I thought to myself the other day that I might like to register my surname as a domain name. I find that the best tld's are taken and sewn up for several years and belong to you guessed it, name companies and are supposedly registered for clients which by the looks of it is just not true (default splash screens for companies on them all, including bloody netidentity).

My surname is a rare one and I was wondering what I could do about it, probably sweet f.a.

As a company I might stand a chance slapping them down but as and induvidual I got no chance have I?

As a company I might stand a chance slapping them down but as and induvidual I got no chance have I?

As a company I don't think you have chance either, unless you have been in business for years, have some trademarks or can prove so. Even if you have trademarks you still have to go through the legal system - $$$. In the early days many companies got back the names they wanted just by threatning to sue but that no longer works unless you have a highly visible name like pepsi or colgate..... If you are going to fight for a surname or a first name, good luck to you unless you are a Rockafella

I know theres little I can do.

I'm just pissed off because its obvious these names were registered deliberately, I bet you if I contacted them regarding taking over the names theyd want a large fee.

I might just contact them anyway to find out just what theyd charge if they were willing to.

. Even if you have trademarks you still have to go through the legal system - $$$. As a company that does hold the trademarks I only want to say....

YEP!

How can you own my family name?

Netidentity specializes in owning family names that represent a large percentage of the population, so that many people can share the use of these names. This way, we allow all of the Smiths of the world to have email addresses at Smith.net, rather than one Smith privately owning the domain name.

Aren't you guilty of cybersquatting?

No, we are not guilty of cybersquatting. Netidentity allows its customers to share highly desirable domain names for use as email accounts or web site accounts. Our business model is in fact the opposite of cybersquatting, as we make attractive domains available to multiple people who might want to use the same domain, or can't get access to their favorite domain through any other method.


What a load of s***

The trademark alone does not hold water. Brand name and popularity counts - just trademarks do not. That is how I understand it, I am not a lawyer. One can always try and threaten and send some nice letterhead from a lawyer. It depends upon how much the other guy knows and if he is willing to fight then you better be willing to spend some money and time. That is why some companies who could afford to spend money just paid the squatters and bought the name back. Because when you go the leagal route after spending money and time, you may still end up losing.

if I contacted them regarding taking over the names theyd want a large fee.

Yeah, you better believe it. The minute you ask them they will ask some ridiculous amount of money for a domain name that might expire in a few days and you might be able to pick it up for 10 bucks. If it is not a useful name to a lot of other people, then I say just wait for the expiration date and then if they renew ask them at that time.

Aren't you guilty of cybersquatting?

Nope. It is called entrepreneurship. Cybersqatting is when someone deliberately registers a known popular name that they know other company(ies) are already using in the physical world like pepsi, tylenol..... Smart people do not do that anymore. In the above case of family names, there is not one smith or thomas, there are thousands and hence anyone can pick it up - first come, first serve.

Originally posted by haji
Yeah, you better believe it. The minute you ask them they will ask some ridiculous amount of money for a domain name that might expire in a few days and you might be able to pick it up for 10 bucks. If it is not a useful name to a lot of other people, then I say just wait for the expiration date and then if they renew ask them at that time. [/B]

Little chance, ones covered for at least another 2 years and I think the others are similar. I could offer any of them low and point out that no one is using their services for the names, not one.

And its a lot rarer than smith!

Yeah, I ran across that site before. kinda pissed me off at the time then too... did they ever consider that maybe the guy who could have bought smith.net might have allowed the Smiths of the world to have email addresses for nothing? :D Bastards.. heh.

That was genuinely a side purpose I had in mind, oh well.

i wanted yocum.com but it's not available nor is .net/org.....

i think you should registere smith-yourname.net or whatever it may be. in future if you got the name you can also get it. no way they are going to give you smith.net without huge amount of money.


also every enquiry you or any other make makes them confident for renuing that domain because they know potential buyer are there. ;)

There are other extensions still free, but until the general awareness of the internet increases I'm generally of the opinion that if it isnt .com or .net youre immdeiately handicapping your chances of being correctly remembered.

As to what mahinder said, also, buying other variations will also give them a clue its in demand, theres no way to win.