DOMAIN name Pit. This guy -- in my town -- stole my name. WTF?

[El_Cid_Viscoso]

Back in 2001 my wife and I moved all our personal belongings to Junction and a great many of them stayed for almost two years in a storage container on some vacant land near where we now live. We rented this container from a guy named Rocky.

I just now idly checked my own quite distinctive name (the only one in the world) and sure enough this guy owns the .com. He bought it in '03 shortly after we moved our shit out of the storage container to Los Angeles.

So I’m a douche for not vanity-urling myself but what the fucking fuck?

[pulykamell]

I believe you would still have rights to that name under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, but I am not a lawyer. Or am I misunderstanding the act?

[lissener]

@pulykamell

I believe you would still have rights to that name under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, but I am not a lawyer. Or am I misunderstanding the act?

Not necessarily. I have a cousin who’s a pretty well known actress and she gave up getting her name back; the lawyer’s fees to even attempt it were prohibitive. So you can’t just call the cybercops; you have to take them to court. (Unless something has changed recently, in which case I take it all back.)

[pulykamell]

@lissener

Not necessarily. I have a cousin who’s a pretty well known actress and she gave up getting her name back; the lawyer’s fees to even attempt it were prohibitive. So you can’t just call the cybercops; you have to take them to court. (Unless something has changed recently, in which case I take it all back.)

Well, yes, you would need to file a civil action, but there are mechanisms in place if you really want the name back.

How difficult would it be to try to fight this pro se?

[mhendo]

@pulykamell

I believe you would still have rights to that name under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, but I am not a lawyer. Or am I misunderstanding the act?

I think you’re right, but one’s chances of prevailing in cases like this depend on quite a few things, and the intent of the domain name holder is a key issue here.

In the OP’s case, if Rocky registered the name and never used it for anything at all, this is one thing that might demonstrate bad faith on his part. It would probably help the OP’s cause considerably if he could demonstrate to the court that Rocky went out and registered the name right after the two of them did business together.

A real killer in cases like this is an offer to sell. If the OP gets in touch with Rocky and says “Hey, that’s my name you’ve got registered there. You have never used it, you’re just squatting on it, and I’d like to have it,” and if Rocky then says “Sure, i’d be happy to transfer it to you–for a price,” that would (according to this site) constitute a bad faith attempt to profit from the name, and would greatly help the OP in his suit against Rocky.

In the case of lissener’s cousin, we’d need a lot more information in order to know whether or not she would have a shot at getting her name back. We’d need to know what the current owner of the domain is doing with it, for one. For example, if that person had the same name as lissener’s cousin, and was using the site as her own personal website, then it’s going to be pretty hard to demonstrate any sort of bad faith, especially if she’s not trying to capitalize on lissener’s cousin’s famous name.

Where it get somewhat more murky is if, for example, the domain was being used to run a fan site. The court would then have to weight the relative interests of the two parties in the case, and make a determination based on whether or not the owner was trying simply to divert business from the real owner of the name, or whether the fan site constituted reasonable noncommercial or fair use of the name.

Of course, if the owner of the domain is doing the same thing as Rocky, and just sitting on the domain hoping to make a buck, then lissener’s cousin would have a much better shot.

Unfortunately, many of the domain name disputes end up going to the party with the deepest pockets, rather than the party with the most reasonable case.

[Q.E.D]

@pulykamell

Or am I misunderstanding the act?

Possibly. The Act would only protect the OP if the registered owner of the domain name has done so specifically in order to profit by selling it to the OP, apparently. This seems likely to be the case, but it also occurs to me that that particular element can be difficult to prove, especially if the registrant is simply sitting back and waiting for the OP to offer to buy the name and is otherwise doing nothing overt to indicate his intentions.

[lissener]

@mhendo

In the case of lissener’s cousin, we’d need a lot more information in order to know whether or not she would have a shot at getting her name back. We’d need to know what the current owner of the domain is doing with it, for one. For example, if that person had the same name as lissener’s cousin, and was using the site as her own personal website, then it’s going to be pretty hard to demonstrate any sort of bad faith, especially if she’s not trying to capitalize on lissener’s cousin’s famous name.

FWIW, her last name is extremely rare–I know all of the people who carry it personally–and her first name is unique. He’s not doing anything with it; he wants to sell it to her. He’ll “settle out of court,” which amounts to the same thing. My cousin’s position is that she shouldn’t have to pay a cent for it (beyond the usual registration fees of course), to him or to a lawyer. Hard to find fault with that argument.

