discuss If They think Im Paying More Than $10 For A Domain Extension That Was Hijacked From Me...

[larryscott2559]

...they are out of their minds. What happened was I hand registered a .com domain name about 4 years ago and created a business out of it. Like the rookie I was, I listed my website for sale on Flippa.com, a long with information on how much I was making. 1-2 people registered my extensions in the plural and singular form .com, .net and .org. One of them is still holding on to the singular .com domain and is trying to sell it for a $x,xxx. An amount I might add, I am never going to pay. The other guy try to sell the .net to me requesting around $300. I never replied back to him. I waited for the domains to drop and I registered them. I own almost all of the extensions now except 2 (a singular .com and a plural .net). I back ordered the .net one on Namejet for $69 and thought no one else is going to register it so I backed off. No one did however, I was expecting to register it once it got deleted. Now all across different registrars they put a $175 premium price on it. Then I check today and there's a new premium price of near $700 for it. Haha to them and to the person holding the .com. If they think im paying anymore than $10 from a domain extension that was hijacked from me they are out of their minds. It was a very valuable lesson learned though. Any website Im serious about now I register singular and plural .com, .net .org and .co. extensions.

 

[Nametree]

Do you/did you have a trademark on the name? Is it generic or a made up name? I’m not sure how exactly this is hijacking if you’ve never cared to register the names, and why you care so much if you have the .com anyway.

 

[omarte]

I dont see any problem here!
It's not hijacking it's just a part of domaining!

 

[larryscott2559]

If seeing a profitable website business listed on a site like Flippa and purposely check to see if they registered all their extensions, and if its not , register it and hold it hostage to sell it to the business owner in bad faith is your idea of "domaining" then you should check the term "cybersquatting".

Also remind me never to buy a domain name from you.

 

[omarte]

is your idea of "domaining"

Please read my post well i'm saying "part" of domaining !
as long as all it's legit i still see no problem, maybe the registrant liked the domain & you are just one of other end-users he's considering!
when you register a domain in an extension it doesn't mean that you have an authority over other extensions, so using "hostage" word is wrong again!

 

[larryscott2559]

Please read my post well i'm saying "part" of domaining !
as long as all it's legit i still see no problem!
when you registar a domain in an extension it doesn't mean that you have an authority over other extensions, so using "hostage" word is wrong again!

Yeah look Omarte,

I usually ignore people like you but, if you don't see the problem in cybersquatting, then you are part of the problem and should not be domaining. 2nd I don't debate over word usage. If thats all you concluded to...that I used the wrong choice of vocabulary, then you were never going to understand to begin with and we should probably just end this here.

 

[omarte]

I usually ignore people like you but, if you don't see the problem in cybersquatting,

Calm down i'm just saying my opinion about what you posted & that's usually what's expected when a thread is created !
& about "cybersquatting" i didnt even talked about it, i've just said my opinion about what's exactly happening here.

 

[anantj]

So if you own a domain that is similar to (or the exact match) of another entity's (Person, site or corp) name, you're cybersquatting?

 

[mr-x]

Yeah look Omarte,

I usually ignore people like you but, if you don't see the problem in cybersquatting, then you are part of the problem and should not be domaining. 2nd I don't debate over word usage. If thats all you concluded to...that I used the wrong choice of vocabulary, then you were never going to understand to begin with and we should probably just end this here.

Blame yourself for not protecting your brand. If you had a trademark, you'd could hire a lawyer to send a letter.

 

[Kate]

Hijacked is a strong word, it's not like a domain was stolen from your account.
On the other hand, the people who register other extensions like the .net for the sole purpose of selling it to you are leechers, possibly squatters but even that is debatable, unless your domain is TM of some sort. If you own some generic keyword and I buy the .net this is not squatting. The .net may have value on its own, even if you have no interest in buying it.
What you're saying is that the .net holder tried to sell the name to you, but the other extensions may have been registered for a legitimate purpose. You're assuming you were targeted and you're the only one possible buyer. That may be true, or not. You might the 'obvious' end user, but you might not be the only one.

 

[larryscott2559]

I posted my website and how much I was making on Flippa (which was a lot considering the website only existed in a short period of time). 2 days later the singular .com and .nets were registered. One of the .net copied word for word the content on my website with a PayPal button and had the audacity to later try and sell it to me.

Totally that's not Cybersquatting.


That's one hell of a coincidence.

 

[Nametree]

I posted my website and how much I was making on Flippa (which was a lot considering the website only existed in a short period of time). 2 days later the singular .com and .nets were registered. One of the .net copied word for word the content on my website with a PayPal button and had the audacity to later try and sell it to me.

Totally that's not Cybersquatting.


That's one hell of a coincidence.

That’s a whole different ball game, copying your content and obviously egregious and you should send them a cease and desist if it’s impacting your business. You can always file a UDRP and get the domain too, though that will cost you more than the squatter seems to be asking.

We are in a half-blind discussion here and I’m not sure what you’re hoping to get with this thread if you haven’t posted the name. Now that you’ve given more context it does seem that you’re right to be angry and you should take legal action if your content is being duplicated and you’re losing business because of it.

