...to be pissed off about something I don't actually understand?

[RourkesWife]

Have namechanged as DH knows my usual name (thanks DD) but some of you will know who I am (Regular but not Royalty!)

DH's latest 'money making scheme' started this weekend. I don't understand it (properly) and don't believe that it is going to make him (us) any money. He has spent over £100 on it and I reckon he may as well have thrown fivers in the fire. I am (but not showing it). He spent more money on it last night, and I'm sure he's probably spending more as I type.

As I understand it: There has been a new internet/email 'tag' thingy issued (see, I told you I didnt understand). Like .com or .org or .co.uk

Most large companies buy up domain names as soon as they are released so for eg Barclays own Barclays.com / Barclays.org / Barclays.co.uk and all the permutations (barclaysbank / barclaybank / barclays-bank etc etc)

DH realised that some companies had not bought up the domain names with this new tag, and spent hours this weekend searching and then buying these names.

He seems to think that these companies (and some are HUGE) will pay him to buy these domain names off him.

I don't. I think they will ignore this insignificant little man and he will have wasted time and money on this venture.

I dont really understand it all (I can use a computer, but dont understand code/website building etc) but I cannot believe that this will do what he thinks.

I am really pissed off. We are not hurting for money, but are supposed to be 'being careful'. He doesnt work (much) so I feel like he's wasted family money (that I earn) on a pile of shite.

So, am I wrong? Is this crappy idea really a good idea? AIBU?

[fuzzpigFriday]

YANBU. this sort of thing is seriously old hat now.

[JanMorrow]

show him this thread!

[Blatherskite]

I think the only people who actually got paid any real money for their domains - about 20 years ago when all this stuff was new - were the people who could show justifiable use of the domain name. People with surnames like Curry or Sainsbury etc The domain name squatters ust get made to hand them over.

Changing your surname could be your only hope :)

[RoloTamasi]

If it's a new suffix he could potentially make some money from it, provided he plans to sell them for significantly less than the legal costs the company would incur removing them from his possession by taking him to court.

He can be ordered to pay court costs too, so I would advise against it if you have any assets of value.

[HellAtWork]

Oh dear feeling serious sorry for you long-suffering OP. Like I said my IP legal knowledge is well rusty but my experience comes from working for a legal department for a large media company (think Bloomberg but not) and the first thing that will happen is receipt of cease and desist letters. The company invested a lot of money in 'brand/reputation management' and took infringements of their intellectual property rights very seriously (even down to software dedicated to comparing text from their reports to stuff produced on the internet to check for plagiarism) and if he is using brand names like Vodafone or Adidas to register his domain name it is clear infringement of their registered trademark. Remember all the wrangling between Apple (Mac) and apple records (hence why The Beatles weren't available on iTunes until recently) - if apple records can make a good argument (all settled now after a

Big companies like that are going to outsource some of their protection of IP rights to law firms who manage their IP portfolio or even dedicated IP rights management companies (who often have better software etc than law firms) so they are constantly on the look out for this type of thing. Apart from all the IT tecchie stuff other posters have pointed out (which was new to me) he does not have the law or the resources to fight the law on his side.

Is he always this stubborn? Why does he reckon it doesn't apply to him?

[RourkesWife]

HellatWork. Oh yes, he's always this stubborn. Even if he knows he's in the wrong he won't back down, he will argue, then twist what happened, then make it sound like something else entirely. It's not one of his better traits!

He says it doesn't count for him because he won't be slagging off the companies, so they won't care. So if the companies won't care, why would they care that he's got a domain called after them, why would they pay for it?

He's bought more today. It's like once he's started he can't stop. He's there now, trying for more

(joke is, he's done no research of even the google kind. For eg he's bought lloydsbank, but they use lloydstsb in all their online stuff)

feckin arse

[Pandemoniaa]

He is, as you've been told, years and years out of date in hoping to make money from this caper. The "big names" know how to protect the domain names that might impinge on their business and they'll waste no time in taking action if they think it necessary. If they aren't fussed about the existence of the domain name they'll ignore it. Either way, there'll be no money to be made, despite what your DH assumes.

