Re: ONLINE ADS>> domain name speculation

From: George Williams <gwilliam_at_tenagra.com>
Date: Thu 26 Aug 1999 11:16:59 -0500

From: Muhammad Lee <lee_at_adgconsulting.com>
Subject: Re: ONLINE ADS>> domain name speculation

O-A'ers,

Just thought I would throw my .02 in to clarify some of the
issues surrounding Cybersquatting and Domain name
speculation that are being discussed on this list as well
several other industry lists.

The act of CyberSquatting that is being discussed in
congress, is when someone registers
say....DaimlerChrysler.com and doesn't pay for it...they
just let it sit as long as possible without paying for it
hoping that the good folks from DaimlerChrysler will fork
over the cash for it.....and right when the domain name is
about to be released back to the general public to be
registered again they register it and tie it up again, etc,
etc.

The other issue surrounding Domain name speculation, are
those who CyberSquat or buy domains that are the
intellectual property of others. Obviously you cannot do
this because the Domain is someone else's trademark.

Now as far as speculation on a domain that could have value
to someone down the road, AND 1. You've paid for the domain
2. You are not infringing on someone else's intellectual
property. That is perfectly all right, and at the present
time Congress is not making any laws against it. Legislation
concerning domain names should and will deal with
registering domain names that you have no right to register
and/or abusing the system.

This means that if you are trying to sell a book about
Monica Lewinsky and someone has registered Monicabook.com
you need to speak with the clever guy who beat you to that
domain. There is no legal recourse and nor should they be,
the idea that this sort of speculation should be outlawed is
ridiculous.

I've heard talk where people want to be able to take legal
action against people who have domains that they are not
using but they themselves want. Fact is, if someone wants to
register a domain that doesn't infringe upon someone else's
intellectual property, they have every right to. Domain
names can/are be valuable property and if someone wants to
speculate with domains let them, it's just capitalism at
it's best and last time I checked that is what we are all
here for.


Best Regards,


Muhammad Lee
President/CEO
Advanced Design Group, LLC
"Web Development Specialists"
http://www.adgconsulting.com





Received on Thu Aug 26 1999 - 11:16:59 CDT