Hi everyone!

I just came from another forum I frequent and found
this interesting tidbit:

http://namepros.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=41773

Enjoy!

I always warned of the ability of the registrar to control the domains... really.. WE DON'T OWN THE DOMAIN, but the registrar does.

Senior, that is not entirely accurate. There are those cases where the individual, or company, can set up a trademark or service mark on their domain.

It's true that most of the time you are only purchasing the rights to the domain. However for those who are granted the TM or SM (which is very very difficult to do), they pretty much own the name itself.

the registrar never own the domain, the registry does and the registrar lease it from the registry and the customer lease it from the registrar :)

what enom did is totally wrong, they have no right to judge what is right and what is wrong, usually such cases the domain get locked for 30 days waiting for court order to proceed with what todo.

i wonder how come enom transferred the domain to google, i'm in the same situation now and the domain is locked with the hijacker waiting for court order to return the domain back to my customer.

1. IF this is true, and happened the way the guy tells the story, eNom was definitely wrong for just handing over the domain, without waiting for the proper legal channels to be used.

2. I say IF because until we see some official court documents (he says coming this Friday) all we are hearing is one side of the story.

3-A) Some of his statements indicate he is quickly becoming lawsuit-happy, and looking forward to suing everybody he can find. Sure, he might have a case, but his damages are minimal to none. He apparently lost no revenue from this, and the domain was used for some free email service, so other than temporarily being without his domain, how exactly was he damaged?

3-B) I just get the feeling this might be one of those cases where a person is indeed done wrong, but instead of being fair and reasonable about it, he's developing the attitude that he should be monetarily compensated to the point where he can retire off it.

Personal Note) Unfortunately, this attitude is very prevalent in the domain aftermarket by a lot of domain speculators. No offense. I've bought and sold thousands of dollars in names myself, but I can't stand the "get rich quick" mentality that some in the business have. Some people say that the hosting business has a lot of bad seeds, but frankly, the domain aftermarket is full of more than it's share.

If this is true I can see Google/Enom both having a rather unhappy ending. Mainly Enom hah.

yet another reason to avoid enom.

i wonder if they have any authority over registerfly names??

For the record (regarding my "Personal Note" at the end of the above post), I want to add that there are a lot of good, normal, hard working people that deal in the domain aftermarket, as speculators and brokers etc. so I did not mean for it to sound otherwise. The nature of the industry though, breeds the "get rich quick" mentality, and it's that which really leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Originally posted by LaurenStephens
yet another reason to avoid enom.

i wonder if they have any authority over registerfly names?? registerfly is a reseller for enom. They are no different then any other ETP except they probably sell a lot more domains.

Googleemail.com was transferred to ICANN Registrar Markmonitor.com.
I don't know Googleemail.com is under the control of eNom or not, but Googleemail.com has used eNom nameservers.

sounds like a poor court decision, I hope the media doesn't pick up on this one.

Originally posted by Gen-T
For the record (regarding my "Personal Note" at the end of the above post), I want to add that there are a lot of good, normal, hard working people that deal in the domain aftermarket, as speculators and brokers etc. so I did not mean for it to sound otherwise. The nature of the industry though, breeds the "get rich quick" mentality, and it's that which really leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Aren't all fields of business (i.e. domain markets,
restaurants, fast foods, supermarkets, etc.) full
of good, normal, hard working people (and don't
forget honest, too. :) ) and those with the "get
rich quick" mentality anyway? :D

What I'd to see are the official court documents
the guy said he'd post and an attorney's feedback
on it. We'll see.

Originally posted by davezan
Aren't all fields of business (i.e. domain markets,
restaurants, fast foods, supermarkets, etc.) full
of good, normal, hard working people (and don't
forget honest, too. :) ) and those with the "get
rich quick" mentality anyway? :D

Well yes to a point, but employees at "restaurants, fast foods, supermarkets" don't expect to buy a Taco or ToiletPaper today for $10, and then sell it tomorrow for $100,000 dollars. There are a lot of people (domainers/speculators) who seem to think that's exactly what they are going to do, and that's the get-rich mentality that I was referring to. Anybody who frequents the online domain portals is aware that a good portion of the names for sale are barely worth the registration fee, yet the owners are already picking out the interior color on their new BMW they plan to buy once they hit the big one. For most, the big one never comes. Unless of course, it's the big bill from their credit card company each month from registering all those worthless names. (Again though, this does not apply to ALL domainers)
Originally posted by davezan
(and don't forget honest, too. :) )
Agreed. Some of the nicest people I know are domainers/speculators. :)

Originally posted by Bashar
the registrar never own the domain, the registry does and the registrar lease it from the registry and the customer lease it from the registrar :)


I think I was told that the registrar can NOT change the registrant information, and the only person who can control it is the registrant himself...

If there is a dishonest person working for a registrar, he has the influence to change any of the information he wants, so he can transfer any domain away from his company... if this person is wise enough, he will succeed in this.

now, i heared 2 cases about loosing domains from customers control panel.. this happened to me when once I found a domain I have disappeared because of a human mistake made by an employee... but looks like my case is spreading out these days.


[Edit] the second case I refered to:
http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=304083

Googlee bear in Shrek?
I must have missed something.
No reference to such a character when I searched Google either.

There were some good points raised in the thread pertaining to the authenticity of claims stated, and without credible 3rd party collaboration would deem this all to be hearsay despite what is claimed to be true.

I agree with what mole stated clearly, this is what gives domainers a bad reputation.

I can find Googly Bear but Googlee Bear doesn't seem to exist.

I think there is a clear TM violation there and if this is true, Google will probably appeal it.

It would be nice to see some of the court transcripts as promised.

Originally posted by Gen-T
Unless of course, it's the big bill from their credit card company each month from registering all those worthless names. (Again though, this does not apply to ALL domainers)


agree, in think the industry does attract more than its fair share of dreamers.