On 15/11/2012 16:39, Norman Wells wrote:
> Ian Smith wrote:
>> On Thu, 15 Nov 2012 12:41:56 +0000, I am not Paul Cumnmins
>> <
paul.c...@outlook.com> wrote:
>
>> Do you really think if someone CAN use something then they MUST use
>> it? What law mandates that a person must use everything they are able
>> to use?
>
> Well, one such law in a not wholly unrelated field is the Trade Marks
> Act 1994. If you don't put a registered trade mark to genuine use in
> the UK within 5 years of the date of registration, its registration can
> be revoked, and you lose it.
And if you don't remember to pay the domanin renewal fee you will lose
it, but so long as you have paid for it and don't let it lapse it is
yours. Cybersquatting on popular brandnames was common earlier in the
history of the internet before major businesses became net savvy.
>
>> I own a couple of domain names I do not use, and have never used. My
>> company owns even more domain names it does not use and has never
>> used. At least one of the domain names it does not use it purchased
>> from someone who had never used it. You should not use those names
>> even though the company that owns them does not - it owns them
>> specifically so others will not use them.
>>
>> Is this really a difficult concept to grasp?
>
> It's not as clear-cut as you may imagine. If the domain names are being
> held with no intention of using them, particularly if they are solely
> for the purposes of disrupting the legitimate activities of others, it
> may be held that they were registered in bad faith and you may be
> ordered to hand them over to those with a better right to them.
Equally they are often held by legitimate companies to prevent other
dodgy organisations passing themselves off as imitators but with a
.
co.uk or .com or .co suffix. Cybersquatting is pretty annoying.
Every UK town .
co.uk has been nabbed by someone for instance.
And it is wise to be very careful typing in Google.com unless you have
very good AV or a sandbox - there are (possibly now were) some very
nasty malware sites just a character transposed typo away.
Using a domain name that is not yours to use to forge messages might
well land you in trouble with some perhaps most AUPs.
>
>> Still, it gives us a laugh that you maintain that your failure to
>> grasp the concept of owning addresses without using them is because
>> someone else is not very bright.
>>
>> Carry on.
>
> I think you need to reassess your certainty.
He is basically right though. Many large businesses do actually grab a
series of domains to guard against common misspellings and typos.
You can own intellectual property rights and still choose not to use
them. Just as you are not obliged to play every DVD or CD you own.
--
Regards,
Martin Brown