question "GO" Domains in "inRem" Litigation - What r my options?

[GoWebnames.com]

I and few other members here acquired some GO keyword domains at GoDaddy Auctions in 2019 [GoGames.com etc.] The owner, as per the WHOIS, was one SCOTT PETRETTA who was negotiating with me on his email listed on the original WHOIS. Immediately after my $4720 payment to GoDaddy [for GoGames.com], he started claiming that he had been hacked. These domains were transferred to GoDaddy about 2 months prior to being sold there. Then, upon complainant's request, GoDaddy did lock down the domains but subsequently released them after their investigation after which I transferred them over to Epik. Now the previous owner has filed an inRem litigation in the Court of Virginia for all these 16 domains (inRem is basically where the court decides the ownership of an asset under its jurisdiction as a property). I strongly believe that the litigant SCOTT PETRETTA has done this on purpose, first selling all these 16 domains and playing innocent afterwards.

Upon the receipt of court filing last month, Epik has locked them down and I want to evaluate my options for a defense. All documents attached, about 2 more weeks are left for publishing of notice.

1) What are the chances of an award to litigant in this case? This is 16 domains we are talking about.

2) What would be the fees if we engage a lawyer to fight it?

3) Is it possible to file a reply by email to this court in Virginia?

4) In case of an award to the litigant, can we ask GoDaddy for refund?? They were informed by me the very next day, to cancel the assured transaction, when I got the previous owner's email. @Joe Styler @Paul Nicks may want to reply on this.

Some good timely advice would be helpful. It would be good to hear from you too John @jberryhill

Please feel free to tag anyone who may be of help.

 

[SuperBrander]

So here we are 7 months later, thanks to Covid-19. @Joe Styler As you're aware, I bought 3 additional Go + Word .com domains from Godaddy and had an extensive email correspondence with your legal team about the 19 reportedly stolen domains (16 mentioned in this lawsuit + the 3 that I bought at Godaddy). Your legal team refused to give information and kept saying that there are no current legal issues with these 19 domains. Well... now (unsurprisingly) there are. As I informed your legal team, shortly after I got the notice of intent to proceed with In Rem civil action I returned the 3 domains that I bought to Mr. Petretta.

I, too, expect a full refund from Godaddy for the 3 domains that I bought- GoSystems.com, GoToys.com and GoEducation.com. I too spend $XX,XXX at Godaddy every year and I expect Godaddy to do the right thing for all the buyers of these reportedly stolen domains.

 

[jberryhill]

I strongly believe that the litigant SCOTT PETRETTA has done this on purpose, first selling all these 16 domains and playing innocent afterwards.

And I strongly believe that the litigant SCOTT PETRETTA and his lawyer are as capable of reading what you post to a public internet forum as anyone else.

That fact alone makes an internet forum website a very poor choice to discuss one's legal issues, as opposed to getting in contact with an attorney for a confidential consultation which, unlike an internet forum website, the other side is not going to be eavesdropping on your conversation with that attorney.

Confidentiality is one of the things to which a person seeking legal advice from an attorney is entitled. Another thing to which such a person is entitled is that such communications with an attorney are not only confidential, but they are privileged from disclosure to the other side.

An internet forum is the polar opposite of what you obtain in an actual consultation with an attorney.

I am sorry but we can't comment on anything to do with legal matters like this.

Well, that's not exactly true in this case, since GoDaddy already intervened in Act I of this particular circus.

The lawsuit mentioned in the OP is the second of two lawsuits relating to some odd goings-on among Mr. Petretta's domain names.

The first lawsuit in this conga line was filed back in August in California as:

Long story short - Petretta has long held goparts.com, these people claim that their junior trademark in "GO PARTS" entitles them to the domain name, and they've been bothering Petretta about it for a while.

And then, lo and behold....

https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.caed.377231/gov.uscourts.caed.377231.1.0.pdf

34. In order to avoid a legal dispute and in an exercise of extreme caution, Plaintiff has attempted to purchase the domain name from Defendant despite Defendant’s failure to use such name and lack of any rights to it. However, Defendant illegally demanded $100,000 from Plaintiff in order to sell the domain name to Plaintiff, its rightful owner.

35. On or about November 11, 2015, Plaintiff sent Defendant a cease and desist letter regarding Defendant’s use or potential use of the domain name, a true and correct copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit 6.

