legal HugeDomains holding domain to ransom...cybersquatting?

[aliweb]

Just found this from a thread on reddit.

NJ, USA

I’m helping a friend get information, so this isn’t my business.

My friend has an established business (since the 80’s) and has had a website for several years. He mistakenly failed to renew his domain name and it went to auction and was purchased by hugedomains.com. To buy it back, it would cost $10k. The domain only has utility to my friend, since it’s his name, which is unique. From my own research, it’s considered cybersquatting if the domain is a trademark of someone else’s being used to profit in bad faith.

It’s certainly being used in bad faith, but my question is about trademarking. Does my friend need to trademark his name before initiating arbitration with ICANN or a suit under the provisions of ACPA? I read we should first try to negotiate a deal with hugedomain.com, but I heard they increase their prices once they find out someone’s interested. I’d like to know what the next step would be in case that happens.

https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/oav3ta/is_it_cybersquatting

 

[MadAboutDomains]

It’s certainly being used in bad faith, but my question is about trademarking.

If they got the name fair and square and they're not targeting him directly, then it's not instantly cybersquatting just because he has a name that is "unique" and his business was named the same, like a limited company or something and 10k is too much.

Selling domains isn't bad faith, selling names for a living as a business is actually good faith as proven in many UDRPs. Did HugeDomains instigate the thread of negotiation with the old owner?

I suspect that they would have to prove that HugeDomains knew who this guy was and that his business existed. Having a business does not necessarily mean it's a well known business that the new owner knows about. Does the company still exist?

The answer is that it is too late to trademark his name for the purposes of UDRP because HugeDomains already own the domain. There's no point in registering something after the fact to prove that they were infringing on something that didn't exist before.

 

[pablohc86]

unless old owner is not ok to pay the HD price, he should do better starting to think to another domain name for his website.
Now it's too late for everything.

 

[The Durfer]

use a new name, use your social media contacts to explain the new name to the site, and watch the traffic flow back in. good luck. Can i help your friend with a new name for his/her site? ty.

What is the niche or ecommerce that your friend is selling? ty.

 

[karmaco]

Your friend should have paid renewals and stop blaming others. They haven’t a leg to stand on with an attempt at a last minute for the sole purpose of demanding the name back UDRP .

That is not how it works.They need the trademark BEFORE they acquire the name and start using it in commerce or at the same time they began their business back when.

 

[royalflush]

hugedomains is known for this cybersquatting can't believe they still doing this in this day and age.... this is for sure unethical since its a unique name related to his business .. Hopefully someone takes legal action and put them in there place... A company as big as them thriving of people who don't renew there domains and then spiking there price to the max.... I can understand if they are selling domains which other people maybe interested in but they are specifically targeting single individuals....

"If a domain squatter can't prove a legal intent in owning the domain name, it is considered to be a bad faith registration, and he or she is considered guilty of domain squatting."

Beside advice i can say is do not even bargain with them the minute you do they will increase there price and the it stays like that down the line even if no one asked or tried to buy the domain down the line.

 

[robs01]

Beside advice i can say is do not even bargain with them the minute you do they will increase there price and the it stays like that down the line even if no one asked or tried to buy the domain down the line.

Yeah, I'd say the same thing. They often think that even one offer and the domain is valuable and worth keeping indefinitely with price probably never going down. I'd just cut my losses and get started with a new name ASAP.

Depending on what the actual name is (whether it is truly unique and only useful for that person/business or whether it is generic and has value to others too) I'd even be keen to get "revenge" on the "squatter" - offer an amount that is worthwhile for you in order to recover the domain, if you get it then great, if they don't accept then walk away forever with your newly registered domain. Let them renew that domain for years or decades and waste their money. I have seen this quite a few times (and have done it myself!!!) and perhaps a decade or more later they end up dropping it! Ha ha ha ha. They could even come back to you in desperation and ask if you are still interested. Say no, or offer $10 and they may decide to hang on to it for longer! And when they do drop it you have no desire to chase it any more. Asymmetrical warfare revenge. Teach them that this method of holding and extorting can backfire if they are too greedy, then they put their other domains up to compensate and price themselves out of the market even further.

 

[hawkeye]

hugedomains is known for this cybersquatting can't believe they still doing this in this day and age.... this is for sure unethical since its a unique name related to his business .. Hopefully someone takes legal action and put them in there place... A company as big as them thriving of people who don't renew there domains and then spiking there price to the max.... I can understand if they are selling domains which other people maybe interested in but they are specifically targeting single individuals....

"If a domain squatter can't prove a legal intent in owning the domain name, it is considered to be a bad faith registration, and he or she is considered guilty of domain squatting."

Beside advice i can say is do not even bargain with them the minute you do they will increase there price and the it stays like that down the line even if no one asked or tried to buy the domain down the line.

You have no idea what you're talking about. And HD is not known as, or for cybersquatting. Know the facts and rules before you call someone, business or person, a cybersquatter. Good grief.

 

[hawkeye]

Teach them that this method of holding and extorting can backfire if they are too greedy, then they put their other domains up to compensate and price themselves out of the market even further.

Yeah.., 'Teach them'!! ...kids.

 

[robs01]

Yeah.., 'Teach them'!! ...kids.

Lateral thinking. Why is it that domainers can/do/should "teach" buyers to pay large sums of $$ for domains (sometimes too large) and to "take a hike" otherwise, but buyers can't teach owners to price their domains more reasonably?

It's a two way street. I'm sure you realize that. We just have to acknowledge that every domain is different and there are some overpriced domains and some underpriced ones. Domain investors seem to focus purely on the underpriced ones for obvious reasons.

Think about it... it is common here to say that some domainers cannot ever be successful because they price their domains as "shoot the moon" sales. We seem to have forgotten this fact in this discussion.

 

[MadAboutDomains]

"If a domain squatter can't prove a legal intent in owning the domain name, it is considered to be a bad faith registration, and he or she is considered guilty of domain squatting."

This isn't true. You're missing a fundamental thing here, well many things, but one being that you have to be preventing someone from exercising their provable rights in a name. Just owning a name with no intent to do anything right now, or offering it for sale isn't bad faith.

There are many factors in making this decision, one being proof that you were targeting them specifically when you registered it. Just because someone has the same given name or a company name that nobody would reasonably know about doesn't mean they were targeted.

As for huge domains pricing, every name I've ever seen them put up for sale is really pretty reasonable. The people that kick up a stink, like the howling narcissist (imho) on Twitter that was mentioned by someone else in the reddit thread that thinks she some kind've people's champion because she prised a name off huge domains that she couldn't be arsed to renew, is sadly mistaken if they think that a few grand for a domain is unreasonable "when they registered it for 2.99" or whatever.

 

[Bertrell]

I find it interesting that the domain in question is the person's last name (according to the thread on Reddit). If there's any domain you don't want to forget to renew, it would be that one (at least for me, it would be). Maybe there's a chance they'll be able to get it back, but yeah...shouldn't have let it drop/expire/go to auction in the first place.

 

[bmugford]

Just found this from a thread on reddit.

https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/oav3ta/is_it_cybersquatting

Wow, there is so much clueless in this post. I like how the OP talks about filing a lawsuit, which would be so much more expensive than just buying the domain name.

If the domain is a surname, as has been mentioned, it is highly unlikely it is that unique to one person.

Brad

 

[AEProgram]

Its reddit, they could gather their doge coins and buyout huge domains