Help, a competitor bought my Web domain!
Have you had skirmishes over your Web domain? How do you safeguard your company’s identity online?
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DiggI am sorry to say that this article completely misconstrues cybersquatting under the UDRP. As a UDRP specialist, it is always disheartening to see this kind of misinformation in the media. I have analyzed the errors in this post here.
People need to understand the UDRP if they are going to play in cyber-space.
This also brings up another new issue for domains and a company’s online presence: a competitor buying the keyword generic descriptive domains for your company’s products and services, such as “irrigation pipes” or “reservation services”. A company owning these types of domains has a distinct advantage online from the use of these domains as “direct navigation” and “secondary branding”.
Stephen Douglas
Successclick.com
Most domain registrars don’t make money in registrar business. Instead they amass whatever domain names they can using their status as registrar and thrive on domain name real estate.
Some of the domain registrars are actually crooks that deliberately steal from the owners, by blocking user from making a payment for renewal.
In our case, a web site was registered with a registrar “dotregistrar.com”, five years ago. After 5 years, we wanted to renew the domain. Phone calls to the registrar went to answering machine. No emails were responded. On reporting to ICANN, one person responded by email saying that we have temporary reprieve for one month and we should renew it. But our login credentials to the site will not work and we were unable to renew it online. Numbers of emails were sent to dotregistar to reset the login. We got one email response asking for non-existing documents like “show us the proof of payment” when it was initially registered 5 years ago. He would not take any other proof. Or take credit card over phone.
This went on for a month and at the first day after the grace period – the domain was auctioned off.
These registrar companies operate through crook network/setup in various countries, and they coordinate very well to yank a domain from the owner.
Several complaints were lodged to ICANN, with no end results.
ICANN is accrediting registrars who has no physical address, phone numbers that always goes to voice mail, and emails that never get answered.
ICANN is an ineffective body and is letting internet domains to be controlled by worldwide mafia network.
Most domain registrars don’t make money in registrar business. Instead they amass whatever domain names they can using their status as registrar and thrive on domain name real estate.
Some of the domain registrars are actually crooks that deliberately steal from the owners, by blocking user from making a payment for renewal.
In our case, a web site was registered with a registrar “dotregistrar.com”, five years ago. After 5 years, we wanted to renew the domain. Phone calls to the registrar went to answering machine. No emails were responded. On reporting to ICANN, one person responded by email saying that we have temporary reprieve for one month and we should renew it. But our login credentials to the site will not work and we were unable to renew it online. Numbers of emails were sent to dotregistar to reset the login. We got one email response asking for non-existing documents like “show us the proof of payment” when it was initially registered 5 years ago. He would not take any other proof. Or take credit card over phone.
This went on for a month and at the first day after the grace period – the domain was auctioned off.
These registrar companies operate through crook network/setup in various countries, and they coordinate very well to yank a domain from the owner.
Several complaints were lodged to ICANN, with no end results.
ICANN is accrediting registrars who has no physical address, phone numbers that always goes to voice mail, and emails that never get answered.
ICANN is an ineffective body and is letting internet domains to be controlled by worldwide mafia network.
When it comes to a web address that could also be a company name, register first or expect to be the highest bidder. If the name is not protected by a trademark, ownership of the associated domain name belongs to whoever registered the domain name first.
This has become a common occurrence over the last few years. Domainers who quickly bought up .com addresses that sounded like good business names, ideas or whatever have ended up making a very good living from businesses and individuals who, late in the game, decided they needed a domain that is already owned. These guys have one option, find another name or pay the Domainer who owns the domain. This can cost thousands and even hundreds of thousands of dollars.
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Enrico – we’ve checked with another source to add some additional reporting to the story, but the central premise we started with still stands: this isn’t about “cybersquatting” in the traditional sense (buying a domain name for the express purpose of sitting on it until another party, such as a trademark holder who would typically be associated with the domain, purchases it back at an inflated price). It’s about the legal gray area of whether a rival can take over a domain you’ve previously inhabited, but NOT trademarked, after you’ve let it lapse.
-Stacy (FSB Web editor)