║▓ßúdhαrlεy▓║

recently got an email from a fairly large corporation which provides Personal Webspace and pages to people asking me to cease and desist any usage of one of my domain name, similar to their trademark and give them ownership of it, . I had the domain redirected to a prank page that opens several pop-up windows and repeatedly sings "You are an Idiot... Hahahahahahaha", I have not capitalized off of this investment and never planned to. I simply did it for entertainment purposes. I was wondering if anyone on here had any similar experiences with anything like this. Here is the scenario. I am a 23 year old man barely making over 20,000 a year with a family to support. I received an email from a multi-million dollar corporation because they say that I am infringing on their rights and that they own something I purchased with my hard earned cash. I did not have any bad-intentions to hurt this company, only to provided a few laughs around the office. I would appreciate any feedback on this topic as I know it is currently in the media quite often. I own only four domain names and don't intend to "squat" on any of them. Please help me here. I am stuck on whether to just be a pushover and avoid any repurcussions or fight this because I think it is my right to.

Pizentios

tell em you'd sell it to them for 10,000

that should fix them quick.

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DaWei

The outcome from these things varies widely. There is a link, which I have lost, which gives recent rulings regarding exactly the sort of thing you're talking about. They go both ways, but seem mainly fair to an uninitiated person such as I am. One, for instance, gave McDonalds the right to one some guy had called JesusMcDonalds or something like that. All they wanted to do was suppress the name, and they won. In another case a guy in England had registered a name with which to provide game results for some big European soccer contest. He did NOT use the initials of the sponsoring agency, but the name definitely invoked their image because it was a commonly used acronym with 2005 appended. The ruling was that since his providing of the results would not commercially damage the organization in any way, and since they didn't bother to register it for themselves, he was fully within his rights and was allowed to keep the name. It was a very interesting document and I believe you may be able to find it via Google or by checking the links one finds on a registrar's site.

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║▓ßúdhαrlεy▓║

That would be considered squatting then and they would say that I would be gaining financially from their trademark. That wasn't my intent when I registered the name either

skuinders

A court would have to rule that the name is similar enough to fool the public for you to have to give it up. Apparently it is your responsibility to research names before you buy them.

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DaWei

These things aren't normally handled by courts. There is a ruling body whose decisions you agree to abide by when you get into the game.

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║▓ßúdhαrlεy▓║

ACPA and the UDRP control it. It seems to be a very unfair market in which corporations control. If domain names are supposed to be available for the public then a corporation shouldn't be able to yank it from you after you have already purchased it.

skuinders

"The courts would have to make the decision based upon the trademark laws and if your domain name, in fact, has the potential of confusing the public."
- Shelley Lowery, an author who has researched these cases.

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"A stupid man's report of what a clever man says can never be accurate, because he unconciously translates what he hears into something he can understand."
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║▓ßúdhαrlεy▓║

I haven't Offered any good or services through my domain name though.

Pizentios

i guess i just like being a dick. you got it first, so why shouldn't you be able to sell it to them if they want it so bad. And like you've said, you don't advertise this domain or use it for personal gain. So what are they worried about?

what are the domains in question? how close is your domain to their actual trade mark?

also, till they send you something on paper, i wouldn't worry about it, since emails IMHO are not legally binding, since they are quite easy to spoof.

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