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UPDATE: There are 0 signup spots left for the Offer above. Thanks for the support. :)

Not sure if you were aware, but there is a host here at WHT that runs Hostit365.com. It's very confusing and borderline in my opinion.

UPDATE: There are 2 signup spots left for the Offer above.

Hi vipe,

I became aware of Hostit365.com a while back. However "hosting it 365" is generally used within the web hosting industry. I simply intergrated it into a domain name. :)

For a minute there I thought this was an offer from Hostit365.com, and I was wondering "huhhh, they just launched???" Confusing, yes. Not right, more so.

Originally posted by HostingIt365
I became aware of Hostit365.com a while back. However "hosting it 365" is generally used within the web hosting industry. I simply intergrated it into a domain name. :) I think its a very poor choice on your part, certainly leaving the impression that you are intentionally trying to gain advantage from the good name that HostIt365 has established over a period of time. Its a form of brand identity theft.

Would you dare to create a company called Coc-A-Cola?

You state:
"Generally used within the web hosting industry"?

Show us examples. Show us the 'common' usage of this phrase.

Google returns not even a single hit of that phrase across the entire planet.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF8&q=%22hosting+it+365%22
Your search - "hosting it 365" - did not match any documents.


I can't imagine a legitimate reason why you would choose a name for your company - a reflection on yourself - that so obviously resembles another competitor in the same line of business.

At best, it illustrates that you have no imagination. At worst - well, we can all picture the worst.

Choosing intentionally misleading domain names ranks right up there with SPAM and kiddie porn. In my opinion.

For those interested in speaking out on this, I've created a poll entitled "Brand Theft or Acceptable Practice", found at:
http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=400602

So that means someone using webhost.com is taking advantage of webhosting.com, or even webhosttalk.com taking advantage of webhostingtalk.com?

rally, you are indeed a wise man, nay a guru. ;)

365 are you related in any way to HostingIt365?

No, but I have worked for 365 Corporation, a multi-million pound UK PLC and many people in the company regretted using the 365 brand because it was far too generic.

You seem to be on a personal crusade here trying create ill feeling, infact while not quite a flame, I smell a bit of a smoke.

It's not that it is necessarily taking advantage of another company, it's confusing for the customer.

'Blah' stated exactly what I thought after reading it and left a bad impression - even moreso after they acknowledged they were aware of the fact I pointed out.

Nonetheless, I didn't post to start an ethic war - was just inquiring because some people are not aware of their situation. Good luck with your business Lancelot.

mwatkins

Perhaps you could tell me where you stand on host365 and hostit365

mtwatkins, better still and to make it easier for you, what if webhost.com, webhost.net, webhost.biz , all 3 separate entities started posting on here?

People get confused between Rackspace and Rackshack here all the time. Quite different names and companies (compared to the examples given so far as well), yet it still happens. It's going to happen.

However, let's let the customer make the decision. As a customer I posted my opinion on how I felt - but yours isn't exactly fact either.

Originally posted by rally
So that means someone using webhost.com is taking advantage of webhosting.com, or even webhosttalk.com taking advantage of webhostingtalk.com? Not neccessarily.

Beyond being a question of ethics and morals, the dispute mechanism might well rule in favour of a complainant, provided there is something to complain about. In this case, I think there is.

Some relevant excepts:

http://www.icann.org/udrp/udrp-policy-24oct99.htm

(i) your domain name is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which the complainant has rights; and

..
(iii) you have registered the domain name primarily for the purpose of disrupting the business of a competitor; or

(iv) by using the domain name, you have intentionally attempted to attract, for commercial gain, Internet users to your web site or other on-line location, by creating a likelihood of confusion with the complainant's mark as to the source, sponsorship, affiliation, or endorsement of your web site or location or of a product or service on your web site or location.

--
Now the relatively young owner of HostingIt365.com may not have yet enough life experience to distinguish that which is right vs that which is legally permissble, but most people recognize that the two are not always the same thing.

Its a poor approach to launching a new business.

Furthermore, the domain hawkers posting on WHT that regularily promote domain similarity to prospective buyers are just another link in the chain of unethical thinking.

