Legal Question in Business Law in Florida

Re: Website stealing

If a domain name expires due to lack of re-registration, that domain can then be registered to anyone. However, if the use of the domain name violates a trademark, it's possible to take action to have the domain forcibly registered to the owner of the trademark. Many domains, especially the more-used ones like .com, .net, and .org, are regulated by an organization called ICANN. ICANN has a procedure for administrative lawsuits that force domains to be re-registered to trademark holders. A trademark doesn't necessarily have to be a federally registered trademark, it can also be state-registered or it can be gotten through use in commerce.

These lawsuits can be complex, and if you suspect someone is using a domain name which violates your trademark, you should speak with a lawyer who practices internet law. If you simply lost your domain because you did not re-register it, then you may be out of luck. It does not violate any law to register your former domain and simply redirect it to another website, so long as trademark is not violated.

I own several domains, and they are all set to auto-renew so that none of them can ever be lost.

Re: Website stealing

I don't know what you mean by inactive. If you allowed the domain to expire, then it became available for purchase by others. An inactive web page cannot be taken. If your web page was copied, then there may be a copyrite issue.