Enjoy unlimited access to all forum features for FREE! Optional upgrade available for extra perks.
Domain summit 2024

someone is squatting on my friends name

Status
Not open for further replies.
P

President Gringo

Guest
How do you go about reclaiming the name? They have put up a page saying the site is being updated, and even put things like "smell your armpits" and crap like that there.

How can she claim it back?
 
Domain summit 2024

GeorgeK

Leap.com
Legacy Exclusive Member
Joined
May 17, 2002
Messages
2,248
Reaction score
64
Feedback: 3 / 0 / 0
Did the name expire? Which domain name? Was it stolen? More details needed, please....
 

draqon

Level 8
Legacy Platinum Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2002
Messages
1,139
Reaction score
0
Feedback: 0 / 0 / 0
well, it all depends on who your friend is.

If she is a national celebrity, you have a good chance of recovering the domain. otherwise, if she is just some random person, its utterly hopeless.

Jerry Falwell, the well-known Preacher recently lost his WIPO case, because a) he failed to show that his name was associated with a business or a commercial venture, and b) the website was being used for a legitimate parody of his sermons.

http://www.internetparodies.org/FalwellDecision.pdf

When it comes to random civilians who are not famous, or not involved in international commerce, the laws are even looser. People are allowed to register the domain name of their friends or enemies, and put up all sorts of silly nonsense. If the person puts up something that is considered libel or slander, then you can sue them. But nonsense about smelling armpits isnt gonna win her anything,
 

GeorgeK

Leap.com
Legacy Exclusive Member
Joined
May 17, 2002
Messages
2,248
Reaction score
64
Feedback: 3 / 0 / 0
One thing that can be used is the WHOIS accuracy form at:

http://www.internic.net/cgi/rpt_whois/rpt.cgi

if the abusers used fake names/contact details in their WHOIS info. If they don't put in the real info, the domain would typically get deleted by the registrar.
 

draqon

Level 8
Legacy Platinum Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2002
Messages
1,139
Reaction score
0
Feedback: 0 / 0 / 0
hmm, i misread your post. i assumed the person was squatting on your friend's name, like BobJones.com. But rereading it, you probably just meant name as in domain name, so that changes things. But we still need to know what domain it is, to give you any real opinion.
 

GeorgeK

Leap.com
Legacy Exclusive Member
Joined
May 17, 2002
Messages
2,248
Reaction score
64
Feedback: 3 / 0 / 0
draqon: you might be right, it could be her real name. Hard to tell without more details, though...

The original poster seems to be in London, England, too, and libel laws are more powerful there, as they are in Canada.
 

DotComster

Level 8
Legacy Gold Member
Joined
Jun 29, 2002
Messages
1,277
Reaction score
0
Feedback: 0 / 0 / 0
This's the right place to ask - but as mentioned above, more info needed. It might be that someone got into your friend's site and changed the index page or other files?
 
P

President Gringo

Guest
Ok, sorry for not providing more details. Well, heres the story....

My friend is based in MN, USA, and owned a domain name for her company. The domain name was www.emt-ikeda.com

Her sons friend was responsible for the web site, but he screwed up and didn't re-register the name, and it dropped and someone grabbed it. They (the cyber squatters) then put up a page similar to the one up there now, but at first it said things like "welcome aliens" and "be sure to smell your armpits on the way out".

My friend now registered the domain www.emtikeda.com and uses that, but all directories on the web are using the old site and she is loosing traffic.

Now, the person who registered her other name must be liable not only for the domain but for damages coz all people looking for the old company will assume the site has been taken down, and not that the site is elsewhere.

Whats the best course of action, and what are the likely costs?
 