36. Plaintiff is informed and believes that in response to the cease and desist letter, Defendant has not used either the “Go-Parts” name or the domain name at least since that date, and Defendant has abandoned use of the domain name and use of it on its former website.

37. In or about October 2019, Plaintiff learned that the domain name GOPARTS was available and purchased the domain name from GoDaddy, a large company which helps people and businesses register domain names, and presumably obtained rights to sell it from GOPARTS’ failing to continue to pay the continuing fees to maintain ownership, or expressly cancelling it, and without any intervention by GO-PARTS. A true and correct copy of a receipt from GoDaddy for the $4900 paid by Plaintiff is attached hereto as Exhibit 7, dated October 28, 2019.

38. On or about February 13, 2020, Plaintiff received a refund of the money it had paid to GoDaddy to purchase the GOPARTS domain name, with no explanation as to why GoDaddy was attempting to cancel the purchase of Plaintiff had no choice as to the receipt of the purchase price refund, $4900, as it was simply deposited back into Plaintiff’s account.

39. On or about February 21, 2020, Plaintiff received a demand letter from GOPARTS’ attorney threatening a legal action in the United States District Court in the Eastern District of Virginia over Plaintiff’s use or ownership of the GOPARTS domain name, and falsely asserting that Defendant was the “lawful owner” of the GOPARTS domain name. A true and correct copy of that letter is attached hereto as Exhibit 8.

40. In response to Plaintiff’s request for a reason for this “refund” of the purchase price, which GO-PARTS did not request or desire, GoDaddy sent a letter to Plaintiff explaining why it had sent Plaintiff a refund, attaching a copy of the Exhibit 9 notice of intent to proceed with a lawsuit from GOPARTS’ attorneys, and saying, “This is why we cancelled and refunded the transaction, rather than having you in a legal dispute over the name. ” A true and correct copy of the February 24, 2020 email from GoDaddy labeled as “Here’s our response to your request,” is attached hereto as Exhibit 9.

41. GoDaddy continues to be the registrar of the domain name GO-PARTS. Plaintiff intends to write to GoDaddy notifying it that Plaintiff does not accept the cancellation of the purchase of the GOPARTS domain name, and attempting to return the purchase price refund to GoDaddy.

--------------------------------------

That email from GoDaddy is here:

So, let's be really clear here. GoDaddy certainly has commented on the situation, and they have refunded ONE AND ONLY ONE of the purchasers of these domain names. GoDaddy rescinded that sale FOUR MONTHS after the purchase.

The real question is why did GoDaddy refund one of the purchasers, but not the other purchasers.

GoDaddy was informed these names were stolen in late February, and they refunded one of the purchasers. It turns out the purchaser they picked didn't want the refund, for their own reasons.

If you bought a name after that time, or if GoDaddy didn't provide you with comparable service, then you are left to wonder why.

Of course, immediately after late February, all sorts of plans were delayed, so it appears that Petretta didn't get around to filing until more recently, no doubt spurred by the filing against him in California.

However, your notion that Petretta would have sold the names, pocketed a few thousand dollars, and then hired the astronomically-expensive David Weslow to chase them down - all while himself being a cybersquatting defendant in California and potentially exposing himself to legal peril for an outright fraud - is a little difficult to believe. In the first place, he's going to spend much more money on litigating than these names sold for in the aggregate, and that includes whatever he ends up spending on his defense in the first-filed suit in California.

 

[EmpireNames.com]

if godaddy will be not refunding me.. i will remove my all domains from godaddy and will stop buying or selling from godaddy in future..
not taking responisbility if we buying names through godaddy buy it now option?
i use to buy and sell of more then million usd domains per year...
they should consider 4000-5000 usd is nothing but they should take responsibility...
@Joe Styler i am hoping to get this issue resolved..
Thanks

 

[jberryhill]

4) In case of an award to the litigant, can we ask GoDaddy for refund??

Short answer - GoDaddy already refunded one of the purchasers, and they didn't even ask.

GoDaddy doesn't like you as much. But since @Joe Styler wasn't going to tell you that truth, I thought you should at least be informed that GoDaddy has already refunded one of the other people who bought one of the names in that lawsuit.

But you, on the other hand, can go stuff it as far as GoDaddy is concerned.

It's obvious that GoDaddy knew about all of the names, and they made a calculation about who was worth refunding and who wasn't. You didn't make the cut. Better luck next time. No refund for you.

