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Startup Sues a Domain Name Owner to Grab a 16-Year-Old URL

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Re: Startup Sues a Domain Name Owner to Grab a 16-Year-Old URL

#31

Post by TheOtherHobbes »

sfeather wrote: post #4
jebblue wrote: post #2

It doesn't look like he was CyberSquatting to me. I hope it resolves in his favor. If the person bringing the suit should win it would set a bad precedent for all Internet business.

The key take away is the part of the plaintiff's filing that seems to want to redefine 'register' to include 'renew'.

Which is going to look ridiculous as soon as it hits court, because there's clear precedent for the standard meaning - sixteen years of it.

Team Harsh are probably hoping for an internet-ignorant judge. I wouldn't want to bet on their likely success with that gambit.

Re: Startup Sues a Domain Name Owner to Grab a 16-Year-Old URL

#32

Post by gallerytungsten »

shkkmo wrote: post #6

I have sympathy for Kneen, but do we really, as a society, benefit from people that buy useful domains and then sit on them for 16 years while doing nothing with them?

Is it society that would be benefiting from Harsh taking away Keen's domain? Or is it Harsh? By defining the benefit as being to "society" one might sound noble while masking the reality: Harsh is attempting to steal Keen's domain name in a sleazy and opportunistic fashion. Defining this kind of hijacking as a benefit to society is misdirection at best.

Re: Startup Sues a Domain Name Owner to Grab a 16-Year-Old URL

#33

Post by tptacek »

djKianoosh wrote: post #29
DenisM wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In in real estate this problem is solved through taxation - tax the property for its appraised value, and squatting will be a thing of the past.

isnt the renewal fee already enough "tax"?

No, the renewal fee is fixed. The comment you're responding to suggests taxation on an appraised value. If you're sitting on a domain name for which there are documented offers of, say, $100,000, an appraised tax would assess you annually N% of $100,000.

Re: Startup Sues a Domain Name Owner to Grab a 16-Year-Old URL

#34

Post by fleitz »

I doubt Kneen will lose, my old startup PAID for a domain that was the legal name of another company held by a reseller, we didn't even file a counterclaim and they lost the dispute resolution process essentially because they were the low bidder.

(We both had trademarks in respective countries)

Re: Startup Sues a Domain Name Owner to Grab a 16-Year-Old URL

#35

Post by gregd »

shkkmo wrote: post #6

I have sympathy for Kneen, but do we really, as a society, benefit from people that buy useful domains and then sit on them for 16 years while doing nothing with them?

I purchased a domain name about 5-6 years ago that I had every intention of creating something for. However, time and resources have slipped away from me and I've simply not gotten to it and my interest in the project has waned.

In the mean time, I've been contacted about selling the domain twice. Both times, the persons who contacted me, have failed to follow through on the purchase. I continue to renew the domain name in the hopes that someday, I'll get to the actual project, or perhaps my kids will.

Having said that, there are lots of things that would benefit society as a whole if we aren't using them, cars, houses, money, etc. I would argue that a domain name may, in some miniscule way, benefit society as a whole, but let's not kid ourselves, there are far more important things to accomplish than suing someone over a domain name he bought 16 years ago.

Re: Startup Sues a Domain Name Owner to Grab a 16-Year-Old URL

#36

Post by sharemywin »

darkstar999 wrote: post #24

This article isn't very good. The first twitter embed is out of context. Had me quite confused. Anyway, the $500 offer is pretty insulting for this "premium" domain name. No wonder it didn't get sold.

The legal fees will be way more than that. They probably figured since he was out of the country they would get a default judgement. There's a new business model for you. go around filing lawsuits in different jurisdictions and get default judgements. Then go to the domain provider and get it swithced.

Re: Startup Sues a Domain Name Owner to Grab a 16-Year-Old URL

#37

Post by darkstar999 »

nnain wrote: post #20

The article sets a slight bias in favour of Kneen already. So, many people might sympathise with him more. But who knows what negotiation talks actually happened?! The tone, the mood.. The coming generations should have a better chance at finding domain names I feel. So I personally would side with the one trying to acquire the domain name for his/her registered company.

> But who knows what negotiation talks actually happened?! The tone, the mood..

That is irrelevant, though. We know they didn't come to an agreement, yet Office Space (that's their name, really) pursued the domain transfer anyway. That is fraudulent in my book.

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