closed Domain for Ransom... Is this worth money?

[FSNet]

To all of you Aussie's out there I have a domain that is sure to please. Im sure you have heard of the BRAND NEW startup airline Australian Airlines... Here is what some news media are saying:

Chief executive Denis Adams said he believed the flights would bring in ''tens of thousands'' of new tourists to Australia yearly.

''Bookings are exceeding expectations for a period right through to April next year,'' after the first of four Boeing 767-300s belonging to Australian Airlines touched down in Sydney.

The airline will employ about 250 staff, including 50 pilots and 180 flight attendants. Adams said many of them will be former workers from Ansett, an Australian airline that collapsed last September.

I have just purchased the domain name FlyAustralian.com
The word FLY has been used before airline names for various other companies such as Vanguard Airlines which was www.FlyVanguard.com and many others. I feel this name has great potential and I hope it sells

What should I do? Can I contact the company and ask them to buy it or what? Thanks!

Sincerely,
-John-

 

[EM @MAJ.com]

Contacting your prospective client for your new grab domain name is not the best thing to do, though somewhat effective to other telemarketer and mail spam (^_^).

I suggest that you place your domains in auction site such as www.domainbid.BIZ, domaingator, perfectname, afternic, greatdomain, sedo, etc and redirect your domain name to one of them so that interested party will be able to bid if interested for the domain names(s).

Hope this help.
TheWatcher.

 

[GiantDomains]

It is clear from your post, your intent was to register a name that a corporation would be interested in, trying to beat them to it. While not a direct infringement by name, certainly by your actions alone, this is cybersquating. This is frowned upon in the domain community.

 

[FSNet]

Really? I didn't know that... I will try to avoid it in the future. But how should I go about letting the airline know I have this domain name. Should I email them and tell them? Thanks!

 

[izoot]

I wouldn't contact them at all. Let them contact you.
Then when they do, respond to them as such;

Well I really wasn't in the market to sell as I havea site I was going to develop.
But you are welcome to make an offer if you'd like.

Let them initiate....This name is pretty much squatting, you regged with express intention to sell to the Airline ( that airline ). IF you contact them, it can add to evidence that you regged in bad faith with intention to benefit off their name.
Not a good thing.

Personally I would just hold on to the name set up an affilite site with travel links and make it look like as much of a real site as you can. IF they want it they will contact you. But I would beware with this name....its a pretty obvious squat....

imho

 

[avs162]

one thing to watch is if this post would show up in a search of the name

if so

your gig is up

regging around new startups is common and even if no tm infringement it is a murky area

if they have no tm and you began use at same time

use being the key word

it would be difficult to take from you and if price reasonable they may even buy

if you have udrp history they may take hard line

ways to make money avoiding this

in any case let them contact you as the offer to sell deterioates your position

sean

 

[Mik]

hehe domain for ransom indeed

problem 1: Australian companies use .com.au
problem 2: While it may be fashionable to use flyus.com overseas I have not noticed many Oz companies doing this. They mostly grab companyname.com.au, some may grab companyname.com, we don't get really fancy or catchy downunder, tends to confuse some people as well as go against the .au rules.
problem 3: They won't even consider branding your .com into a .com.au slogan in their advertising.
problem 4: Unless you point it at a porn site I doubt they will even care since business goes on and there are many variations that can still be had with an aviation term and australian or even australianairlines in it.
problem 5: You don't have any plans for this domain except to sell it to a new branch of an already established airline, doesn't look good.

Worth money? Sure anything is worth money if you can find the right buyer.

Worth anything to Australian Airlines? Sure a lawsuit that allows them to get some publicity on cleaning up the net and money is always welcome.

Solution: Let it drop or use it for a tourism site maybe. It is catchy but not in the context you imagine since things are different in Oz than they are in the US. Remember that the next time you are thinking of profiteering from a company in another country.

Just my view

 

[GiantDomains]

:embarrass

 

[Duke]

Originally posted by doberry
Mik, when you refer to australia, why are you calling it Oz. It's Aus (like Aussie), not Oz. Though it may sound like Oz, let me assure you, there is no toto in Aus.

Actually, (in the U.S. at least) Oz is a very common slang abbreviation for Australia. I have heard and seen it used for years (I would say decades but I don't want to date myself )

 

[draqon]

yeah, i have teenage and middle-aged friends in Australia, and both age groups refer to it in slang as Oz.

 

[GiantDomains]

 

[GiantDomains]

trying to sell "flyaustralian" to australian air, is like trying to sell "drinkpepsi" to pepsi. Classic cybersquat.

 

[Mik]

I live in Oz so I can call it anything I damn well please j/k
It's Ozzie coz the Americanised dialect of aussie sounds like arrsie and heck they have Ozzie Osbourne so they can prnounce that properly. AUS/AU stands for a few other things as a result I just put Oz, plus i'm too lazy to hit 3 keys and I like to hit z once in while since I don't think that key gets enough of a workout

and to really rub it in you tell some Americans the three letters "aus" and they will go "Oh Austin Texas, yeah I know where that is". Or maybe they even think it's Austria, with Oz you can't mistake it, hence I put Oz. Just like WA, Western Australia or Washington State? Too many abbreviations and names that have duplicates so might as well make it easy when not in an official situation.

My reasoning for Ozing things instead of Ausing