 

[SuperBrander]

@Joe Styler I'll just add this reminder of what you wrote in 2018:

The million dollar question is:
Would Godaddy take responsibility if the original scammer sold the domains through "Godaddy auction" platform instead of "undeveloped" and the (subsequent)buyer basically paid to godaddy for the "Stolen" domain??

@Joe Styler
Yes we do which is why you should use a platform like ours. So if you use us and sell a domain and it clears our checks we pay you. But scammers beware if you are trying to sell stolen goods on the auctions you are stealing from us and we will pursue it via other payments you have or the local authorities. We have a local presence in many countries and work with local law enforcement around the world."

https://www.namepros.com/threads/do...sessed-by-godaddy.1111434/page-3#post-6995420

 

[jberryhill]

Maybe he bought the domain after the "intent to proceed with in rem civil action" was sent and we bought the domains before the notice and that's the difference.

If you are open to helpful suggestions, might I suggest that you actually read the information instead of guessing incorrectly?

At some point prior to October 2019, Petretta is the long-standing registrant of a portfolio of “go” names.

Go-Parts bought the name goparts.com from GoDaddy in October 2019.

In February 2020, Petretta’s attorney contacted GoDaddy, alerted them to 19 stolen names, and GoDaddy refunded the purchase price of goparts.com to Go-Parts. Also, GoDaddy’s email shows they knew the 19 names that were affected. Clearly, GoDaddy concluded, for some reason, that Go-Parts should receive a refund - four months after the purchase.

It’s not entirely clear what GoDaddy did with the name after refunding the payment, because in August 2020, Go-Parts files suit to obtain the domain name. I get the impression, however, that Go-Parts and their attorney are not exactly rocket scientist material.

Then, in September, Petretta files suit against all of the domain names in order to reclaim them.

 

[Chris Hydrick]

Now, tell me how again how you made no personal comments about Joe.

Did last nights debate cloud your judgement into thinking everything said about Joe is an attack? Two different Joes.

Why deflect away from the true issue when GoDaddy is clearly in the wrong here? @Paul Nicks your time and effort thus far here has been severely misguided. How about sticking up for your customers? In actuality, doing that would be far better for GD investors, then treating certain classes of your customers differently. I am not sure GD investors even want to be helping their bottom line profits via proceeds from stolen domains.

To me, @Paul Nicks, your deflection raises more questions than it answers. And at this point, I am wondering is GoDaddy turning a blind eye to accountability because GoDaddy is selling far more stolen domains than the public/ their customers are aware of?

As for the issue at hand, Joe has asked me to escalate to see what can be done and what has been done, which I am doing.

Why wait until nearly October to act? Go Parts was refunded in February.

In fact, Go-Parts may have been refunded around the time of, or maybe even prior to, @SuperBrander creating the thread Possibly stolen domains may have sold at godaddy will godaddy investigate help? so far no back in February?

If GoDaddy knew these were stolen in February, and were selectively issuing refunds, I don't understand why @Paul Nicks / @Joe Styler would leave namePros members high and dry. Both @Paul Nicks & @Joe Styler were tagged in that thread; yet no response. It seems to me that while GoDaddy is ultimately at fault, both Paul & Joe are also at fault, if of nothing else, providing HORRIBLE support/advocacy/follow-up to their customers.

Please tell me again what you are doing to help the affected customers? Thus far, it's quite apparent that @jberryhill has been more helpful to the affected customers, than ANYBODY at GoDaddy has been for several MONTHS! Is GoDaddy too dishonest to do the right thing, and retroactively apply refunds to the many customers who unknowingly bought a stolen domain at GoDaddy and was left high and dry?

I mean, GoDaddy and by proximity @Paul Nicks & @Joe Styler --- shame on all of you. GoDaddy could and should do better. 👁👁

 

[SuperBrander]

Thanks to everybody who's trying to help bring this matter to a positive conclusion.

Regardless of Joe's ability to discuss legal matters, I feel that Godaddy's whole approach from the get go hasn't been customer friendly. It's been more like running into a brick wall or trying to converse with an ostrich who keeps sticking its head in the sand. Countless empty email exchanges with reps from different auction support tiers and with the legal department and no one willing to provide any shred of information or even say something basic such as: "we'll refund the money if such and such happens". Plus, you can't talk to anyone. Email only. It's surprising especially considering the fact that all three of us are long time customers who spend a lot of money at GD. Perhaps in the grand scheme of things, the money from us three doesn't matter to GD much. Naturally this shouldn't matter when a platform facilitates the sale of stolen domains- the result (a refund) should be the same even if it's a first time customer, but still... if loyal customers are getting the runaround, then what can other customers expect? And how is it possible that someone else got a refund while at the same time we were denied? Regardless of this specific case, Godaddy should take this opportunity to revise the way it deals with such cases. First of all have a clear policy in place so people can know what to expect in case things go awry. And then, improve its customer support. Joe has helped a lot of people in the past, me included and his presence here at NP is appreciated, but in these type of cases- it seems like there's no one to turn to. This should have been escalated and resolved 7 months ago. From an innocent customer's perspective- this isn't the way customers should be treated.

