Thursday, November 10, 2005
There was discussion today on the forums about LaPorte Holdings (NameKing) letting a large number of typo versions of trademarked domains expire and drop. Several Domainers that do this kind-of typosquatting were talking about being "amazed" that the company would let these "valuable" names go, and their scramble to bid at the auctions on them. The company was hit by a court order to pay out 6 $figures in a TM settlement, and a post said that a notice was put out by Enom that the registrar arm of LaPorte would not be acting as a drop catcher for "Club Drop" anymore. Appears that domainers that had names with them are also having problems getting access to transfer.
Actually I'm glad to see some of these slimeballs get hit with these court actions. Typosquatters give the rest of us honest Domainers a bad name. I've posted my feelings about this in the forum threads involving the squatters and even added a suggestion to the advisory board (I'm a member) that a seperate forum be created for those dealing in this type of stuff, and that a notice be attached that the majority of the Domainers on the main forum do NOT condone typosquatting. In the past I've been absolutely hammered by the typo crowd (mostly foreigners) who don't like me calling it for what it is. Outright theft.
It also amazes me that the registrars, drop catchers and auction houses that trade in these Trademarked names are allowed to continue and profit. How is it that a Domainer that pays Snapnames, Pool, or Enom large amounts of money ($thousands) per trademark typo name can get hit by a court action and fined, when the service that sold him the name goes unscathed? These companies know they are basically selling the means (tools) by which these thiefs operate to steal from the real trademark owner.