Completely disagree.
The expectation is that the seller/brokerage has vetted the listing. In this case it’s Sedo, a seller of millions in domains.
I’d sue them immediately for transfer of stolen goods. They are supposed to ensure that what they sell is legitimate. They are also assuming that transfer of goods is final, upon payment from buyer.
This is the official reply from Sedo as I posted in the thread I was contacting them, because I want the official position of marketplaces for an article, I remember seeing CWR.com and NWX.com thinking of buying, once I did the homework I knew they were stolen.
So here is the reply from SEDO, I bolded the part where they say we ain't paying you back.
Sedo takes domain theft very seriously and is committed to protecting domain ownership rights. We encourage anyone who feels they have lost a domain due to fraud to report the theft in accordance with our stolen domain policy (
https://sedo.com/us/about-us/policies/stolen-domain-policy/
Stolen Domain Policy - Sedo
Stolen Domain Policy . Along with protecting intellectual property rights, Sedo is committed to protecting domain ownership rights, whether those of our users, third parties, or our own.
sedo.com
) so that Sedo’s Security & Compliance team can review the domain and block it from our services, as appropriate, to prevent a sale on our marketplace in the first place.
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.