As for the refund- the sum should actually be much much less than $100K. The total cost for the three domains that I bought was $2345. Not sure about the cost of the others besides GoGames, but I remember seeing them listed and if I'm not mistaken they were all in the $XXX to low $XXXX range. Also, to my understanding, not all of the 19 domains sold at Godaddy. They were all transferred there initially when they were stolen but then some sold elsewhere.

 

[equity78]

Now maybe with this cluster GoDaddy will refund, but Sedo and GoDaddy policy on if you bought a stolen domain name on their platform, they do not refund.

I emailed both Sedo and GoDaddy laying out the scenario completely

If I buy a domain at GoDaddy or Afternic or Sedo, pay for it, goes through fine, you get the name pushed to you and you push to me, and somewhere down the road, someone comes back to me and says this name is stolen, and I lose that name either through the registrar taking it back, or a UDRP or any other process. Will GoDaddy/Afternic reimburse me for the stolen goods I purchased on their website?

But Carolyn at Sedo was good enough to talk to their people and get me the direct answer

Unfortunately, as with anything sold on a secondary market, buyers bear a degree of risk that a domain was once stolen or that the seller has otherwise violated the terms of the purchase and sale agreement. While Sedo employs strict marketplace terms and conditions, between WHOIS privacy and disparate registry policies, it is impossible for Sedo or anyone to guarantee that a domain has never been stolen or remains subject to any other kind of legal dispute. The domain’s registrar, ICANN, or a court of law are the venues to resolve any dispute and Sedo gives our full cooperation once a dispute has been initiated.


We empathize with our buyer’s desire to eliminate that risk entirely but we ask buyers to perform their due diligence research prior to agreeing to a purchase (especially to ensure that their purchase or intended use does not violate a third party’s trademark which is a key element in UDRP proceedings) and to review their registrar policies on how they would handle a claim of domain theft.


Sedo does help our buyers minimize risk by requiring sellers to provide a legally binding representation and warranty that they have the authority to sell the name. Once a purchase and sale has been completed, however, Sedo cannot return the funds paid to a seller as we are not an appropriate party to arbitrate a dispute. If a domain is later taken away from a buyer because of the seller’s violation of the purchase and sale agreement Sedo advises the buyer to seek legal counsel to pursue the seller for breach of contract and will support the buyer by providing a documentation history regarding the transaction. This allows a buyer who ends up losing the domain because of theft to pursue the seller for a refund/damages.


Paul Nicks was kind enough to get GoDaddy Legal to answer

If I buy a domain at GoDaddy or Afternic, pay for it, goes through fine, you get the name pushed to you and you push to me, and somewhere down the road, someone comes back to me and says this name is stolen, and I lose that name either through the registrar taking it back, or a UDRP or any other process. Will GoDaddy/Afternic reimburse me for the stolen goods I purchased on their website?

The GoDaddy legal email is an auto reply, Sedo needed to speak to their legal team too, so I understand, I just wanted to make sure I could give GoDaddy's response in the article on how all marketplaces deal with theft and a customer left holding the bag.

Thank you

GoDaddy reply:

Sorry for delay. Here's our statement


When a customer lists a domain for sale at GoDaddy, they must state they are authorized to list and sell the domain name. If we find out a domain name has been stolen, we promptly remove it from the auction platform and ban the user.


One a domain auction is completed and there is a dispute regarding the rightful ownership of a domain, we do not get involved in the resolution of the dispute. That issue needs to be handled in the appropriate court of law.

 

[SuperBrander]

Happy to report that Godaddy is issuing refunds for the three 'Go' domains that I bought. I hope that means the other buyers are also getting a refund. Thanks to @Joe Styler & @Paul Nicks for helping get this matter resolved for me as well as thanks to all of the other members of NP who helped, especially @Grilled and @jberryhill.

