Domain Legal Support on Subscription Model

[Ted.T]

Hello, my friends!

Since some time ago I'm thinking about combining my main profession, as a lawyer, and my hobby, as a domainer. I have a Master's Degree in International Law, that helps me understand the rules around international business and infrastructure, however I'm thinking about getting a new Master's Degree in Intellectual Property Law, that's closer to domains.

I know that lawyers charge per hour, but what about a new concept, legal support on a subscription model. Let's say you pay monthly a small amount and receive anytime support and advises in everything related to domains, for example contract drafting, UDRPs, Trademarks, etc.

It's a really interesting field for me, and I would be glad to hear your opinions.

What do you think, would you agree to pay a small fee pro month to get anytime legal support in your domaining activity?

Ted

 

[Ted.T]

Well, my friends? Still no opinions?

 

[todaygold]

Well since no one else chimed in, I'll give you my opinion. Personally, I don't think a lot of domainers are going to want to pay a monthly fee for something like this. In the domain industry, a standard sales contract that can be used over and over (just changing the name, dates, price, etc.) is generally just fine for 99% of domains...no need to hire a lawyer to draft up a new one for each transaction. Similarly, most domainers know not to register trademarks, so that's kind of moot. And in the rare case of a UDRP, most domainers are capable of submitting a written response without a professionals help. So personally, I don't see it being all that useful. Plus, how would it work? They pay $X per month and in-turn are eligible for X number of hours of support per month? Does it roll-over or accumulate from month-to-month? What is the charge per hour after X number of hours? Or is it unlimited number of hours as long as they paid the fee? It seems like there would be too many details to make it really worth it.

 

[Ted.T]

Well since no one else chimed in, I'll give you my opinion. Personally, I don't think a lot of domainers are going to want to pay a monthly fee for something like this. In the domain industry, a standard sales contract that can be used over and over (just changing the name, dates, price, etc.) is generally just fine for 99% of domains...no need to hire a lawyer to draft up a new one for each transaction. Similarly, most domainers know not to register trademarks, so that's kind of moot. And in the rare case of a UDRP, most domainers are capable of submitting a written response without a professionals help. So personally, I don't see it being all that useful. Plus, how would it work? They pay $X per month and in-turn are eligible for X number of hours of support per month? Does it roll-over or accumulate from month-to-month? What is the charge per hour after X number of hours? Or is it unlimited number of hours as long as they paid the fee? It seems like there would be too many details to make it really worth it.

Well, any of us is good in smth, but there are a lot of situations when your own knowledge is not enough. We have seen a lot cases when domainers post here their problems with legal aspects. This is where I'm able to help.

Drafting a contract can be tricky also, as the situation described by Cyberian regarding the disclaimer. A standard model contract that can be found online is not always the best choice, and a clever lawyer can interpret it in the way he needs (sometimes one sentence or even a word can have multiple meanings, and this is a lawyer's job to find the suitable meaning).

Even if the working week is officially 40h, I'm not intending to divide it and offer only X hours to a subscriber. So, paying the fee a subscriber receives unlimited number of hours.

 

[todaygold]

Well, any of us is good in smth, but there are a lot of situations when your own knowledge is not enough. We have seen a lot cases when domainers post here their problems with legal aspects. This is where I'm able to help.

Drafting a contract can be tricky also, as the situation described by Cyberian regarding the disclaimer. A standard model contract that can be found online is not always the best choice, and a clever lawyer can interpret it in the way he needs (sometimes one sentence or even a word can have multiple meanings, and this is a lawyer's job to find the suitable meaning).

Even if the working week is officially 40h, I'm not intending to divide it and offer only X hours to a subscriber. So, paying the fee a subscriber receives unlimited number of hours.

But again, once you have a base contract, you don't need a lawyer to draft a new one each time. This is similar to someone renting an apartment, you have a base lease drawn up and use that each time. The landlord doesn't get a lawyer to draft up a new contract every time he wants to rent an apartment out.
And as far as the post regarding the disclaimer, from my understanding, simply adding a signature at the end of your email asking people not to use it against you doesn't really have a legal backing, so that seems kind of moot.
Finally, do you have a price point you are thinking about? I would be interested in having an idea of how much you planned to charge for something like this?

 

[Ted.T]

simply adding a signature at the end of your email asking people not to use it against you doesn't really have a legal backing,

simply adding not, but writing a little more about the email's scope, explaining that email conversation cannot be considered a contract, etc. can help.

Finally, do you have a price point you are thinking about? I would be interested in having an idea of how much you planned to charge for something like this?

I'm still not sure atm, as there is only your feedback. I was thinking about low-mid XX pro month. I think it's a fair fee.

 

[todaygold]

simply adding not, but writing a little more about the email's scope, explaining that email conversation cannot be considered a contract, etc. can help.

I'm still not sure atm, as there is only your feedback. I was thinking about low-mid XX pro month. I think it's a fair fee.

Maybe I misunderstood the thread about the email disclaimer, but from my understanding it was about negotiating a deal, then they turnaround and file a UDRP against you claiming bad faith because you were trying to sell it to them...not about the email being considered a contract. In which case, adding the disclaimer wouldn't help stop them from using it against you if they file a UDRP.
I suppose for a pro domainer that would be okay, although if you get close to $50 a month, $600 a year might be a tough sell, especially if they rarely use it. And it might be problematic if only a few take you up on your offer, especially if you charge low $xx/month, because you may end up doing a lot of work by years end with little to show for it. You would definitely need to make sure you had enough interest, which so far, it doesn't seem there is that much.

