YaHooters.com

[DigiNames]

I picked up this domain on a drop 2 years ago, and I have never heard anything from Yahoo (or Hooters for that matter). It was just parked on a Godaddy park page. Then on Jan 14th, it was not showing in my GoDaddy account, and the Whois says that it now belongs to Yahoo Inc!

I contacted GoDaddy, and they said that it was involved in a legal dispute including many "YAHOO" domain names, and that it was transferred to Yahoo. I was never notified by Yahoo, the court, or GoDaddy during any of this! I never had a chance to expain my side...

They sent the court order, along with a list of 1865 defendant domains that contain the word "yahoo" or variations of "yahoo", compiled in 2005. All the domains had contact information outside of the US. The list showed the old owner's information for "yahooters.com", it is someone in the Netherlands. My name and info is not on the order or the list.

Their compaint alleges "Cyberpiracy", trademark infringement, engagement in unfair competition, and trademark dilution.

They were able to get a default judgment "In Rem" because they claim to have tried to contact the domain registrants several times but were unable, and also because the registrants where all outside of the US... It is obvious that they were just using the old contact information in these attempts, but my actual contact information in the U.S. was on the whois for the past two years and they never notified me once!

I can't believe that they were able to do this. They should have been required to dispute the name through ordinary channels, or at least to check and see if the whois information had been updated at some point during this... I NEVER had a chance to defend myself against these claims and now my name is gone!

Is there anything I can do?

 

[lordbyroniv]

You can hire a lawyer and fight but it is probably a hollow victory if the domain is worth xxx and the attorney is gonna cost you xx,xxx

And yes, there is no justice on planet Earth

 

[Theo]

Another reason NOT to use GoDaddy.

 

[warnerms]

Ya, Hooters are good

 

[SonnyBurnett]

Scandalous :veryangry:

 

[Focus]

holt sh*t are you serious? they just took your domain? SUE THEIR ASSES OFF, it's exactly what I would and will do if they ever pull this shit with me..

 

[DomainsInc]

Godaddy is worthless in cases like this. They just don't give a shit about the customer when it coems to legal issues.

 

[Dimva]

Wow that sucks. Without contacting you or anything.. Maybe the domain isnt worth fighting for but still, it cant work like this.. I have like 1 or 2 domains over at godaddy.. Moved them all to moniker.. Do the same!

 

[domain newbie]

i cant believe godaddy does it even without informing domain owner- when you have many domain in account- you might not even notice domain have disappeared

shame to godaddy!

 

[Jeffreyw]

It's hard to believe that this thing happens, i wonder if other registrars would act scandalous like Godaddy.

 

[Dave Zan]

Godaddy is worthless in cases like this. They just don't give a shit about the customer when it coems to legal issues.

Uh...why should a provider assume the legal risks for an end-user over a $7 to
$10 a year contract?

Why the OP supposedly never received any communications about it is anyone's
guess, although John B and others can give a few guesses why.

 

[katherine]

Another reason NOT to use GoDaddy.

Ditto.
I have always been baffled some people keep their LL .com there
They could be taken away from you without you even take notice.

 

[Poohnix]

Those kind of things unfortunately happens, and it sucks.. Shouldn't the court decision be void since Yahoo provided incorrect information, and (even if only through through neglect) lied about contacting the domain owners? (Obviously they didn't try to contact the current owners.) What else did they lie about? (But to show that would of course be too expensive.)

But if Yahoo owns that domain now, why not contact Hooters and have them sue Yahoo for trademark infringement?!?

.

 

[NameGuy]

http://briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/ipenf....src=bc&.done=http://briefcase.yahoo.com/

 

[domain newbie]

But if Yahoo owns that domain now, why not contact Hooters and have them sue Yahoo for trademark infringement?!?

thats a good idea.. - would be interesting to watch who would win

 

[DigiNames]

Ya, Hooters are good

Ya!

It contains the word "yahoo", but it is split between two other words. Is it automatically infringing?

What if the financial company "ING" decides to go after all domains that include their trademark-- look out skiing.com, fishing.com...domaining.com.

 

[dnbox]

maybe am newbie. YahooGoogle.com owned by Yahoo. Why Google not sue Yahoo?

 

[denny007]

Godaddy sucks dog dicks

 

[domain newbie]

Godaddy sucks dog dicks

thats a nice from you- first thing back :smilewinkgrin:

 

[haynes8]

This really is disturbing since I have quite a few domains at godaddy, I did not know they were less than reputable.

What registrars actually stand behind thier customers?