I hope that moving forward Godaddy can make every effort to eliminate theft and use of their platform to sell stolen domains. IMO Godaddy should also have a very clear policy about such cases and provide clear explanations to customers who end up with stolen domains so they won't be left in the dark chasing shadows. It's basic customer service. Also, I think Godaddy should make sure to take notifications about stolen domains more seriously and freeze listings of suspicious domains immediately after getting the notice because at least in my case, I bought the domains weeks after Godaddy already knew those domains were reported as stolen. With millions of domains on the platform, no harm will happen if a few domains will be delisted for awhile while there's uncertainty about them.

 

[ecomslice]

Go daddy employees are like mechanics for a mob, honest hard work , polite and responsive usually. They are happy to provide Maintenance and repairs in between bank robberies and other hidden crimes , sometimes bodies are in the trunks but they efficiently change the shot out tires to get those autos back on the road for more.

 

[SuperBrander]

@jberryhill The buyers and I will settle for less than ONE MILLION DOLLARS. Just a refund. BTW, to clarify- the quote I quoted discusses a sale and not a buy but the principle is the same. Transactions on the platform are supposed to be safe and if Godaddy's checks miss the mark- Godaddy needs to take responsibility and issue a refund to all innocent parties ASAP.

 

[jberryhill]

Now, tell me how again how you made no personal comments about Joe.

Well, I guess it is reading lessons for Paul Nicks day.

Let's take both of the statements in question:

1.

I am sorry but we can't comment on anything to do with legal matters like this.

This statement asserts that "we", GoDaddy, "can't comment on anything to do with legal matters like this".

That statement is not true. Go back and READ the email from GoDaddy support, Paul, which not only comments on "a legal matter like this", but explains the action GoDaddy took in response to a letter from David Weslow. GoDaddy received the letter, took action, commented about it, and even forwarded it to the customer to explain what GoDaddy did. That's a raftload of "comment on anything to do with legal matters like this".

So, Joe's statement that "we can't comment on anything to do with legal matters like this" is not, in the context of this legal matter, historically true.

Whether Joe is uninformed or whatever, is not a character flaw. Also, saying something that is "not true" is not the same as being dishonest. Someone may say something untrue for many reasons - being misinformed, mistaken or uninformed. None of those are character flaws.

I doubt Joe even knew about the refund, so I corrected his untrue statement for him by pointing out that GoDaddy has previously commented and acted in this matter. You're welcome.

2.

But since @Joe Styler wasn't going to tell you that truth

That's a pretty dumb objection, Paul. Joe said he wasn't going to comment on the matter. I posted true information about GoDaddy's previous commentary and actions in the matter, acknowledging that, yes, "Joe Styler wasn't going to tell you that truth."

Are you suggesting that Joe was in fact on the verge of actually posting those true facts? Come on, Paul. Joe already said he wasn't going to say ANYTHING. That would be inclusive of the fact that GoDaddy refunded someone already.

"Joe wasn't going to tell you that truth" is an objectively true statement. He most certainly was not going to tell anyone about the refund. He said so. Why does that bother you?

You are reading into both of those factual statements, an emotional content which is not there.

I did not say that Joe was intentionally lying, for example. However, it is objectively true that Joe (a) stated that GoDaddy could not comment on this matter, when in fact GoDaddy had commented, and (b) stated that he would not make any further comments, and thus was not going to inform readers that GoDaddy issued a refund to one customer already.

Both of my statements are objectively true, and are not statements about anyone's character.

I'm perfectly aware of what I wrote, but you are reading something beyond the words in front of you and reaching a conclusion, because you are reacting emotionally instead of rationally.

Now, when "living up to John Berryhill's expectations" reaches the top of your to-do list, you let me know, okay?

I'll do the same courtesy for you.

 

[jberryhill]

if loyal customers are getting the runaround, then what can other customers expect? And how is it possible that someone else got a refund while at the same time we were denied?

Well that's the interesting aspect of this, really - I mean, to the extent that a couple of thousand dollars here and there is "interesting".

I didn't realize there had been contact - and through this forum - about this issue in the same February 2020 time frame that GoDaddy simply decided on their own, and based on no customer request whatsoever, to refund the one customer who actually didn't want the refund.