As it happens, my own website is a top level domain that I was surprised to see hadn't been snapped up by a more obvious taker. I bought it for my own use, not to sell but actually (and contrary to what some people have thought) there's been a resounding silence from the allegedly obvious takers!

[bullet234]

Tell him to google "selling domain names". Ask him to see how many sites are out there claiming this is a sure fire winner. Now ask him to think is he really the only person to have come up with this idea and how many others in recent years have made any money out of it.
To be honest, I think that if you wish to use the internet to make money, but you have no physical products to sell, then you need to come up with something simple and popular, that relies on things people already like and use your site as either a "middle man" or to host this popular thing. Think of facebook (people connecting with friends, relatives etc) or youtube (people posting the equivalent of home videos up, amongst other things). And whatever the idea is, it needs to be either original, or capable of taking hits away from similar ventures, which is not easy.

[ShellyBoobs]

Oh dear, I do hope it doesn't go very wrong for him/you. As others have said, it's a dangerous game to play, legally.

The fact he's not going to 'slag off' the companies isn't the issue TBH. What you can't do is to use someone else's registered brand names to feather your own nest, as it were.

Buying something like www.vodafone.xyz for the purpose of generating your own traffic is a big no-no; as far as I understand the legalities, it's akin to opening your own shop and calling it 'vodafone'.

Big businesses really will not stand for it. In recent years, my employer pursued someone relentlessly for benefiting from (and hence de-valuing) one of our brand names. Our case wasn't even as clear cut as the one against your DH would be, either.

As said by others, if someone wants the domain name, they could just take it from him and land him/you with a legal bill. If they don't want it, all he can really do is sit on it, because using it for gain would be very risky.

[bellavita]

If you legitimately own a domain name then that is fair enough and some companies will pay huge amounts eg Apple have just launched Cloud but a company actually owned/traded as that - Apple paid something like £4 million for it but basically took over the trade name.

Same as what Shelly says, if someone wants a domain name they will just take it and eave him with the bill.

[HellAtWork]

I'd be seriously tempted to do him a Powerpoint presentation/word document setting out all the arguments for and against and see him argue against it but I am a nit-picking bitch with too much time on my hands stickler for knowing all the consequence of decisions (especially commercial) before going ahead. Some of us, I realise, have better things to do

ps Most of what you could say is right here on this thread...just sayin'

[fuzzpigFriday]

Good grief OP so it gets worse! :( he must be very frustrating to live with.

[TakeItOnTheChins]

LOL what a moron! He really won't be told, will he? Is the fact he's a bit thick the reason he hasn't got a proper job?

[TechLovingDad]

So he's still wasting your money?

[ursusnix]

How well does he secure his email for the reciepts of the domains he has registered.?

Personally, I would do the following:-

1/ call the bank to cancel the card he is using
2/ in a quiet moment forward the domain registration details to your email account (and whilst at it, set up an auto forward and BCC on his account)
3/ in your own time, send email to the domain registrars (the companies) explaining that 'he knows not what he has done' and ask for a refund under the distance selling regulations
4/ consider altering his broadband connection password, so that he no longer is able to connect for a while - blame it on local telephone works or something - I'm sure you can be creative

This is serious stuff, companies take cyber-squatting very seriously.

As the W3C has recently agreed to allow registrations of .anything, the actual value of these will diminish greatly...

YANBU and need to stop this, and quickly.

U

[nocake]

He isn't just risking the money he's spending on the domain names. In the past cybersquatters (which is what he's trying to be) have ended up paying court costs when companies have sued to get posession of domains so it could cost him a lot more.