Am I on a crusade? Not on or for either party in this discussion. People do have a choice in how they conduct themselves in business and its my opinion that the decision the new hosting company made was a less than ethical decision. Choosing a confusing domain purposely (with foreknowledge) illustrates something of the character of the person.

The thing is you could have raised this point without getting personal, now you chose to fight the cause for hostit365, my question is where you stand on hostit365 using this name when host365 was already an established hosting company.

I submit to this thread that HostingIt365 and HostIt365 are in fact far more confusing than RackSpace and RackShack.

I've never done a double take on RackSpace and RackShack yet was puzzled initially when I saw HostingIt365.com posting opening offers, as my eye initially mistook this for the well known HostIt365.com id here on WHT.

One of the first posters on this thread appears to have a similar experience.

We can debate this forever and a day, and paint the issue in shades of grey, but simple truth is that avoiding the issue would have been a simple matter for the young entreprenuer.

With luck, people will vote with their dollars appropriately.

mwatkin, is host365.com and hostit365.com not confusing?

Originally posted by 365
The thing is you could have raised this point without getting personal, now you chose to fight the cause for hostit365, my question is where you stand on hostit365 using this name when host365 was already an established hosting company.

I personally would not have registered a name so similar. For my own company, I went through great lengths to ensure that our name was not similar to other domains as well as to other competitors in our industry.

As for Host365, aside from it appearing to be down or defunct at this moment, a quick search on WHT:

http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=13109&highlight=host365

The difference here is that the owner of HostIt365 at least appears to have done some research.

I can't speak for him but for myself, if I was planning on offering hosting services under that name, and was aware of WHT, I would have searched WHT to check for competing / similar names, with the express purpose of avoiding such a situation.

In fact the owner of HostingIt365 admits to prior knowledge of the other, very similar, domain, yet went ahead anyway.

My concience is quite clear.

Originally posted by rally
mwatkin, is host365.com and hostit365.com not confusing? Yes it is... but the key difference here - Host365 does no marketing here on WHT and possibly not in North America.

This isn't a very complex issue people, I'm quite surprised at the lack of understanding being displayed.

Ok, an analogy:

Michael Jackson, from Ireland, is a solo vocalist who sings and dances and advertises in the local papers his performances.

Michael Jackson, living somewhere in a secluded mansion, is an American performer and is quite famous, and advertises in US papers when he is performing in a US city.

Both operate very well with no issues, despite identical names.

---

Then Michael Jackson and Michael Jackson both post on MusicTalk.com their upcoming performance at the Main Street Hall.

In fact, Michael Jackson from Ireland notes the similarity and posts interesting tidbits, to him, about his life and gains a following because people mistake him for the other Michael Jackson.

Confusing? Yes, because of context and proximity.

So...
HostIt365 reviewed the situation over a year ago and because Host365.com was not focussed on US business felt it was ok to go ahead.

HostingIt365 reviewed the situation days or weeks or months ago, was aware of the already established HostIt365.com, and decided to go ahead and register it *and* promote their business here in the same place where the other, very similar domain, was well established.

Again, this is a simple chain of events, and I find it difficult that anyone could have a hard time understanding the basic principles.

host365 is far from a defunct site and all that the guy who owns hostit365 did was ignore the fact that people pointed out that his domain was similar and could be confused with host365.

You seem to read selectively, this is a quote by the owner or hostit365 from the thread that you pointed out.

"Well to be honest, I did look up the idea of registering host365.com, but we all know is taken!"

This sounds to me like he also did some research and ignored the fact that someone else had used host and 365 in their domain.

Your Michael Jackson analogy is the biggest load of rubbish I have ever read and has no relevance whatsoever in this argument.

The internet is a global business and the fact that host365 is a .com would suggest that this company is aiming themselves at a US or global audience. If we were asking you to compare host365.co.uk to hostit365.com you would have an argument but as it stands your reasoning is very much flawed.

If Giovanni's Bakery in Florence, Italy operates a booming business, and I also have an outlet by the same name in Naples, Florida, I don't consider it a problem.