Ciqala

Level 7
Legacy Platinum Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2002
Messages
872
Reaction score
0
Feedback: 0 / 0 / 0
from my limited reading on this subject I think (and i wonder if a regular can confirm this) that once a name is dropped and has completed the delete cycle anyone is free to reg it so its not going to be classed as cybersquatting... unless of course your friend owns tms in the correct areas for the name.

as for damages for loss of traffic no can do... lots of people pick up domains in a drop specifically because they already come with high traffic... so they are not doing anything wrong...

and personally the name without the hyphen is the more logical/effective of the two...

I suppose your friend could always put a snap on it and hope they dont renew next year...

thats my $0.02 it may not be wholly correct as i myself am just starting to gain a feel for regging domains and the related issues that come with it

perhaps as i said a regular can confirm/deny what i just said...

thanks

Ciq
 

micro

Level 4
Legacy Platinum Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2002
Messages
105
Reaction score
0
Feedback: 0 / 0 / 0
The ppl who bought the dropped name are NOT cyber squatters. They just regged an expired name - thats it.

About damages she can sue her sons friend, but definitely not the ppl who regged the domain.
 
P

President Gringo

Guest
but the guy has put up a page to suggest that this is still the site for the company.

I am sure she will just reg it next year as whoever brought it has no use for it and just wanted to try it on. I am sure the last part of the domain is TM'd coz its the name of the machines they sell.
 

GeorgeK

Leap.com
Legacy Exclusive Member
Joined
May 17, 2002
Messages
2,248
Reaction score
64
Feedback: 3 / 0 / 0
Gringo: a more effective strategy (assuming there's no TM, as your friend is not the TM holder, just a dealer apparently) would be to do a Google search for all links to the old domain, and then get those websites to change the links.

If your friend has the old webserver logs for the original site, even better would be to look through it for the top referring sites, and get those ones to change the links. The domain without the hyphen is better, anyhow, for the long run.

From their WHOIS info (and that for "provenhealthy.com", which they link to on their current page), the data seems fake. See:

emt-ikeda.com
Domain Manager (domain_manager@emt-ikeda.com)
1-702-920-7656
FAX: 1-702-920-7656
PO Box 27W
Worthing Post Office,
BB

Area code 702 is in Nevada. That address doesn't seem to be in Nevada. Complain to eNom (directly, and also via the form at www.internic.net that I mentioned above), and perhaps you can have the last laugh, by not only having your friend's domain deleted, but also their provenhealthy.com one.

As an aside, perhaps GregR might want to create free sub-categories for any registrar that wants to be represented on DNForum.com, for semi-official support? e.g. if eNom, OpenSRS, Register.com, DirectNic, Dotster, etc. have people watching the board already, they can have an area where their reps would be able to provide some info? Of course, it all depends on the registrar if they want to provide such support (might be a useful marketing thing to them, esp. with so many domain owners here).
 

Ciqala

Level 7
Legacy Platinum Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2002
Messages
872
Reaction score
0
Feedback: 0 / 0 / 0
Originally posted by GeorgeK

Area code 702 is in Nevada. That address doesn't seem to be in Nevada. Complain to eNom (directly, and also via the form at www.internic.net that I mentioned above), and perhaps you can have the last laugh, by not only having your friend's domain deleted, but also their provenhealthy.com one.
Unfortunately this is more likely reffering to an area code in the uk as (0)1702 is a valid uk area code just down the road from me actually (southend-on-sea area for all uk peeps who are interested) so whilst it points to a mailbox it may still prove to be valid...

Originally posted by GeorgeK

As an aside, perhaps GregR might want to create free sub-categories for any registrar that wants to be represented on DNForum.com, for semi-official support? e.g. if eNom, OpenSRS, Register.com, DirectNic, Dotster, etc. have people watching the board already, they can have an area where their reps would be able to provide some info? Of course, it all depends on the registrar if they want to provide such support (might be a useful marketing thing to them, esp. with so many domain owners here).

this is a good idea... don't webhostingtalk do the same thing with representatives from paypal and various other places... from what i gather it proves to be a popular feature and would certainly increase the appeal of dnforum (if thats possible :) )

Ciq
 

maxheadroom

Level 3
Legacy Gold Member
Joined
Sep 12, 2002
Messages
58
Reaction score
0
Feedback: 0 / 0 / 0
This name only has a link popularity of 20. I can't imagine it having much traffic, especially with the hyphen. The suggestion to "re-register" it with the search engines is a good one, however, you might have a problem. First of all, they will usually only "talk" to the owner of the domain, and that's not you. You might get some sympathy from some of them, so it might be worth it. Also, if you deregister now, if you get the name back, you have to start all over again.