This is really wild, though:

https://www.namepros.com/threads/po...l-godaddy-investigate-help-so-far-no.1178506/

I emailed Godaddy Auctions as well, but they just sent me to the next level support who then referred me back to Court Disputes. What's extraordinary to me is that nobody is saying: We're going to investigate and try to determine if these domains were indeed stolen and sold on our platform. I contacted @Joe Styler . I have much respect for him for being here at NP and for being available for help in the past, but he replied that he can't get involved in legal matters so that's another dead end.

The crazy thing is that you posted that on FEBRUARY 25, 2020, which is four days after GoDaddy wrote to the Go-Parts people to explain why they had already been refunded.

It's fascinating that you, and others, were chasing around with GoDaddy support about this issue at the exact same time that GoDaddy decided to refund someone who didn't even ask. You, on the other hand, apparently alerted people within GoDaddy who made sure you didn't get a refund.

The "screw up" here, of course, is that GoDaddy refunded anyone at all. But I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for an explanation as to why Go-Parts got a refund and you didn't. It apparently hurts their feelings to point that out.

 

[Chris Hydrick]

I returned the 3 domains that I bought to Mr. Petretta.

I, too, expect a full refund from Godaddy for the 3 domains that I bought- GoSystems.com, GoToys.com and GoEducation.com.

+1 for your super activism!

https://www.namepros.com/threads/po...l-godaddy-investigate-help-so-far-no.1178506/

@SuperBrander please control your super activism and refrain from mentioning any domain names publicly, NP is a heavily indexed site and a public outcry here will only serve to tarnish the names involved while solving nothing.

https://tldinvestors.com/2020/02/be-careful-of-possibly-stolen-domain-names-starting-with-go.html

 

[jberryhill]

But scammers beware if you are trying to sell stolen goods on the auctions you are stealing from us and we will pursue it via other payments you have or the local authorities. We have a local presence in many countries and work with local law enforcement around the world."

I loved that scene!

 

[jberryhill]

BTW @jberryhill, I forgot to say- thanks for the info about the person who got refunded. It looks like he bought the domain after the case was filed

No. That is not at all what happened.

He bought the name in October 2019, and was refunded in February 2020. The suit was filed in August 2020.

You can easily tell this by the fact that the suit MENTIONS the refund.

 

[Chris Hydrick]

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/18484313/parts-dynasty-corp-v-petretta/

37. In or about October 2019, Plaintiff learned that the domain name GOPARTS was available and purchased the domain name from GoDaddy, a large company which helps people and businesses register domain names, and presumably obtained rights to sell it from GOPARTS’ failing to continue to pay the continuing fees to maintain ownership, or expressly cancelling it, and without any intervention by GO-PARTS. A true and correct copy of a receipt from GoDaddy for the $4900 paid by Plaintiff is attached hereto as Exhibit 7, dated October 28, 2019.

38. On or about February 13, 2020, Plaintiff received a refund of the money it had paid to GoDaddy to purchase the GOPARTS domain name, with no explanation as to why GoDaddy was attempting to cancel the purchase of GOPARTS. Plaintiff had no choice as to the receipt of the purchase price refund, $4900, as it was simply deposited back into Plaintiff’s account.

40. In response to Plaintiff’s request for a reason for this “refund” of the purchase price, which GO-PARTS did not request or desire, GoDaddy sent a letter to Plaintiff explaining why it had sent Plaintiff a refund, attaching a copy of the Exhibit 9 notice of intent to proceed with a lawsuit from GOPARTS’ attorneys, and saying, “This is why we cancelled and refunded the transaction, rather than having you in a legal dispute over the name. ” A true and correct copy of the February 24, 2020 email from GoDaddy labeled as “Here’s our response to your request,” is attached hereto as Exhibit 9.

 

[GoWebnames.com]

And I strongly believe that the litigant SCOTT PETRETTA and his lawyer are as capable of reading what you post to a public internet forum as anyone else.

Thanks John for your detailed and insightful response. I have raised this matter here in public because many parties are involved. I never had any intention of owning any stolen names. It's OK if PETRETTA and his lawyer read about it. If the domains were indeed stolen, they actually belong to the rightful owner. This is for the court to decide.

So, let's be really clear here. GoDaddy certainly has commented on the situation, and they have refunded ONE AND ONLY ONE of the purchasers of these domain names. GoDaddy rescinded that sale FOUR MONTHS after the purchase.

The real question is why did GoDaddy refund one of the purchasers, but not the other purchasers.

GoDaddy was informed these names were stolen in late February, and they refunded one of the purchasers. It turns out the purchaser they picked didn't want the refund, for their own reasons.