The fact that Host365.com has only been mentioned in one thread, before today, on WHT, is a pretty clear indication that neither is being harmed by promotional activity taking place here.

mtwatkins, in all honesty your gonna have a tough battle with 2 different entities using the same GENERIC words, because in europe there is NO WAY you can register a trademark on a generic name, i'm not too familiar with US copyright laws. Take sex.com, there is sex.net and sex.org they all sex sites byt different owners yet they selling the same services.

There is obviously an issue between yourself and the owner of hostingit365 and perhaps you should deal with it less publicly.

Originally posted by 365
The internet is a global business and the fact that host365 is a .com would suggest that this company is aiming themselves at a US or global audience.

You are correct in only one thing - the Internet is a global business. The fact that I've never heard of Host365.com before is something of a testimony to how large the market place is. I'm not exactly new to this.

I can't speak for the thought process of the owner of HostIt365.com, but it would appear that he had a sense for territories.

There is a clear difference between two entities competing for the same markets vs two entities competing for different markets. From what we can observe about Host365 and HostIt365, it seems clear that both aim for different markets.


As I look at Host365.com I see a company that appears to be very focussed on the UK market and nothing else. There are no international phone dialing instructions. They offer local dial up telecom services "freedial 365" and ADSL. There is no apparent focus on marketing to any geography other than their local one. That they chose a .com name hardly suggests a desire to attack the North American market - its simply a recognition of the value of .com tld.

I hold .com and .ca domains for a number of my businesses and the traffic from .com vastly outweights traffic from .ca.

This meets my Giovanni test quite well.

And I'm polite enough to refrain from calling your arguments 'rubbish'.

Final comment - the point of the post was to illustrate the issue of ethics as raised by the 'launch' of HostingIt365. You are entitled to your opinons. Please be sure to wear a nice big badge labelling yourself in favour of common sense and ethics, or not, in order that others can be sure to steer clear of you.

Originally posted by mwatkins

The fact that Host365.com has only been mentioned in one thread, before today, on WHT, is a pretty clear indication that neither is being harmed by promotional activity taking place here.

So what is your grief with hostingit365?

Really if you can't discern my point after all this, what good will one more post do?

cwatkins, you don't by any chance live in the People Republic of China do you because the last time I looked, the US and UK and most of western civilisation operated under a free market economy, which extends far beyond this forum.

Originally posted by mwatkins
Really if you can't discern my point after all this, what good will one more post do?

If there is anyone who can't discern anything, that is most likely you, becuse i have given you countless examples of generic names owned by different ppl who sell the same product or service, if that is hard for you to get your way thinking maybe I should do the courteus thing and leave it at that.

Originally posted by 365
The internet is a global business and the fact that host365 is a .com would suggest that this company is aiming themselves at a US or global audience. If we were asking you to compare host365.co.uk to hostit365.com you would have an argument but as it stands your reasoning is very much flawed.

I find it really odd that you're taking so much time and effort to defend hostingit365, yet you say you have no affiliation?

i know 365, I introduced him to wht a short while back and I can assure you he has no affiliation to hostingit365.
Also putting up an objection automatically implies you have some sort of affiliation?

I thought I would add a few things:

1. Host365 does not operate in the US market. They operate in the UK market, and charge in Pound Sterling.
2. Host365 do not discuss their products on WebHostingTalk.
3. Subject to personal opinion, I would argue that HostingIt365 and HostIt365 are far more similar and easy to mix up.

But again, Host365 do not operate in the US market, and don't take part on WebHostingTalk either. So in effect there is no conflict there at all, whereas with HostingIt365 they:

1. Operate in the same market as us
2. They also take part in the same forums as us

I have actually received emails from several clients now who have been confused, and would kindly ask the owners of HostingIt365 to reconsider the name (there are lots of good free domains out there, and clearly using a terribly similar name on the same market on the same forum is not exactly a nice thing to do). Especially considering that they in effect use the exact same 3 words in their name as we do, and operate in the same market, not to mention also on the same forums.

Originally posted by rally
i know 365, I introduced him to wht a short while back and I can assure you he has no affiliation to hostingit365.
Also putting up an objection automatically implies you have some sort of affiliation? The coincidence of the name is unusual, but I take people at their word until their deeds suggest otherwise.