[Really_Not_All_That_Bright]

@lissener

FWIW, her last name is extremely rare–I know all of the people who carry it personally–and her first name is unique. He’s not doing anything with it; he wants to sell it to her. He’ll “settle out of court,” which amounts to the same thing. My cousin’s position is that she shouldn’t have to pay a cent for it (beyond the usual registration fees of course), to him or to a lawyer. Hard to find fault with that argument.

I think it could be reasonably argued that she should pay him whatever he’s spent to register and maintain the domain, in addition to the transfer fee.

[El_Cid_Viscoso]

I’m thinking my station’s attorney should pay this guy a visit. Or do I have to foot the bill?

[Revtim]

I’m all set to sue this fucker: www.revtim.com
The last thing I want done in my name is the Bringing of Hope and Inspiration to the Whole World!

[pulykamell]

@Q.E.D.

Possibly. The Act would only protect the OP if the registered owner of the domain name has done so specifically in order to profit by selling it to the OP, apparently. This seems likely to be the case…

Yes, I’m going under that assumption since the OP states he has a literally unique name, so I can’t understand under what circumstance the OP’s former contact would have legal claim to that name. If, say, I meet some guy named Abacad Zyphryx and then just happen to register abacadzyphryx.com, what possible motivation or legal claim could I have to that web site under the anticyberstalking law? The only reason I could imagine registering that name is either to make a profit (by selling it to Abacad) or just to be a dick (if I don’t intend to profit, but just want to sit on the name, I assume I’m okay under the law.) Right?

[mhendo]

@lissener

FWIW, her last name is extremely rare–I know all of the people who carry it personally–and her first name is unique. He’s not doing anything with it; he wants to sell it to her. He’ll “settle out of court,” which amounts to the same thing. My cousin’s position is that she shouldn’t have to pay a cent for it (beyond the usual registration fees of course), to him or to a lawyer. Hard to find fault with that argument.

Get her to document his actions (or, more correctly, lack of action) with the domain itself, and also to document any attempt to sell it to her, or to offer it to her in return for something else of value. All of this constitutes evidence of bad faith.

The link i gave in my previous post shows that if you take this to court and win, you can also sometimes be awarded substantial statutory damages as well as lawyers’ fees. If her case is good enough, she might even be able to find a lawyer to take it on contingency, although that’s probably a bit of a stretch on something like this.

[lissener]

@Really Not All That Bright

I think it could be reasonably argued that she should pay him whatever he’s spent to register and maintain the domain, in addition to the transfer fee.

Not that it’s relevant, but I disagree. He should be out that for his attempt to, essentially, extort money from my cousin. At the very least.

[Really_Not_All_That_Bright]

@lissener

Not that it’s relevant, but I disagree. He should be out that for his attempt to, essentially, extort money from my cousin. At the very least.

Is your cousin, like, ridiculously hot?

Maybe he’s planning some sort of shrine.

[Larry_Mudd]

@Revtim

The last thing I want done in my name is the Bringing of Hope and Inspiration to the Whole World!

I hear you, man. Pious fuckers.

[lissener]

@Really Not All That Bright

Is your cousin, like, ridiculously hot?

Maybe he’s planning some sort of shrine.

Ha. No. She plays almost entirely comedy roles; her agent won’t let her lose weight because she’s got something of a corner on the fat-funny-chick roles.

[Green_Bean]

@Revtim

The last thing I want done in my name is the Bringing of Hope and Inspiration to the Whole World!

I’m bringing Discounts and Special Offers directly to people’s mobile phones. That’s much less embarrassing.

[El_Cid_Viscoso]

I know where he lives (just down the road – every Sunday I pass his goddamned house), where he works, his cellular number, his bank account number circa 2003 and his underpants size. Show of hands:

a. Wait for him at his home and kick him in the balls.

b. Approach him at his business and kick him in the balls.

c. Place an ad in the Sentinel warning prospective clients.

d. Sic an attorney on him.

e. Nothing.

6. Crap my pants because somebody else actually likes me.

G. Hire him as my agent.

[ivan_astikov]

@Larry Mudd

I hear you, man. Pious fuckers.

Your name really is Mudd in some parts.

[Dewey_Finn]

I vote for doing nothing, because I really don’t see any reason for outrage here. Why do you care if he’s registered this domain? Do you have an existing one and are afraid that people will confuse the two?