<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<html>
<head>
<meta content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1" http-equiv="Content-Type">
</head>
<body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000">
I don't know if anything can be done if it's someone from China, but in
the US the courts have occasionally slammed a "cyber-squatter" here and
there. Someone who is simply sitting on a domain name that is not
using it can end up losing it if they end up going to court. Of
course, if someone is using the name legitimately, then there is
nothing you can do. Of course, the deeper the pockets you have the
better you do in court. I remember something about a guy named "Mike
Rowe" that had a site called "mikerowesoft.com". A large company in
Redmond squashed it, if I remember correctly.<br>
<br>
Google has this link:
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/internet/01/26/mikerowesoft.settle.ap/">http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/internet/01/26/mikerowesoft.settle.ap/</a><br>
<br>
So I guess he got an XBox out of it.<br>
<br>
Also be aware that if you let a domain name lapse, whoever picks it up
can make you look bad to your former audience, even if
unintentionally. I had that happen to me.<br>
<br>
Paul<br>
<br>
Robert Dickow wrote:
<blockquote cite="mid002401c78360$c6edf0d0$29e862d8@cosmo2" type="cite">
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; ">
<title>Message</title>
<meta content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16414" name="GENERATOR">
<div><span class="687142015-20042007"><font face="Arial" size="2">I
have just encountered another example of an old scam: site hijacking
and ransoming.</font></span></div>
<div><span class="687142015-20042007"></span> </div>
<div><span class="687142015-20042007"><font face="Arial" size="2">I
won't divulge the domain, but a former web domain used by an Idaho
government agency was acquired by an unknown person or persons in
China. There, an 'adult' site was put up under the domain and then the
domain was offered to be sold back again at a fee. The 'porn' site
itself is probably even a bogus one at that, set up solely to embarrass
the former domain owner. WWW users who had put in links to the
government site, or had that URL as a favorite bookmark in their
browsers end up unwittingly going to the porn site instead, so that
forms the incentive for the buy-backs. Now, the governernment requires
all organizations to use a .gov domain, which is controlled through
their DNS so they can be shut down instantly if they want.</font></span></div>
<div><span class="687142015-20042007"></span> </div>
<div><span class="687142015-20042007"><font face="Arial" size="2">Be
aware too, if you ever buy domain names for your business or club, that
if you just buy something like "MyMagicClub.org", there will probably
be a bot or person out there lurking and will buy up "MyMagicClub.com"
and "MyMagicClub.net" in order to hold the names ransom and offer to
sell it to you at a high price. That happened to me, though I didn't
want the other high level domain extensions anyway, so I actually got
the better of the scam, because it's costing the other guy money. Ha!</font></span></div>
<div><span class="687142015-20042007"></span> </div>
<div><span class="687142015-20042007"><font face="Arial" size="2">Bob
Dickow</font></span></div>
<pre wrap="">
<hr size="4" width="90%">
=======================================================
List services made available by First Step Internet,
serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.fsr.net">http://www.fsr.net</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com">mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com</a>
=======================================================</pre>
</blockquote>
<br>
</body>
</html>