[sherbetpips]

If it is a brand name then he has no right to the domain names and they can be removed from him in court. He can also be prosecuted for registering a brand that does not belong to him.
Not a great idea and certainly not a money spinner since the early days of the Internet.

[GeneralissimoVonBobbington]

I add to the hoards who have said it's a waste of time and money. Unless you have literally thousands to waste on legal costs (yours and those of the companies whose domains he's cybersquatting on) he should give up now. These companies have VERY expensive lawyers. I know, because DH is one such lawyer. And you can tell him from me (similarly expensive corporate lawyer) not to try registering company names either, because the same applies. It makes no odds whatsoever that he's not "slagging off" these companies, what your DH is doing carries strict and expensive legal penalties and they will run rings around him.

[eurochick]

He is being an idiot. As others have said, it's called cybersquatting and the days of making money out of it are long gone.

[northerngirl41]

I have a friend who makes a very good living buying and selling domain names - but what your husband is doing is domain squatting and actually likely to have him court-ordered to hand the domains across to their rightful owners. However for it to be worth them taking him to court, he'd have to be demanding more than about £5k in domain fees. So depending on how greedy he is, he might actually get away with it.

If the domain extension is .co he is onto a loser though - Google have already said they aren't prioritising traffic from there.

[PrettyMeerkat]

I knew someone who tried to do this about 12 years ago. He didn't make any money then either.

I was talking to someone with professional experience of this and they said that the companies consider it extortion.

It's fair enough that he might have thought this was a good idea, but worrying that he won't stop or even look into it further now that you have told him it won't work! He must be a nightmare to live with if he's this pigheaded!

Maybe you could copy and paste a few of the replies on here, from those who sound like they know what they are talking about, into an email to send him.

[RourkesWife]

Well, we've talked about it - but he still doesnt see this as a problem. He is certain that what he is doing will make him some money, certain that he wont get into any trouble, certain that it is a worthwhile venture. He bought more last night and I think we are up to about £150.00

He's pigheaded. If someone else (like his geeky mate) had told him it was a bad idea he might have listened, but as it's me questioning him, there is NO WAY I could be right!

From what I gather he is going to link these domain suffix things to a page on his website. He says he doesn't intend to do anything else with them.

I think some of it is because he likes to think that he has got 'one over' on people. He loves to prove people wrong so his attitude is somewhat "Look at me, I'm cleverer than Lloyds" despite the fact that he has gone ahead with something that will either get him into trouble or get him the square root of fuck all. If he were to make any money out of it it would be bought up at every available opportunity.

I think it speaks volumes that his geeky mate hasn't done the same.

I'm not going to do anything now I don't think. There's no point. If I go mad it will be turned around on me, and I cant be doing with it. If I showed him this thread he would go dolally - absolutely off his rocker and I can't be bothered with all the upset.

I can't cancel his card - it's his, with his money.
If I do anything to the Internet connection he will just call geeky friend who will sort it.

I know I sound wet - and if I was reading this, I would be SCREAMING at the OP but I just dont think I can be bothered to do anything about this now.

I am worried still, worried that he will get into trouble and then not back down. Worried that will mean we lose everything. I think I'm going to bury my head in the sand.

He's got form for wasting money....in the garage we've got a £500 rusty metal detector that he used twice and a £££-God-knows-how-much telescope that he used for about a week - both things that he HAD TO HAVE! I s'pose I should count my blessings that the latest venture is not as expensive...I hope.

Thanks for all the replies. Sorry if I'm driving you mad.

[Empusa]

If they don't already own the domains then you can guarantee they don't want them.

Plus, as someone has already mentioned, there are new suffixes being released which allow companies to use their brand as the suffix, eg. website.coke

That's what all the major companies are waiting on now, and those suffixes are going to -
a) be very expensive
b) require proof that the company can use said suffix

I'm so sorry you're having to put up with him :(

Have you got your own money seperate to his?

[TechLovingDad]

I echo StewieGriffinsmom.