement an SEO strategy.

As a domain name expert and SEO expert, Mr. Hartzer is the perfect person to provide you with his professional opinion as an expert witness. For a detailed resume or CV, as well as the industries and topics Mr. Hartzer has provided services in, please contact him. Or, if you prefer, send an email: Hello @ Hartzer.com.

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