Getting hold of a .com that's in use - options?

SiD the Turtle

SiD the Turtle

SiD the Turtle

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Hi guys,

There's a .com address that I'm after, it's actually my surname. The .com has been registered to a company since the 90s, which seems to have an obscure product that is also my surname.

The web address itself has no site associated with it, page requests time out. It seems to have been that way since 2002. I'm going to email the administrative contact to see if I can buy it off him but if he tells me to get lost or I don't get a response what are my options?

Yes the company is just as entitled to the web address as I am, but is there any kind of dispute resolution to say that its not being used, similar to how companies can claw back sites from squatters?
 
how do you actually have any entitlement to the address? if they have bought it fair and square and want to keep renewing it then its up to them they have no obligation to sell it at all
 
Didn't a celeb do the exact same thing a week ago, somebody was using hername .com just sitting on it and she got it back so isn't this the same situation basically, there's a thread about it but I can't find it through a search maybe someone else can paste a link, it could be useful for information.
 
X-BEN said:
Didn't a celeb do the exact same thing a week ago, somebody was using hername .com just sitting on it and she got it back so isn't this the same situation basically, there's a thread about it but I can't find it through a search maybe someone else can paste a link, it could be useful for information.
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There's a big difference between a company knowingly trading off a famous name vs a company legitimately owning a domain that just happens to be your surname.

Bottom line - if they tell you to get stuffed you have no options.
 
They don't have to have a website hosted there for them to be using the domain name.

They'll be using it for the very least emails - they won't go changing their email addresses just to sell the domain to you.
 
if the owner still users the domain name then you wont get it, well at least not cheaply. if they aren't using it then chances are they still wont sell it cheap as most people know that domain names are worth a lot of money.

you may get lucky in that the owner is fine with you renting the web address, allowing you to have a website up there, while the owner then uses it for emails. the downside to this though is you'll be making an address higher on google/worth more, then could lose it and all your customers that go to that address.
 
Hi guys,

Thanks for all the input. All I really want it for is for email, so nothing major, just wanted to get some ideas on where I stand. I'm going to email the administrative contact and see what he says, if it's in use or he wants to charge me a tonne of cash, it's not worth the effort.
 
don't bother, move along, think of a different domain name to use :p

the headaches involved in obtaining IP (Intellectual Property - which includes DNS registration) from existing/the already obtained make many heads explode.
 
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