How Can Cybersquatters Be Evicted, Cheaply? 97
wmshub asks: "Slashdot has covered stories where big mean companies threw poor little people off of web sites with names too close to that of the company. But what about when you are the company and the cybersquatter isn't even using the name? I have a small (ok, basically just me) company. The web site that exactly matches my company name has been registered since 2001, which is before I legally registered my company name but after I started doing business. Despite being registered for 4 years, the site is still nothing but a pile of banner ads - not even a hint as to why they want that particular name for their site. I contacted the owner, but they are not interested in selling (at any price, they said). If I read the ICANN guidelines correctly, domain name owners who have 'no legitimate claim for the name' can be evicted by people who do, so I think I should be able to demand they hand the name over. Has anybody ever tried this, or heard of a case where somebody with very limited funds (ie, not enough money to hire a lawyer) has been able to evict a squatter? Or do you always have to hire a lawyer and pay thousands in court fees to make this happen?"
Domain name doesn't always equal web site (Score:3)
It's just a mapping of text to a number and there are many services that can run on the computer identified by that number.
Re:Domain name doesn't always equal web site (Score:1)
You'd like to ruin that for him?
This is like eminent domain for web sites, what you want.
Re:Domain name doesn't always equal web site (Score:2)
Re:Domain name doesn't always equal web site (Score:2)
There is more to the net than the web (Score:5, Insightful)
Also, if the domain owner was willing to talk to you and told you that he didn't want to sell, as opposed to asking for a huge amount of money, then I don't see what reason you have to say that they are squating. They have it and want to hold on to it. I really think that if you didn't register the domain name before hand you might just be out of luck.
Re:There is more to the net than the web (Score:1)
He's been squatted, plain and simple. He would be able to help us out if he'd just do a dump of all of the DNS entries for that zone. I'm willing to bet it goes something like this:
A zone.tld
CNAME www.zone.tld.
I'd be stunned if there's anything beyond that, other than an MX record with a virtusertable entry like this:
@zone.tld slimyscumbag@cybersquatterzrus.tld
Re:There is more to the net than the web (Score:2)
Re:There is more to the net than the web (Score:1, Insightful)
Ummmm... he says they had the domain BEFORE he started using the name for himself. To me that makes the submitter the squatter, not the other way around.
"Hey, you have this domain. Well, now I've started using the name, so you should give me the domain or else I'll sic my army of slashdotters on you".
submitter sounds like a whiny scumbag.
Re:There is more to the net than the web (Score:5, Insightful)
Bottom line is that he has nothing to prove. He doesn't want to sell. It's his domain. He's doing nothing wrong. He registered the domain before the submitter. End of story.
The real lesson to be learned here is that if you are going to start a company then in addition to investigating company names with the Secretary of State you should also think about a web presence and investigate what domain names are available. A person reading Slashdot should have known that much back in 2001. It's the submitters fault for not getting the domain name he wanted. If he's unhappy about that then he might want to talk to a lawyer that specializes in this type of law rather than submit a question to Slashdot. A lawyer can tell him if he thinks he has a case and let him know how much it would cost to retain him for the job.
Next Ask Slashdot, please.
And the converse .... (Score:5, Informative)
I have a website that I've owned for years. Now some guy is trying to take it away from me by claiming it is his business name (non-trademarked).
How can I cheaply defend myself from his actions and keep my domain name?
Re:And the converse .... (Score:2)
How can I cheaply defend myself from his actions and keep my domain name?
When contacted, all you have to do is show the reason why you own the domain name. Other factors to watch for, if a company registers their business name after you registered the domain name they are SOL. The rules are fair for the most part.
Re:There is more to the net than the web (Score:2)
What of the other side of the story? Some corporate overlord company goes out and registers all open available domain names, using a different employee name on each one, which match anything remotely in the dictionary and then holds on to them just to piss people off? The employees are told, if anyone asks about the domain name, jus
Re:There is more to the net than the web (Score:2, Insightful)
I bought a new flat panel monitor about a year ago. My old CRT monitor is sitting in my closet, on the floor, and hasn't been plugged in in over a year. Is it the right of you, or anyone else, to come into my home and tell me that since I am not putting my property to the use that others have deemed it should be that I must relinquish owners
Re:There is more to the net than the web (Score:1)
I never said there was any right involved. I only suggested that it would be nice if someone being a useless lump of banner ads on the web would give up a domain name to someone who wants to make a legitimate use of it. Which would you rather have in your neighborhood? Homes covered with graf
Re:There is more to the net than the web (Score:1)
That misunderstanding aside, your explanation that I'm not preventing anyone else from buying a flat panel display frames my point exactly: the OP can go buy a domain name, he just can't have that domain name. My hypothetical monitor-thief can go buy a monitor, he just can't have mine. The reason he can't have mine is because I
Re:There is more to the net than the web (Score:1)
If someone has an attachment to a $10 domain name that they're using for a couple generic banner ads, they need to have their head checked.