If push comes to shove, I will file a suit here against them (GoDaddy India) to recover my money and to impose penalties on them since they sold me the domain name in question. $4720 is not a small amount to forego for no mistake of mine. More so, when I requested them to verify the seller's credentials and cancel the transaction just the day after of my purchase, upon claim of fraud by the previous owner SCOTT PETRETTA. That GoParts.com suit you highlighted should be utterly helpful.
.

I am sorry but we can't comment on anything to do with legal matters like this.

It's such a shame @JoeStyler that you should shirk your responsibility like this. Every time something fishy at GoDaddy is raised here, more often than not, this is your standard response. Why are you then present here on this forum as a GoDaddy Rep if there is nothing you can do about these frauds at GoDaddy? Merely to pay lip service?

As for these GO domains, you were in the know all along. Not only I discussed this in private with you here but I also mailed your support team on your advice requesting them to block the payout and to investigate and to cancel the transaction if it's a stolen domain. Screenshot attached to jog your memory.

Also, how come you refunded the buyer of GoParts.com without them even asking you so? Only because you are fearful of them. Because you knew that they are a company located in the United States and that they are capable of inflicting heavy monetary damage on you through litigation. We can do that too here in India as well since my seller for this domain [GoGames.com] is essentially your Indian arm, GoDaddy India Pvt. Ltd. But if you are dutiful enough, your presence on this forum as a GD Rep should alleviate the need for it.

However, your notion that Petretta would have sold the names, pocketed a few thousand dollars, and then hired the astronomically-expensive David Weslow to chase them down - all while himself being a cybersquatting defendant in California and potentially exposing himself to legal peril for an outright fraud - is a little difficult to believe. In the first place, he's going to spend much more money on litigating than these names sold for in the aggregate, and that includes whatever he ends up spending on his defense in the first-filed suit in California.

John, I am not aware of the attorney fees in US in these matters. If you are saying they are astronomical, it may be possible that the domains were indeed stolen but we can wait for the court outcome nonetheless.

 

[ecomslice]

 

[Ostrados]

Joe: I am sorry but we can't comment on anything to do with legal matters like this.
John: Well, that's not exactly true in this case, since GoDaddy already intervened in Act I of this particular circus.
John: GoDaddy doesn't like you as much. But since @Joe Styler wasn't going to tell you that truth, I thought you should at least be informed that GoDaddy has already refunded one of the other people who bought one of the names in that lawsuit.

Now, tell me how again how you made no personal comments about Joe.

By Joe he is obviously referring to GoDaddy not to Joe in person.. it didnt feel like personal attack it sounded like he is referring to Joe as GoDaddy representative.

 

[SuperBrander]

One of the things that baffles me the most is that even after Godaddy knew there's a potential problem with these 19 domains at the end of 2019 (Mr. Petretta had already complained about the domains that were stolen from him and the other buyers also already contacted Godaddy about it)- Godaddy still continued to allow the thief to complete sales on their platform with the other 'Go' domains. I bought the 'Go' domains in January- two domains on January 14th, 2020 and one on January 24th, 2020. When there's a complaint about a group of domains- how can Godaddy just let the ones that haven't sold yet be in the system and let more customers buy potentially stolen domains? The transactions are smooth. The clients have no clue that something might be wrong. And then good luck getting a straight answer or your money back. Had Godaddy made sure none of the domains Mister Petretta complained about were listed for sale- I wouldn't have been involved in this mess.

 

[jberryhill]

Also, I think Godaddy should make sure to take notifications about stolen domains more seriously and freeze listings of suspicious domains immediately after getting the notice

It sounds like a good idea in principle, but that can become another vector of abuse.

You have widget.tld and I have widgets.tld. I notice that we have both sent them to auction at around the same time. I report yours as “stolen” to lock it up, so I can sell mine. There are a lot of ways this can be abused.

As I mentioned above, the “mistake” here was refunding the other buyer, thus making it hard to justify not refunding everyone who was similarly situated in relation to this particular batch of names.

 

[GoWebnames.com]

Update: Few days ago, these GO domains were ordered by the Virginia court to be transferred over to the plaintiff's chosen registrar (GoDaddy), the same registrar who had sold these stolen names.

I wrote to GoDaddy auctions about it, post which they have refunded my purchase in full by applying an equivalent account credit. Of course, GoDaddy didn't pay any interest or goodwill compensation for my lost time of nearly two years.