311, I'm doing it because this man has instigated a personal attack on someone that I don't know but more importantly on someone that mr watkins claims not to.

I do see his point about using a similar name to gain advantage BUT like I say the guy who registered hostit365 is just as guilty as the guy who used hostingit365 because he was perfectly aware that host365 existed yet still chose to register and use the name. Mr Watkins chooses to defend this action, which leads me to the conclusion that he has an axe to grind.

Its interesting that Hosting365 posted a grand opening offer and has not been heard from since. That's not normal behaviour for one eager to sell a new product or service.

Maybe abducted by aliens from Toronto.

Originally posted by 365
I do see his point about using a similar name to gain advantage BUT like I say the guy who registered hostit365 is just as guilty as the guy who used hostingit365 because he was perfectly aware that host365 existed yet still chose to register and use the name. Mr Watkins chooses to defend this action, which leads me to the conclusion that he has an axe to grind.

With all due respect that might be true if we:

1. Operated in the UK market charging in Pound Sterling
2. Advertised in forums where Host365 was already well established
3. Advertised to clients of Host365

Even besides those points, HostingIt365 is I believe, and I think a lot of people agree, far more similar to HostIt365.

Originally posted by mwatkins
Its interesting that Hosting365 posted a grand opening offer and has not been heard from since. That's not normal behaviour for one eager to sell a new product or service.

Maybe abducted by aliens from Toronto.

LOL, at last, we agree on something:D

No axe to grind. If you follow the thread from start to finish you will clearly see how this discussion evolved.

My point was one of ethics. A brand new business purposely selects a name that is extremely similar to an existing business already marketing to the same audience.

Cut and dried, in my book, that behaviour is not ethical.

Then you, 365, and others, questioned my opinion within a few minutes, on the grounds that others have done it. Except you failed to define what "it" meant.

So I added some definition to bring clarity to this.

And then quite predicably a shades of grey debate ensued.

For me its quite simply a question of ethics and when viewed in context, the decisions which Hosting365 appear unethical to me.

yes i agree with you on certain points, but my questions were valid ones, I have seen many generic names used for the same service/products, which I gave examples of too. Heh another example would be say coffee:)
Now i wasn't trying to defend hostingit365, just merely pointing out some issues surrounding generic domain names.
I will also say that if hostit365 feel wrongly done they should seek legal advice, after all there is a whole industry devoted to law also frequently know as lawyers.;)

Avara, the fact that host365.com exist as an hosting company means that they are in a global market place, the fact that they quote in Pounds Sterling is not an issue in a global economy where currency conversion is a regular and accpeted thing.

Does their website say we don't accept international customers?

Perhaps you can tell me if you actually pay to advertise on these forums

As for which name is more or less similar is of no issue, by your own admission you tried to register host365 but had to register hostit365 as a poor substitute because it was taken, so you to are guilty of plagiarization
yourself.

I own a number of 365 domains and worked for 365 Corporation. The fact that I am posting regards this thread is purely coincidence.

Actually I did not try to register Host365. I first tried HostIt.com, which is taken by a domain name speculator. If you really want to know how I came upon the name, the inspiration is from PostIt notes, who do not offer any web hosting services.

So I tried to register HostIt. When this was taken, I registered HostIt365. Only after this did I come across Host365. At any rate, hostingit365 incorporates the same 3 words as our own name. And yes we may be in a global marketplace, but Host365 do not:

1. Post here
2. Advertise to US customers
3. Take US dollar payments

Even after these points, I stress it would be much harder to mistake Host 365 with Host It 365.

I just checked host365.com and their order page has

postcode/ZIP
county/State

and

country and the USA is in that list.

This suggests to me that they are indeed in the market for US customers. hostit365 only quote in US Dollars so should we presume that they are only interested in attracting US customers?

Originally posted by 311

I find it really odd that you're taking so much time and effort to defend hostingit365, yet you say you have no affiliation?

Just because you don't operate on the basis of principle, doesn't mean that other people don't.

Jake

"Well to be honest, I did look up the idea of registering host365.com, but we all know is taken!"

This is a direct quote from your own post.

now you say "Actually I did not try to register Host365."

You also failed to answer my question about whether you do or don't pay to advertise on these forums, this is a very important point.

