1d (edited) • Water Cooler
Domain Profiteering vs. Wrestling
There are a number of cases at the "dawn of the Internet" that helped define what you could or couldn't do with a domain name.
- Is it bad faith to register a domain just to sell it back to a brand?
- What happens if you don’t use the domain at all?
- What if you’re simply redirecting traffic and monetizing confusion?
Most of us have purchased a name or two (some of us A LOT more than that), either to start your own gig, on behalf of a client, or sometimes in hopes that it will have value down the road.*
Want to read all about it? CLICK HERE
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TLTR: Some of the earliest domain disputes are still the ones that matter most, since they answered basic questions that no one had resolved yet.
- Cases like World Wrestling Federation v. Bosman established that registering a domain to sell it back to a trademark owner could qualify as BAD FAITH.
- Telstra v. Nuclear Marshmallows introduced the idea that DOING NOTHING with a domain could still carry legal consequences.
- And Yahoo v. Zviely reinforced that capturing traffic through CONFUSION COUNTED as use, even without meaningful content.
Together, these decisions created the foundation for how domain ownership is interpreted today, and drew the first real lines around intent, legitimacy, and what it actually means to own something online.
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* I've sold three domains in my life, the largest for $3,500. Most likely I've spent that much on all of the yearly renewals of the domains that I own, $15 at a time! 🤪
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Domain Profiteering vs. Wrestling
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