Is this cybersquatting? And can you get away with it?

[alisaeed]

Is there no possible way to make money by owning domain names that has the name of another trademark in it?

For example walmart owns walmartsucks.com and they bought it because they probably don't want it in the wrong hands.

But lets say as an example they did not really own it and it was available and i went and registered it.

I find it kind of unfair that they can just come and take it off my hands because their trademark is part of the domain name i mean if they should of just registered it to begin with.I was first to register not them!

I mean I Registered it first shouldent i be allowed to do what i want with it including sell it to them?


The reason I am asking is because I own a domain of a furtune 500 company that follows this exact concept and I would like to sell it to them to get a compensation but I am afraid to take action because i am afraid they will just sue me.


I believe all this is called cybersquatting but is there a way where this could be done without being illegal me selling this domain back ?

 

[kellie]

In short: No.

What you are considering doing is the very definition of bad faith.

 

[soggyindo]

in the interests of free speech you can develop a site on it - without ads or making a profit.

but you are not in the interest of free speech - - you're in the interest of making a buck. the buck you wanted to make would come from trying to sell their intellectual property... so...

 

[alisaeed]

What if i built a "free speech" site behind those domains and just let them run and build traffic on their own. and just waited for the companies to contact me!

or wat about just park it to make money!
Does it hurt if i own many for diffrent companies?

in the interests of free speech you can develop a site on it - without ads or making a profit.

but you are not in the interest of free speech - - you're in the interest of making a buck. and the buck you want to make would come from trading on their intellectual property.

so, the short answer is - sorry

 

[soggyindo]

there are a lot simpler ways to make money.

if you're going to make a site, why not make it about a general product category? then you own the domain, the site, the intellectual property, and can sell and put ads on it all you want, even sell the site later. you can sleep at night and aren't trying to rip anyone off.

parking is as bad as the other options. all in all, playing with TMs is a shortcut that won't pan out.

enjoy namepros. welcome aboard. read through the categories here - with the same initiative there's plenty of easier ways to get rich.

 

[HuntingMoon]

invest energy into building projects and businesses that can last. having the rug taken out from under you is not fun and there are enough risks with a legit business as it is.

 

[DomainMayhem.com]

What soggyindo said is correct. If you wish to have a domain name with a popular company and the word "sucks" after it, you may do it to your hearts content. It is protected by your right to free speech. The reason that companies buy them, isn't to protect against cybersquatting, since this practice isn't squatting. They just don't want meaningful content put into a domain/site that would be damaging to them in any way.

I would suggest for you to read up on internet law (yes the internet has its own set of laws, and many more to come as it's an ever developing area). There are lawyers that also specialize in this field that could help you understand and more fully explain any answers to questions that confuse you.

 

[weblord]

something like this posts:
http://www.namepros.com/2503155-post5.html
http://www.namepros.com/2504014-post7.html

 

[alisaeed]

something like this posts:
http://www.namepros.com/2503155-post5.html
http://www.namepros.com/2504014-post7.html

This means if i use common dictionary words such as "general electric" and not created words such as Yahoo could possibly get away with it because they ar ejust dictionary words that happen to be the companies trademark?

 

[alisaeed]

something like this posts:
http://www.namepros.com/2503155-post5.html
http://www.namepros.com/2504014-post7.html

This means if i use common dictionary words such as "general electric" and not created words such as Yahoo could possibly get away with it because they ar ejust dictionary words that happene to be the companies trademark?

 

[Carlton]

... I find it kind of unfair that they can just come and take it off my hands ...

Think of it this way. They consider it unfair that they spend possibly millions of dollars building a brand in a competitive marketplace, and achieve success through hard work, risk, and innovation ... only to have someone come along and try to profit off of their work. This is why patent, trademark, and copyright law came into existence ... to protect the investment of those who created, and who earned the right to benefit from their endeavors.

I'll give you a parallel example that is beyond debate, but which angers people because they are blinded by their own greed: downloading pirated music. Basically, people want what they want, and will rationalize their behavior and choices to justify their actions. Most people make excuses for stealing music by blaming "greedy" record companies, etc. But they have no idea the enormous work that goes into writing, recording, and marketing successful music. Literally years of work are poured into songwriting, and the artist/songwriter is compensated by having their creation sold in the marketplace ... not stolen and distributed en masse by opportunists.

Imagine realizing a lifelong dream of opening your own clothing store and you launch the dream at significant financial cost to yourself and your family ... with savings that you earned over a lifetime. You stock the shelves, price the merchandise, hire employees, purchase advertising, set up bookkeeping, and then watch as people without a conscience loot your store, break windows, and walk out with things that do not belong to them.

Trying to exploit, and derive revenue from a well-established brand/trademark is cybersquatting. It's a slippery slope, and I would suggest really thinking it over before taking that leap. There are ways to reduce one's risk and avoid infringing on a mark, but one would be advised to study this very carefully before proceeding.

Sorry for my soapbox tone. It's really my hope to deter domainers, especially newbies, from making some serious mistakes that damage their reputation or that bring serious financial penalties. I will concede that there are fringe cases and gray area cases in which one may deal in select TM's and avoid consequences. Some marks are more defensible than others. Good luck.

 

[soggyindo]

on the internet it really is as easy to own your own bank as it is to be a bank robber. you'd be nuts to take the second option IMO

 

[NetOctave]

For example walmart owns walmartsucks.com and they bought it because they probably don't want it in the wrong hands.

Why do you want to open new threads for the same question ???
http://www.namepros.com/domain-name-discussion/511966-copyright-infringement.html

Edit: Added link