Kinda ticked off...

[End User King]

I sold a non-profit domain name and the new owner is using it
as an adult site. The extension was .org and I truly felt
the owner was going to use it for a good purpose.

The name wont be mentioned, but let's say a form of 'sex' was
used in the extension. My question is should I buy it back and give
it away next time. I see the new owner already has it listed for resale
4 times what I sold it for.

 

[Ronald Regging]

BUT - enforcing a contract is an expensive ..um .. proposition (sorry). Say $$,$$$. Then you have the problem of the owner residing, probably, in a different state. If he (or she) is in a different country, or sells the domain to a different country, then you probably are SOL.

Depending on how much the domain sells for there could be several ways to go about it to make it quite simple to litigate and rather discouraging for the buyer to break the contract. The first thing is attach a monetary penalty within the contract if the buyer breaks it. You can sue for upto $5,000 in small-claims court, which is relatively simple and cheap to pursue. You could also have a clause for the return of the domain if the contract is broken, and assuming the value of the domain is under $5,000, again you can go through small claims court. You can also write in a clause that clearly states that the legal jurisdiction of the contract resides in your city and state, so if the need for a court battle arises, the buyer will be legally bound to come to you.

Now obviously this isn't a solves-all solution, but it shows that there are viable options. As far as the buyer being from another country or selling out of the country, I don't know how that would work, I'm not a lawyer, I just play one on TV

 

[accent]

..... attach a monetary penalty within the contract if the buyer breaks it. You can sue for up to $5,000 in small-claims court, which is relatively simple and cheap to pursue. You could also have a clause for the return of the domain if the contract is broken, and assuming the value of the domain is under $5,000, again you can go through small claims court. You can also write in a clause that clearly states that the legal jurisdiction of the contract resides in your city and state, so if the need for a court battle arises, the buyer will be legally bound to come to you.....

I agree with the above but to add a couple points: The total amount recoverable in small claims court varies from state to state. Specifying the remedy in the contract would be a very good move, it would be difficult to convince a judge of a domain's value.

As I understand it courts in one state have no power against people in other states. That is why there is an extradition hearing when a bad guy is caught in another state. There may be a way to attach property in another state in a civil case, but I do not think it would be easy.

Perhaps Icann's dispute process could be used for this. They must have time, they are currently involved with taking domains away from cats.