Re:There is more to the net than the web (Score:1)
Not for sale. And as a whole lot of other posters have pointed out, just because the web site only has banner ads doesn't mean the DNS entry is used only for that purpose. You're endorsing exactly the role of that committee: we'll decide whether or not you're properly using what you paid for.
Maybe you're being purposely obtuse
Re:There is more to the net than the web (Score:1)
Yes. You do have a right to be a dick. I hope it makes you happy and keeps you warm at night. Everyone needs so
Re:There is more to the net than the web (Score:2)
No one's condoning bullying. If they want to keep the domain name they are fully within their right to do it. No one's going to force them off.
What I said (I know, you're an AC troll, so you're not required to actually respond to what I said) was that if _I_ owned a domain and was doing nothing with it aside from hosting a few banner ads that _I_ would hap
Re:There is more to the net than the web (Score:1)
Re:There is more to the net than the web (Score:2)
That the page currently has banner ads on it doesn't talk about the structure of the site and whether older content can still be linked to. A site I once worked on has done a similar sort of thing - the root page simply punts you to the owning entity's main page while all the old functionality remains underneath to satisfy the terms-of-ser
Re:There is more to the net than the web (Score:1)
Exactly. This is extremely important with a BNC service, I'll tell ya. You know, because it's really important for your whois to come up like, for instance...
*** parasonic is n=para@ i.own.natalie.portman.and.am.cooler.than.cmdrtaco . net (*Unknown*)
*** on irc via server brown.freenode.net (Madison, WI, US)
*** parasonic has been idle 4 seconds
A totally legitimate claim to cmdrtaco.net
Where do you draw the line? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Where do you draw the line? (Score:2)
So instead of trying to come up with a definition I say make it so all domains go up for auction every year and the proceeds get distributed to charity or something. That would quickly filter out the squatters (i.e. not serious) users of domain names from the legitimate users. I'd bid $50 on microsoft.com, think I'd get it?
Re:Where do you draw the line? (Score:2)
I'd like to... (Score:1, Funny)
Trademark your name (Score:5, Informative)
If you trademark the name (nolo books for help) then you have a legitimate claim to the name and you should be able to get it through the ICANN expedited resolution service.
Re:Trademark your name (Score:3, Insightful)
This is why there are at least three deltas in the world. One for airlines, one for faucets, and one for electronics
Now which one gets delta.com, well the person who registered the name first, in this case Delta airlines.
So maybe the person who register the domain name has the same registered name as the person asking does.
Re:Trademark your name (Score:2)
Here's what you have to do:
You file for a federal trademark registration and you better get it quietly.
Don't let anyone know you have it.
Wait 5 years, renew it.
After 5 years it becomes "incontestable".
No one can do anything about you then. If the domain owner finds out you have filed for a federal trademark registration they can contest it during that 5 year period. After that they are enjoined from doing so.
There
Re:Trademark your name (Score:1)
I have a website with a large community. I don't charge for the service I offer. I'm not legally a 501c3 or anything (haven't done the paperwork), but I don't sell anything or make any money and that isn't even the intent.
Anyway, I have a problematic user who has done everything under the sun since I disabled their account several years ago to disrupt the site. They've spread rumors, lies, harassed my members, created dozens of false accounts and harassed people, called t
make it "unprofitable" for them to own it... (Score:2)
Filing a complaint - there should be a way for each netizen to do so - to the icaan if it's the only choice you have, or trying directly with their registrar
Or you just send a nice cease-or-desist letter (don't know where you are so ymmv) and threaten to act this, and see whats happens...don't speak to the (pos
Taking candy from strangers (Score:5, Insightful)
And your legitimate claim is that you want it? That you want it really really bad? I know domain names are very important, but if you have no claim to it other than desire and the owner isn't cybersquatting (even if he is totally wasting it), why do you think you should get it?
I can see good arguments for both sides of this, but using legal pressure to take things away from their owners is disgusting to me. I hate it when the government does it and when people or companies do it. Ownership is [should be] ownership, whether some stranger likes it or not. Taking it is theft, whether you take it physically or through legal manipulation.