 

[Ted.T]

So, only 3 votes. Don't hesitate to vote, even if you don't agree with such a service.

 

[SpareDomains]

I actually thought about a prepaid deal many years ago. My thoughts at the time were you'd need to formulate a risk factor into the monthly pricing model based on the domains. So you'd need to database all of the customers domains protected by the plan. So domainer with 100 clean domains pays one price. Domainer with 500 clean domains pays another price. Domainer with risky domains either pays a higher price or you strike those from your database as not protected due to obvious trademark issues etc... Basically you wouldn't want to protect a domainer based on simply they bought the 500 domain plan as then you could find out that 400 of them contain trademarks in them. So you'd have to analyze each portfolio and exclude issues or charge a higher premium for the issues. I'd probably go with exclude issues as no sense continually losing over obvious trademarks.

So I've thought of it in the past and like the idea but think it's more than creating plans based on how many domains a domainer owns and more every domain would need to be analyzed and databased as protected/not protected under the plan so a little labor intensive.

 

[Kate]

Domainers will probably need legal counsel on just a few things:

• drafting contracts
• respond to C&Ds, UDRPs, or worse but infrequent: lawsuits
• advice on borderline domains, or domains that can pose TM issues

I could be wrong, but I think you will end up spending the most time and energy on rotten cases of people who think they can do stupid things because they have 'insurance'.
I am not sure there is enough demand for such a service. Maybe that will surprise you, but the majority of domainers are hobbyists and are not making enough money on domain names to justify the service.

Few transactions require involvement of a lawyer.
I have sold (and bought) hundreds of domains and almost never had to deal with a lawyer.

 

[Name Trader]

I voted Probably, but I meant it as Possibly

 

[RJ]

I voted yes. When I operated a business in California I used a service called Pre-Paid Legal that was similar in concept. It was helpful to have lawyers on standby that could review contracts as needed. The only downside was they typically were not that familiar with domain names in general.

I think your idea sounds awesome, especially if it included C&D + UDRP protection where you would write a response in the event of a dispute.

RJ

 

[Ted.T]

So I've thought of it in the past and like the idea but think it's more than creating plans based on how many domains a domainer owns and more every domain would need to be analyzed and databased as protected/not protected under the plan so a little labor intensive.

In fact, it'a a good idea, but the amount of time needed to analyze the data makes it not reasonable and can't justify a low price. Plus to this, a lawyer should do his work indifferent of the case.

I could be wrong, but I think you will end up spending the most time and energy on rotten cases of people who think they can do stupid things because they have 'insurance'.

That's a great possibility for experience gain and teaching the domainers the rules of the industry. I realize there will be strange cases, but this is the cherry on the pie, and I like it

Few transactions require involvement of a lawyer.

Sometimes one transaction/decision can ruin a life, get the person bankrupt or even jailed. We all have health insurance that is used maybe a few times a year, even if we pay every month for it, and those few times worth more than all the money paid monthly. Legal support is the same, you never know when you would need it, but regret if you don't have it in the right moment.

I voted Probably, but I meant it as Possibly

Thanks, Stub, it's important to understand if there is demand for such services.

I voted yes. When I operated a business in California I used a service called Pre-Paid Legal that was similar in concept. It was helpful to have lawyers on standby that could review contracts as needed. The only downside was they typically were not that familiar with domain names in general.

I think your idea sounds awesome, especially if it included C&D + UDRP protection where you would write a response in the event of a dispute.

RJ

Thank you, RJ. That's the field where I want to dominate, a Domainer Lawyer, familiar with domain names, TM issues, UDRPs and C&D letters

 

[Name Trader]

IThank you, RJ. That's the field where I want to dominate, a Domainer Lawyer, familiar with domain names, TM issues, UDRPs and C&D letters

You'll have plenty of stiff competition. Berryhill, et al.

 

[Domains - Wanted]

...Thank you, RJ. That's the field where I want to dominate, a Domainer Lawyer, familiar with domain names, TM issues, UDRPs and C&D letters

OK, so how many UDRP cases do you have under your belt? Won/lost?

 

[Ted.T]

OK, so how many UDRP cases do you have under your belt? Won/lost?

None, atm, because I've not been involved in this field until now.

 

[Domains - Wanted]

None, atm, because I've not been involved in this field until now.

Fair enough. I asked, because it seems to me that you are underestimating the workload involved in responding to an UDRP claim.

 

[Ted.T]

Fair enough. I asked, because it seems to me that you are underestimating the workload involved in responding to an UDRP claim.

I've worked on Civil and Criminal cases, that included a lot of preparatory work, investigations and researches. There is no easy work, but it's interesting enough if you enjoy what you do.

 

[usernamex]

Ditto to this for me

I voted Probably, but I meant it as Possibly

No matter what, I am happy you started this thread and commented in the Disclosure email thread so irrespective of you setting up this service, you would likely be the first person I would reach out to if I ever encountered a domaining legal issue that superseded the collective wisdom of an NP thread. : smile :

 

[Ted.T]

Ditto to this for me


No matter what, I am happy you started this thread and commented in the Disclosure email thread so irrespective of you setting up this service, you would likely be the first person I would reach out to if I ever encountered a domaining legal issue that superseded the collective wisdom of an NP thread. : smile :

Thank you! I try to use my knowledge to educate the newcomers and help every domainer who need help