Legal Question in Technology Law in Pennsylvania
Domain Resellers
I went to register a domain name on a web site. I did a search of the name and it was available. I waited to register the name until the next day. Meanwhile, a third party Called the customer and proclaimed to them that they had purchased the domain name that I did a search for, stated that they had purchased every conceivable combination of that name and that if the business wanted that domain name they would have to deal with them to purchase it. They even named me as the web developer and that I could do nothing about it. My question is, is it lawful to access a server and take information with the sole purpose of resale at an inflated price. This would seem to me to be no different than phone tapping and then using that information for monetary gain. If they had arbitrarily bought a block of domain names and offered them for sale, I would have no objection. Since they contacted the customer and named me by name tells me that they had either illegally accessed this information or someone at that server illegally gave that information to the reseller. Do I have any recourse?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Domain Resellers
Difficult to understand your fact pattern, but here is my interpretation:
You were asked to register a domain name on behalf of a customer. You did a search but did not immediately register the name. Then, a third party contacted your customer with apparent knowledge of your search, and is now seeking to extort a premium to sell the domain name to your customer.
On these facts, the party with the claim is not you, but rather the customer. You do not say whether the customer has registered trademark rights in the name (without the .com), or if it has been using the name in interstate commerce. If there is a trademark registration involved, then the UDRP would be likely to succeed; else, the customer may have to proceed in court.
If the customer does not have its own legal counsel, I would be happy to point them in the right direction.
Best wishes,
LDWG
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