moral dillemma

[mattcanning99]

ok, facts / names have been changed, but same idea:

alright, lets say you've come across a hollywood movie star who does not have a website in their name...so you buy theirname.com and link it to your site, which is somewhat related.

would that make me a bad person (a monster) ?

please advise

 

[XBiker]

ok, facts / names have been changed, but same idea:

alright, lets say you've come across a hollywood movie star who does not have a website in their name...so you buy theirname.com and link it to your site, which is somewhat related.

would that make me a bad person (a monster) ?

please advise

It's called cyber-squatting and it is generally frowned upon.

However, if you share the profits with me, I shall forgive you.

Otherwise, fuck em. It's every surfer for themselves in the cyberworld.

 

[Stryc-9]

Depends on what you mean by "somewhat related"...

I think it comes down to exploitation...and it's a cheap trick if someone is surfing for one thing but gets diverted to something entirely different....

Don't tell me you bought ronjeremy.com

 

[mattcanning99]

ronjeremy.com

lmao...no, but i stumbled across albertbeckles.com...anyway, would it be wrong for me to link it to a BB site im putting up?

 

[Bry21]

I call it smart business

 

[Crazier]

I call it smart business

--

 

[mattcanning99]

but albert beckles is 70 years old. what if he dies?

 

[Citruscide]

Sorry, it's not cyber-squatting. You don't have a right to your name... Warren Sapp tried to sue a guy who did this a few years ago.... A young man bought up 100's of NFL and other superstars names... the judge said Warren Sapp had no rights... but who ever brought this up... might have a good point. Now, where it turns into cybersquatting is when you start offering the site for sale ON the site, or if you start to contact the superstars and solicit money for domain name.

Cyber-squatting is more prevelant with companies... Zerox had a problem with this when they wanted to register their name... so did Panavision... but these were all found to be squatting because the owners knowingly picked these domain names in hopes of selling them off...

Immoral? No, just don't solicit this movie star for money... they'd have to come to you... it wouldn't hurt if you put some pictures up and made it an "unofficial web site"

Intellectual Property was my spec-e-ality...

C

 

[Citruscide]

Let me go further... you do have rights to your own name... but not to keep someone from having your name as their domain name... as long as they aren't making profits off of your "good will"...

So if you set up a pay site with pictures of this movie star... you could get sued for unjust enrichment...

C

 

[mattcanning99]

ahh citrucide, i remember that you are a lawyer - good!

this is the whole story. i'm building a bodybuilding website right now, and if all goes well, i'll be adding something profit earning to it. i also bought albertbeckles.com, for anyone who doesnt know him, he has won more bodybuilding titles than anyone alive today, and has been professionally bodybuilding for around 40 - 45 years. at 71, he works out at gold's gym 6 days a week (he did all this while being a vegetarian apparently ).

anyway, i thought i could do one of two things:

(1) build an "unofficial" albert beckles fan site

(2) link it to my BB site

(3) both

 

[Citruscide]

Ok... You've just hit several issues that deal with trademark rights on the interent... making up this new thing called Cyberaw...

The unofficial website is fine...

If you make profit off of his name from your website... he might be entitled to it... if you have it liked to your website... now you have a deep linking problem... and the site that has nothing to do with this guy... (which is linked to your site) ... he could get money from the main site as well... (if that made sense...)

The main thing to remember is, you can use his name for a promotion of your website... but if you turn any profit off of his name and good will (reputation established)... then if he found out about it, could sue you for any enrichment that you earned from it... and if you knowingly used his name for this manner (which it looks like you are) then you could be liable for up to 3 times the amount of damages (50K profit x 3 = 150K)

so, if you are going to be making a profit off this fellows name, I'd advise you against it... unless you have his permission... which would probably cost you...

Remember, any money you get off using his name, he could get his hands on... and with his name being the Domain name... the "Address" of your business... he'll get alot of your profits...

C

 

[mattcanning99]

in that case bad idea.

it's good you were around, C, i appreciate it.

8.95 US, and now i own albertbeckles.com. even if i dont do a thing with the site, it was well worth it, he's one of my favourite BB's

 

[mattcanning99]

If you make profit off of his name from your website... he might be entitled to it... if you have it liked to your website... now you have a deep linking problem... and the site that has nothing to do with this guy... (which is linked to your site) ... he could get money from the main site as well... (if that made sense...)

ok, so linking AlbertBeckles.com to MyWebsite.com/AlbertBeckles, with a bio of albert on that page would be not good?

 

[Warik]

Cybersquatters who register domain names and put bullshit or nothing on the site and only seek to have the site and sell it to others or just generally hog it up for no good reason are DUMB COCKSUCKING BITCHES.

If you, however, register the domain name and actually put useful stuff on the site, then I would not consider you a dumb cocksucking bitch by my moral standards.

Taking the shit and not using it when someone else might want to = dumb cocksucking bitch.

Taking it and using it = ok.

It's like using the bathroom in Barnes & Noble to find a quiet place to read. Hey.. people need to poop there. Poop or get off!

 

[dballer]

Someone bought up my name.. they are a cock sucking bitch. Cock sucking bitches who buy those names should be infected with a lifetime supply of the sniffles.

 

[mattcanning99]

lol, funny how i agree with you yet i do it.

i own mattcanning.com, and will do something with it soon...as for AlbertBeckles.com, hopefully i can put up a bio of him soon. but i would have to get pics and stuff, but hopefully soon.

 

[Citruscide]

lol, funny how i agree with you yet i do it.

i own mattcanning.com, and will do something with it soon...as for AlbertBeckles.com, hopefully i can put up a bio of him soon. but i would have to get pics and stuff, but hopefully soon.

Putting a bio up and linking it to your site sounds ok... but you have to do the determination... do you think that using his name will help increase the profits of your site? If so, you should think hard about it... in the long run, it could come back to bite you in the ass.

C

 

[mattcanning99]

Putting a bio up and linking it to your site sounds ok... but you have to do the determination... do you think that using his name will help increase the profits of your site? If so, you should think hard about it... in the long run, it could come back to bite you in the ass.

C

youre right, damn...i better think of something, and C - we are waiting up on those pics of NYC - BOY