Re:Taking candy from strangers (Score:2)
My guess as to why he wants it is just that I get about 150,000 visits per month, totalling 5,000,000 hits, on my current, non-obvious URL. Not huge, but fairly busy. My guess is that a few tens of thousands of those people looking for my site went to his first, so he only wants the site to catch people looking for mine, and show them his banner ads.
In other words, I'm guessing that he has
Re:Taking candy from strangers (Score:2)
Re:Taking candy from strangers (Score:1)
Re:Taking candy from strangers (Score:2)
And, just restating what is obvious: DNS domain names are used for more than just websites. Like this guy:
http://ask.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=163840&cid =13689919 [slashdot.org]
I think this guy should just forget about taking control of this website and move on in life.
Re:Taking candy from strangers (Score:2)
CyberClaimJumper (Score:4, Insightful)
I wish I new what the name is. My guess is that you and the other guys both thought of the same name at two different times. They were probably trying to come up with names that were either "cool" or names that are likely to be typed into a browser. In either case they registered the name and loaded it up with adds so that if someone does type in that name they go to that site and look at the adds.
Running web sites with cool names to get advertising revenue is a real business and is a valid use of a domain name. In other words, they have just as much of a right and are just as legitimate as you are. So, why call them cybersquaters? I could just as well, and just as validly, call you a cyberclaimjumper. As far as I can tell you are just trying to rob somebody of a source of income. The only way you could convince me otherwise is to prove that they knew about the name of your company and went and registered it.
My advice is to change the name of your company. Spend some time researching names that are 1) not trademarked, and 2) available as domain names. Then, register the domain name. When you meet the requirements for registering the trademark, then register the trademark.
Stonewolf
Re:CyberClaimJumper (Score:2, Informative)
Right, and this what the UDRP calls a "bad-faith" registration, which is one the criteria for yanking someone's domain. A usual red-flag for bad-faith registrations is attempting to sell the domain to the person claiming legitimate ownership, usually at an inflated price -- something that this purported cybersquatter not only didn't do, but he didn't even agree to sell when appr
Obviously... (Score:1)
Re:CyberClaimJumper (Score:2)
That's like using a bowl of clean water to wash your hands, then dumping it down the drain, when the guy next to you is dehydrating to death. Ad revenue.
Re:CyberClaimJumper (Score:2)
Re:CyberClaimJumper (Score:1)
There's a tolerable tradeoff point in services vs. revenue. Look to the derision of Yahoo! from its once mighty alter. There's a reason why Google got everyone's attention.
If someone registers $my_favorite_hobby\.com and fills it with completely unrelated junk, perhaps even some fringe group religious bunk, just for the purpose of ad revenue then I would hope they would be less hypocritical enough to cede $my_favorite_hobby\.com when I turn $my_fa
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm waiting for this to happen (Score:5, Interesting)
Big Bucks (Score:2)
Re:Big Bucks (Score:1)
Of course, I learned this at the old age of 17 when I was working in a law office. Might be a bit facetious.
--
Phil
Squatted domains based on family names? (Score:3, Interesting)
Yes, this is still dependent on defining what it means to simply be squatting and having no legitimate clame to a domain. Take my name for example: MacPhail.
Anyone ever been able to get their last name out of the grips of a company like these?
Re:Squatted domains based on family names? (Score:3, Funny)
Yours,
John Microsoft
Re:Squatted domains based on family names? (Score:2)
a pullitzer winner.
His name is 'his trademark' and he got someone to drop the name by having the papers lawyer contact the squatter.. it was apparently picked up right after he won the award...
Re:Squatted domains based on family names? (Score:3, Interesting)
Anyone ever been able to get their last name out of the grips of a company like these?
Whaddaya mean,
Re:Squatted domains based on family names? (Score:2)
Re:Squatted domains based on family names? (Score:1)
Names are massively non-unique. So claiming a .com for your surname is going to be very hard. Whoever manages it is bound to annoy other people of the same name later. Of the two sites you list the second one seems useful for those who want to be associated with their surname, but didn't think to register the domain themselves - presumably anybody can sign up and be linked with the domain?
If you're interested in surnames specifically you might have a chance at using the .name TLD. That was advertised
Same here.. (Score:2)
It's up for renewal in 2 months -- maybe I'll get it this time
How do I steal a domain... (Score:4, Insightful)
I contacted the owner, but they are not interested in selling (at any price, they said).