365, please read my previous posts, which you seem to be ignoring.

365 your arguments do not hold water. It is quite evident that Host365 is not marketing to the North American market. Any first year student of marketing will challenge you on that.

And it is abundantly clear, thanks to the originator of this thread, that HostingIt365 in fact *is* intentionally marketing to the same market as HostIt365, an established competitor.

One of the more relevant points from the ICANN Domain Dispute Resolution Policy:

(iv) by using the domain name, you have intentionally attempted to attract, for commercial gain, Internet users to your web site or other on-line location, by creating a likelihood of confusion with the complainant's mark as to the source, sponsorship, affiliation, or endorsement of your web site or location or of a product or service on your web site or location.

I've read all of your previous posts but fail to see what point I am ignoring. Please tell me what you think I am failing to understand.

1. You're only quoting part of my reply, and not the full story. That makes no sense.

2. We have spent over 3k promoting the HostIt365 name, and are in the process of purchasing paid advertising on WebHostingTalk.

First of all, this is between HostIt365 and HostingIt365.

An example that relates to the situation would be for me to create a company called mchosting.com and start advertising on WHT. I'm sure Marc (mchost.com) wouldn't be too pleased and alot of customers confused.

You show an unfortunate arrogance that says that if a company don't advertise in US Dollars they aren't in a global market. host365.com very obviously trade globally as I have pointed out by the fact that they allow you to choose your Country on their online order form, they also state quite clearly ZIP and State two very definate none UK terms.

Avara has made some of the same points I have:

- Host365 is not targetting the North American market

- HostIt365 is focussed on the N.A. market

- HostingIt365 knowingly selected a domain and business name similar to a company already operating within its target market, North America, and announced its grand opening here on WHT, a forum and marketing vehicle used by the already established party.

The real issue is what HostingIt365 has done, despite your attempts to cloud the air.

Are you 12 years old or something? A stock country list and order form now substantiate your argument than Host365 are actively marketing to the North American internet market? Gosh, that's brilliant! I'm going to add the UK to my country list and triple my sales!

Originally posted by avara You're only quoting part of my reply, and not the full story. That makes no sense.

It makes perfect sense, thay are quite cleare statements. One says we did try to register host365, the other says we didn't, what could be clearer.

Originally posted by avara
2. We have spent over 3k promoting the HostIt365 name, and are in the process of purchasing paid advertising on WebHostingTalk.

So you're answer is no we haven't spent any money advertising on WHT, so what gives you the right to dictate who should and shouldn't advertise on these forums.

Just because you don't operate on the basis of principle, doesn't mean that other people don't

Jake, might I ask which side of the discussion your sentiments are on? I ask only that I'm a bit confused by your earlier response and I wonder if its possible you have mistaken hostit365 with hostingit365.

If you meant it as written, fair enough, everyone is entitled to opinions.

However if you did indeed confuse the two and responded in a way not intended, I hope you will post a new note as clarification as it would demonstrate part of the issue being discussed.

Originally posted by mwatkins
Are you 12 years old or something? A stock country list and order form now substantiate your argument than Host365 are actively marketing to the North American internet market? Gosh, that's brilliant! I'm going to add the UK to my country list and triple my sales!

Perhaps you can use your superior intellect to explain why a British company would use the terms ZIP and State on their order forms if they weren't happy to attract a US or global customer base.

Originally posted by mwatkins

Are you 12 years old or something? A stock country list and order form now substantiate your argument than Host365 are actively marketing to the North American internet market? Gosh, that's brilliant! I'm going to add the UK to my country list and triple my sales!

So what the hell is the stock country list there for in the first place if they were selling to those countries on that list?

I'll let M. 365 spin in circles, I had no intention of spending this much time on this discussion today. My parting comment for now

http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=56390

Most people, so far, in this admittedly small poll, have indicated they find the conduct of HostingIt365.com unacceptable.

Originally posted by rally
So what the hell is the stock country list there for in the first place if they were selling to those countries on that list? Look closer, rally, it contains every country in the world.

Like a large number of web forms with country fields. you'll find every country in the world listed. Lots of cutting and pasting happens in page development.

