[thelist] Domain Auctions/Squatters

[M. Seyon]

Message from Joshua Olson (12/16/2004 09:37 AM)
>Has anybody on this list had any experience with sites that claim to be
>domain auction houses or otherwise squat on a domain and ask for lots of
>money to give it up?  When a client of yours is looking for a particular
>domain and it's already taken by one of these places, what sort of advice do
>you give to them?
>
>Again, how do you handle these sites?  Do you tell your clients to pay up or
>find a new domain?

I had one group that I was advising who let their registration fees lapse, 
and their domain was promptly picked up by one of these scum. They had, in 
my unlawyerly opinion, a strong case for arbitration - prior use of the 
trademark, internationally-recognised name, plus the person who registered 
it clearly had no intentions of using the domain for anything practical. 
Instead they bought out the domain, I'm not sure how much they paid but it 
was probably about 50-100 times more than they should have.

I think the problem is for newly created companies who don't have their 
name trademarked as yet. For example if I decided to name my company 
digiprime.com then went doing a whois, I'd find it's been registered since 
1999, way before the idea even entered my head. I don't think there's any 
recourse in a situation like that.

I'm currently trying to negotiate with one of these squatters for a domain 
I want, I offered $50 and they're asking $199. On principle, I don't think 
I'll agree to that price.

regards.
-marc

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