Legal Question in Technology Law in Virginia
Cybersquatting: netidentity.com / mathew.com.
Hello,
My question is this: Can netidentity.com cyber squat on a domain that it doesn�t have any customers on? I can understand ''smith.com'' being shared. But what about ''(my first name).com''? It isn�t exactly a common name, and I would like it to build a site. So why should I pay $24 a year to use a domain that they would not be holding if they didn�t anticipate to ''resell'' it. Isn�t that the definition of cyber squatting?
Thank you!
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Cybersquatting: netidentity.com / mathew.com.
Cybersquatting involves staking out a name knowing that a particular person or entity would likely want it. Owning generic domain names in the hope that someone will come along and want to buy them is perfectly fine. Your first name may be unusual but it is probably not unique, so you almost certainly have no inherent right to it. Even if you did, you would still have to pay a registration fee and yearly fees to keep it.
Re: Cybersquatting: netidentity.com / mathew.com.
Cybersquatting involves trademarks. If your name is also a trademark, then you may have rights to it IF it was registered in bad faith.
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