Cutting and pasting a list of every country in the entire world does not make a marketing campaign. And 365 - being willing to accept money from anyone in the world does not mean that you are marketing a service globally. I have a certain amount of experience in international sales, having spent most of my career in product and service marketing, and services delivery, working for Fortune 500 firms. Your arguments hold no water at all.

'nuff said.

Originally posted by mwatkins


'nuff said.

I think that is a very wise decision.

I must remind myself to cut these sorts of discussions short when it becomes evident that the other side is a 12 year old or simply thinks like one.

You keep failing to answer why a company that you claim isn't interested interested in the US market has ZIP and State, two definate US terms on their order form.

My parting comment will be this, is hostingit365 similar to hostit365, yes very BUT is hostit365 similar to host365 yes very. Avara has admitted that he looked at registering host365 but it had gone, so my conclusions and those of any unbiased man is that both the owners of hostingit365 and hostit365 are as guilty as one another of plagiarizing.

mwatkins, first you have no proof if anyone is 12 years of age and secondly you have an opinion so does EVERY other individual on this forum, you aren't no smarter than the next person on here, just because someone does not agree with you, does NOT mean they are 12yrs old.

Originally posted by mwatkins
I must remind myself to cut these sorts of discussions short when it becomes evident that the other side is a 12 year old or simply thinks like one.

Sir, the fact that you use ridicule as a tool shows your own imaturity and I will not rise to your obviously confrontational remark.

The fact that you stoop to this level shows the weakness of your argument.

Originally posted by 365


Sir, the fact that you use ridicule as a tool shows your own imaturity and I will not rise to your obviously confrontational remark.

The fact that you stoop to this level shows the weakness of your argument.

What interest do you have in this?

Looks like you are the one trying to stir up trouble.

Originally posted by 365
You keep failing to answer why a company that you claim isn't interested interested in the US market has ZIP and State, two definate US terms on their order form.

First - I meant no insult to 12 year olds. I have children myself, and we are educating them to be certain of their own biases when evaluating their positions.

However your pedantic arguments are tiring and suggestive of a younger person who might easily fail to see simple logic, big pictures and broad concepts.

Second - I've already suggested in this thread that many a web form is a cut and paste effort from HTML code snippets available on the web. In addition, a number of HTML design tools add this data by default to forms.

If we are to look at this case objectively and with some science, we will find that the order forms on the Host365.com site are not intelligent at all - they require postal/zip codes from countries that do not have postal/zip codes. Their ADSL service checks UK phone numbers only to see if that service is available to users. The form duplicates a country field. It does no particular validation based on country. No currency conversion.

It clearly is a generic form, a simple effort, and no right person would every use its mere existence as 'proof' of a global marketing campaign.

Every single fact, plus the whole of their web presence, speaks to an organization whose primary goal is to attract high priced service business from UK residents.

Furthermore, you need go no further than your favorite browser and a trip to Google an query "host365.com", and in the 10 pages of results returned it should be painfully obvious even to you that they are focussed on local business, not the world and certainly not North America.

You have regurgitated a tired argument over and over again, and despite the good humour of a number of people who have thoroughly pointed out contradictions, flaws and holes in your assertions, you continue to restate what has already been discussed and refuted.

And along the way, you have completely missed the point which is that the originator of this thread has acted in an unethical manner, in my opinion and apparently the opinion of the majority of people who have looked at this issue.

Good night or good morning to you wherever you are. This thread is finished for me.

Originally posted by Samuel
If the earth didn't suck, we would simply fall offOk, one last post for this - I love your sig!

Thanks! =)

Originally posted by 365
"Well to be honest, I did look up the idea of registering host365.com, but we all know is taken!"

This is a direct quote from your own post.

now you say "Actually I did not try to register Host365."


::sigh:: Maybe I'm missing something but it was NOT avara who posted that statement in this (http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=13109&highlight=host365) thread, but someone ELSE by the name of kumaran, though I have no idea why he did that.

Just thought I'd address this since 365 keeps repeating it..

Originally posted by blah


::sigh:: Maybe I'm missing something but it was NOT avara who posted that statement in this (http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=13109&highlight=host365) thread, but someone ELSE by the name of kumaran, though I have no idea why he did that.

