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A domain can now say it is for sale, in DNS

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Re: A domain can now say it is for sale, in DNS

#111
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Be a big company. Look for interesting sounding domain names that are owned but not being used by individuals. Create a product with the same name. Sue the person with the domain name and take it from them. Win, because you're big.

https://nissan.com/ Archive.org it to see little man beating big corporation

Remember the Mike Rowe Software incident

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MikeRoweSoft.com

Re: A domain can now say it is for sale, in DNS

#112
post #29

Yeah cause we really had to improve domain squatters lives. In my opinion domain squatting should be banned instead.

And what is the definition of a domain squatter?

With real-property squatting is using what someone else owns (land) w/o permission. Domains are only rented. If you rent land but don't use it the way someone else would it's not squatting. So, renting a domain that someone else wants and not using it in the way they think it should be used isn't squatting, correct?

I agree it's a problem when I want a domain and it looks unused to me. I don't think it's really squatting.

I think it's also a jerk move to control resources just to extract w/o developing those resources. But that also happens with real-property.

All that to say: "squatting" on a domain is a "hard problem".

Re: A domain can now say it is for sale, in DNS

#113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Never be intimidated by a trademark. Especially, if your domain is older than the trademark. Even if it isn't, there are many trademark classes.

Easier said than done, you don’t get lawyers fees back for winning a frivolous lawsuit, but you are required to pay them if you want to win. It’s entirely feasible for a company to force your hand in this way.

> you don’t get lawyers fees back for winning a frivolous lawsuit

Not automatically, but you can attempt to get them back through the court.

Re: A domain can now say it is for sale, in DNS

#114
post #95
post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The concern is if you own a domain that you don’t own the trademark for. Twitter owned both the domain and all trademarks so it’s a non issue. Basically in fairly limited circumstances you can have your domain taken off you if someone else holds a matching trademark. Saying you are selling it can go some way to demonstrating you are not holding it in good faith.

I had registered trademark, and when you register one they ask you what are you doing. I was selling clothes, shoes, fashion stuff. I wanted to get the domain with that name, and it was already taken by someone who sells industrial manufacturing machines. Heavy equipment. They also had registered trademark with the exact same name. The idea is that you as a customer won't be confused who is selling something when you…

Being willing to sell isn’t the only test, otherwise domain squatting would be very difficult. You can generally accept these offers without much risk if done via a lawyer (I’m sure a lawyer isn’t strictly necessary but beyond 5 figures is likely worth it!)

Re: A domain can now say it is for sale, in DNS

#115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Easier said than done, you don’t get lawyers fees back for winning a frivolous lawsuit, but you are required to pay them if you want to win. It’s entirely feasible for a company to force your hand in this way.

> you don’t get lawyers fees back for winning a frivolous lawsuit Not automatically, but you can attempt to get them back through the court.

Using California as an example, only case where this typically applies would be if you specifically have bound contract with a provision specifying winner is awarded legal fees. Trademark lawsuits are by and large not contract disputes so it would generally be not applicable.

You might be able to recover court costs via further legal action, but they tend to be minuscule in comparison to lawyer fees, and recovering them will cost you additional lawyers fees.

Re: A domain can now say it is for sale, in DNS

#116

They need Georgism for DNS names. You set your own price for your domain. But you have to pay 2-5% of that price annually to keep it. That way, squatters are incentived to sell it to someone who's going to use it.

Sounds like a great way to have larger competitors with more capital bid for your site to take down your domain that your users were using. Rather than Land Value Tax a better analogy might be a Vacant Property Tax which only targets squatting.

Re: A domain can now say it is for sale, in DNS

#117

Something I've wondered... if you publicly say that a domain is for sale and someone has a trademark for it would you automatically lose in arbitration? Around 1998 I registered a domain. Sony registered a trademark with the same name a few years after that. Someone on a Gmail account asked if he could buy it - I later found out he worked for Sony. I told him no - it's for a game I've been working on. I went on a vac…

Reminded me of a Planet Money podcast episode with the milk.com owner, who also had early internet years domains. Fun listen if people are interested. [0]

[0] https://www.npr.org/2025/09/03/nx-s1-5526903/domain-name-val...

Re: A domain can now say it is for sale, in DNS

#118

Something I've wondered... if you publicly say that a domain is for sale and someone has a trademark for it would you automatically lose in arbitration? Around 1998 I registered a domain. Sony registered a trademark with the same name a few years after that. Someone on a Gmail account asked if he could buy it - I later found out he worked for Sony. I told him no - it's for a game I've been working on. I went on a vac…

Never be intimidated by a trademark. Especially, if your domain is older than the trademark. Even if it isn't, there are many trademark classes.

> Especially, if your domain is older than the trademark.

My understanding is that trademarks are about the term being recognised "in common", while a ® is once you pay money to your govt's department for the fancy paper. Hence, if you registered .com and sold said cool named game, you already have a trademark simply because you're the author. (Of course, money for lawyers and proving things in court isn't free, but you have legal grounds to stand on nonetheless.)

Re: A domain can now say it is for sale, in DNS

#119
post #116

They need Georgism for DNS names. You set your own price for your domain. But you have to pay 2-5% of that price annually to keep it. That way, squatters are incentived to sell it to someone who's going to use it.

Sounds like a great way to have larger competitors with more capital bid for your site to take down your domain that your users were using. Rather than Land Value Tax a better analogy might be a Vacant Property Tax which only targets squatting.

The problem with that is the squatters would just turn it into a low quality blog or something along those lines.
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