If it’s a generic word combination, though, then registering the singular, or the .net/org isn’t particularly egregious since there could be other endusers than you. If you forgot to register them in the first place, and you don’t have a trademark, then it’s your fault, your loss, be ready to pay more to protect your term, or deal with the possibility of a different business opening up on a very similar term.

If, however, your business name is Nike and a squatter registered Nikes.com, then yeah, that’s clear cybersquatting.

 

[DNWon]

I agree with Larry here, as it seems the other domains were registered in bad faith, with the sole purpose of being sold back to him at a profit. That really is the definition of cybersquatting! But without a trademark, or direct contact from the squatter trying to sell him the domain, there is not much he can do, except maybe write a demand letter threatening a UDRP or lawsuit. Without knowing the names it's hard to be sure if it rises to an infringement but if someone copied the content of the site as well, then that pretty much speaks for itself, which is cybersquatting as well as possible copyright infringement. I am surprised and disappointed at some of the more experienced domainers on this thread saying they don't see anything wrong with this "modus operandi" and disliking the OP's post!

 

[golan]

One of the .net copied word for word the content on my website

This is already a serious issue, you can easily complain to their hoster and registrar.

 

[MapleDots]

The mistake was posting your profits on Flippa without secururing your desired variants first

I had a similar situation with the domain MapleOne.com and it took me over 10 years to get all the variants like .net, .ca and even the Maple1 variants.

The last one was MapleOne.net the guy renewed it for 10 years and I ignored all attempts of his for contact. I basically out waited him and snapped it up on drop.

To this day I still get emails for MapleOnes.com and other variants. I don't think anything is ever going to stop that and you have to look at it as part of the business. Whenever I launch an idea now I grab all plurals and variants before I publish anything. That is assuming my idea is original and has the domains available.

 

[Kate]

I posted my website and how much I was making on Flippa (which was a lot considering the website only existed in a short period of time). 2 days later the singular .com and .nets were registered.
...
Totally that's not Cybersquatting.
..
That's one hell of a coincidence.

Indeed. I can understand that you are unhappy. These registrations are very likely bad faith.

Many people have an entitlement mentality, which is what members here suspected and why some were being harsh, but in the present case it seems you have every right to be upset and even strike back.

One of the .net copied word for word the content on my website with a PayPal button and had the audacity to later try and sell it to me.

Copyright violation.
Seriously, some people are bold.
I would send a DMCA notice to the registrar and the webhost. it doesn't cost anything. At least, this can neuter the name and render it unusable for the squatter (and you might eventually pick it up later at the drop).

 

[larryscott2559]

I want everybody to understand that this was not a complaint post ...initially. This happened 4 years ago. The main point of this post was to share my story and to share the fact that the domain registrars decided to make the remaining .net extension a premium name now at the price of $175 then inflated it to $700 which I personally wont ever pay. I already mentioned I was a rookie at that time so i didn't register any other extensions or trademarked the brand and was dumb to reveal how much and what I did to make the money on Flippa.com.

The complaint started when people started defending the Cybersquatters. I registered a "nothing" name and created a brand out of it. It was only when I exposed the revenue it was generating on Flippa.com that all of a sudden, 2 days later, this domain extension became high in demand?

How is Nike.com and Nikes.com a clear indicator of cybersquatting, but a smaller brand like ShoeMagoo.com and someone registering ShoeMagoos.com not an indicator of cybersquatting especially if it was registered 2 days after they exposed their revenue on a marketplace?

 

[anantj]

Agree with the others. The additional context provided makes matters more clearer to us and it does appear to be a case of cybersquatting.

On the prices that you're seeing, do you mind sharing the .net name (in a PM if you prefer)? It appears to be a DLS listing and not a registry owned price

 

[frank-germany]

...they are out of their minds. What happened was I hand registered a .com domain name about 4 years ago and created a business out of it. Like the rookie I was, I listed my website for sale on Flippa.com, a long with information on how much I was making. 1-2 people registered my extensions in the plural and singular form .com, .net and .org. One of them is still holding on to the singular .com domain and is trying to sell it for a $x,xxx. An amount I might add, I am never going to pay. The other guy try to sell the .net to me requesting around $300. I never replied back to him. I waited for the domains to drop and I registered them. I own almost all of the extensions now except 2 (a singular .com and a plural .net). I back ordered the .net one on Namejet for $69 and thought no one else is going to register it so I backed off. No one did however, I was expecting to register it once it got deleted. Now all across different registrars they put a $175 premium price on it. Then I check today and there's a new premium price of near $700 for it. Haha to them and to the person holding the .com. If they think im paying anymore than $10 from a domain extension that was hijacked from me they are out of their minds. It was a very valuable lesson learned though. Any website Im serious about now I register singular and plural .com, .net .org and .co. extensions.

you didn't behave professionally
when you wanted to build an online presence

that was not other peoples fault
but only yours

in domaining the rule is
"first comes first served"

you could have been first

now you are angry
understandable

but don't blame others for your own mistakes


if they copied your website content
- that's completely different story
and has nothing to do with domaining

 

[omarte]

Now that you shared more details i can say that copying your content is totally unacceptable and illegit & you have all the rights to take possible action about it !
Registering these names by others is totally legit & can't be called "cybersquatting" simply as you can never be sure 100/100 of what was the intention!