The name is theirs and they want to keep it. Why do you think you should be able to take it away from them?
Get clear on what squatting is (Score:1)
I registered patch.com in March of 1994 - before there was much (any?) awareness that domain names could have economic value. Over the years I've received offers from people expressing an interest in buying the name. They have their reasons for wanting the domain name.
Mine is simple. It's my web home. I'm attached to it. I'm not holding out for some can't refuse financial offer or even one that's hefty enough to pop my eyes open. I'm hanging on to patch.com becuase it's the place on the web that I h
Re:Get clear on what squatting is (Score:1)
If you were running an ftp server, what do the clients care what they're connecting to? That can be moved.
Re:Get clear on what squatting is (Score:1)
Re:Get clear on what squatting is (Score:1)
It's why Toys'r'Us isn't called FarmEquipmentDepot. In terms of ftp mirrors I don't expect every place that I get a kernel to have the word "linux" in it, except in the path or filename.
Do you really know nothing about marketing or are you trolling?
Re:Get clear on what squatting is (Score:1)
rights, ownership (Score:4, Insightful)
go ahead, mod me down. good karma in the real world is worth bad karma on slashdot
Re:rights, ownership (Score:1)
Re:rights, ownership (Score:2)
BTW wikipedia is in no way how the work 'IS'
for instance 'No one in the world really "owns" a
and in turn, read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cybersquatting [wikipedia.org] for an
Re:rights, ownership (Score:1)
Here's the answer (Score:4, Informative)
Check out there Domain Name Dispute Resolution Service (DNDRS [wipo.int]).
You should also consult ICANN's Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy [icann.org], which is the guidline for WIPO's aritration.
Here's an abbreviated of what you would need to qualify:
Now since the owner of the domain says he will not sell "at any price," and they probably aren't out to disrupt your business... it seems like your SOL. Hope this is helpful for anyone who has a legitimate dispute and need for arbitration.
Oh, and I know a lot of people are going to say that the whole arbitration process might be out of date as most "squatters" have realized all you have to do is put up one of those "search" tool that serves soley for advertising, and then try to sell the domain for a ridiculous amount of money. Those people are right.
You're sunk, I'd guess (Score:3, Interesting)
IANAL, but that statement seems to say that you have lost. Because he got it first, before you legally registered your company name, you are probably out of luck.
Re:You're sunk, I'd guess (Score:1)
Taking that in full context, I think he has a pretty good basis for having the domain name given to him.
not necessarily squatting (Score:2)
Re:not necessarily squatting (Score:1)
In that case I'd ask,"What does the client care what's in the address? Give them a static IP. It won't matter." Someone else mentioned a MUD, and that could be attached to a name pretty easily. But if it's just an ftpd/sshd/gopherd/wais/whatever with no real attachment to the name, it'd be nice to see people cooperate in building a better net presence than a set of banner ads.
Re:not necessarily squatting (Score:1)
It seems to matter to you.
Re:not necessarily squatting (Score:1)
If you take a quote out of context just to harp for the opposite viewpoint that's just plain trolling. Consider yourself fed.
How is this even "cybersquatting?" (Score:1)
Domain Managment Tools for Dummies (Score:2)
Domains are a business asset. You need to take the time to understand them -
No TLD mentioned... (Score:2)
The web site that exactly matches my company name...
Since there is no TLD mentioned, I assume that the .com TLD is implied.
I find it really sad that we are in a situation where the .com TLD gets all the attention. If you have a business and don't own the .com domain that matches your company name or a trademark you own, you're practically screwed. The .com TLD namespace has grown into a global business name registry, which effectively hinders companies that are not even on the same continent from havi
Re:No TLD mentioned... (Score:3, Informative)
* com - business
* net - internet providers
* org - not for profit (is Slashdot.org a non-profit?)
* edu - education and enforced AFAIK
* mil - military and enforced AFAIK
I frequently look for resources on the edu domain and find it a joy. I can't think of any time finding a missuse. It just works.
IMHO the TLDs uses
Re:No TLD mentioned... (Score:2)
Quite easy, bnac.biz. Easy to spell, and it fits.
I'm quite content with my non-"mainstream" TLD.
have you considered alternatives? (Score:2)
then you have other examples like del.icio.us where people really took advantage of their top-level domain.
so maybe look around and forget
Duh. (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: How Can Cybersquatter Be Evicted, Cheaply? (Score:1)
Try 3rd party help in aquiring (Score:1)
Alternative Solution (Score:1)