What I think has happened is that the son's friends are teasing/taunting him. If the contact information is legit, call them and tell them, "You've made your point" and offer them $35 for the name. If the contact info is not correct, contact the registrar (I belive it's enom) and ask them to delete it based on erroneous information. Then register the name immediately yourself.
 
P

President Gringo

Guest
The traffic may not be large, but we are talking about expensive machines....her clients include boeing and other airpline manufactuers. So even a few hits could add up. But i'm sure anyone coming up the the old page will just call up so it shouldn't be that bad.

Will take aboard all your advice. Thanks for the info.
 

Capt. Flash

Level 5
Legacy Platinum Member
Joined
Aug 15, 2002
Messages
283
Reaction score
0
Feedback: 15 / 0 / 0
Contrary to the previous posts the new registrant could be a cybersquater. First, if indeed, your friend had an active site with a genuine offering of commerce, than they have established "Common Law" trademark rights. Unfortunately, the USPTO no longer recognizes common law rights, first to register has the mark. Therefore, your friend would need to file a trademark application within the state the business is conducted (most state governments have a trademark registration system and recognize common law rights) and then file a civil suit from within the same state. Most state civil court systems have remedies that include conveyance of the name back to the original registrant along with significant damages and recovery of legal fees. Be prepared to go to Federal Court for appeals (from your info this would be unlikely). It seems from your description that the current registrant does not have a good faith or bona fide use for the name. If you had significant use and documentation backing up your claims, you could win in a mediation forum such as WIPO, they will except common law rights as an argument (with documentation) and combined with the new registrants bad faith use you could win.
Otherwise, you have to depend on the "Gold Law", he with the most gold wins. Most domain resellers talk a good talk but very few have the 5 to 10 thousand dollars to start a lawsuit or to defend one, once they find out that the costs could easily reach 50 thousand dollars they fold like little school boys. I am not an attorney but have experience with this sort of litigation strategy. I would recommend that you determine how important the name is and perform a cost benefit analysis then seek the advice of a competent attorney in your state.
Out of curiosity what is the product your friend sells? I have been in aviation for 20 years and have never heard of it. I guess you know Learjet has just suspended all production of their business jets so unfortunately, there is on less customer to buy your product, the industry as a whole is in the worst shape that I have ever seen. I would wish anyone good luck in a venture involving aircraft at this time.
 
P

President Gringo

Guest
she sells cutting and drilling machines, the sort that are used to make the planes etc. (i.e the machines that cut the metal to make the wings etc). Business isn't going too well coz of the climate there right now, and this isn't going to help.
 

Drewbert

Level 5
Legacy Gold Member
Joined
May 6, 2002
Messages
467
Reaction score
0
Feedback: 0 / 0 / 0
"Now, the person who registered her other name must be liable not only for the domain but for damages coz all people looking for the old company will assume the site has been taken down, and not that the site is elsewhere"

Get her to read the registration agreement that she approved when she registered the name. it's only "her" name as long as she keeps paying the annual lease fee.

End of story.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

The Rule #1

Do not insult any other member. Be polite and do business. Thank you!

Sedo - it.com Premiums

IT.com

Premium Members

AucDom
UKBackorder
Be a Squirrel
MariaBuy

New Threads

Our Mods' Businesses

Free QR Code Generator by MerchArts
UrlPick.com

*the exceptional businesses of our esteemed moderators

Top Bottom