Just thought I'd address this since 365 keeps repeating it..
Yep! You're bang on there, I spotted that the first time 365 drew attention to it, and was just getting ready to post about it having seen him refer to it so many times, when I came to your post right at the end and saw you'd beaten me to it :D

So that undermines half of 365's argument.

Regarding the order form - I operate a retail website, which is targetted at the UK market, and most products I will only ship to the UK. But my order form contains a drop down menu to select your country - if somebody comes to me from another country and I can accommodate them, I won't turn them away. But it doesn't mean that I am targetting that region, and marketing myself there.

Going by your logic, the fact that host365's order form contains nearly every single country in the world means they are targetting each of these, and marketing in all of them. Right? Because otherwise they wouldn't have the country option on the website, right?

As a final thought... if somebody owned coladrink.com, would you say that anybody registering bluecoladrink.com would be wrong to do so? coladrink is pretty generic, as is host365. HostIt365 is less generic - its like "Frosties" and "Frosted Flakes", one is a fairly generic term, and the other more of a specific brand name. So I would say that the issue of HostingIt365 being similar to HostIt365 is much more relevant than HostIt365 being similar to Host365.

Had avara registered Hosting365 instead of HostIt365, I would say he could be held in the same regard as HostingIt365 is being held now by the likes of mwatkins. But he didn't.

by the likes of mwatkins
I'll take that in a positive way ;0

I think your comments on the name similarity issue are bang on.

Well i finally decided to respond to everyones issue about the similarity of both domain names. I have read through all 5 pages so far ...

First off....365 or any other users who posted a reply in THIS thread have no affiliation to myself or hostingit365.com. ..period.

Second.

Originally posted by 365
host365 is far from a defunct site and all that the guy who owns hostit365 did was ignore the fact that people pointed out that his domain was similar and could be confused with host365.

You seem to read selectively, this is a quote by the owner or hostit365 from the thread that you pointed out.

"Well to be honest, I did look up the idea of registering host365.com, but we all know is taken!"

This sounds to me like he also did some research and ignored the fact that someone else had used host and 365 in their domain.


I think the quote speaks for itself.

Third.

Originally posted by avara
Actually I did not try to register Host365. I first tried HostIt.com, which is taken by a domain name speculator. If you really want to know how I came upon the name, the inspiration is from PostIt notes, who do not offer any web hosting services.

So I tried to register HostIt. When this was taken, I registered HostIt365. Only after this did I come across Host365. At any rate, hostingit365 incorporates the same 3 words as our own name. And yes we may be in a global marketplace, but Host365 do not:

1. Post here
2. Advertise to US customers
3. Take US dollar payments

Even after these points, I stress it would be much harder to mistake Host 365 with Host It 365.

Hostit365 ...I will no longer be posting here at WHT for any issues relating to hositingit365. To be fair. That satisfies #1 above.


Lastly.

So that means someone using webhost.com is taking advantage of webhosting.com, or even webhosttalk.com taking advantage of webhostingtalk.com?


I agree. I consider HOSTING and HOST two different words. Yes. They mean the same thing. However, they're different.

Just thought i would point out the following:
webhosttalk.com, hosttalk.com, webhostingtalk.com, talkhosting.com and that's just the beginning for these group of words.

Anyhow. I would be pleased to answer any questions or comments about this issue via email comments@hostingit365.com.

Just came across this domain http://www.hosting365.ie/
no comment :cartman:

Simply wanted to post an offer. Oh boy!

If I were Hostit365, I might not like it, but that doesn't mean that HostingIt365 did anything wrong.

mwatkins always stoops to insults, name-calling, and long arguments that are not germane when people do not agree with him. Sorry, pal, but this has nothing to do with ethics... but your posts just might.

P.S. Quote ICANN all your want, but proving something was intentional is near impossible.

Hosting365, you have the right to post here as well as the next guy, and I wouldn't feel obligated to explain this if I did not want to, if I were you.

You can debate it all day long but there are proper channels to handle this sort of thing. It really doesn't matter what anyone thinks, if you feel your name has been used inproperly, let the lawyers sort it out.