"Backordering" a Domain - legalities?

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crash848

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Feb 17, 2005
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I have a weird situation that I am wondering the legalities of. Basically the place I used to work for part time - they laid me off due to not wanting any part timers working at the facility in any department. They laid off the network guy that actually does work, Me!

Long story short, I told them that their domain name is expiring soon (first part of November) multiple times. They haven't renewed it yet. They let the .net domain expire already, yet they own the .org. I registered the .net and have "backordered" the .com domain. I highly doubt they will renew it before it expires, as their DynDNS account expired and all access to the website and email stopped working. Of course there was a panic call to me to find out what was wrong - they didn't pay the bill for DNS services!

My question is, what are the legalities of me registering this domain (mostly out of spite and to teach them a lesson!) and holding on to it? Is it really cyber squatting, and can I be prosecuted for registering it? It is a currently active domain. :confused:
 
From a legal perspective, I don't think it's a good idea. If they were to take you to court for cybersquatting,the judge would look for any intent. In this case, it could be clear as to what your original intent was. It's pretty clear to me you're pissed because you were laid off, that's understandable. However, that doesn't give you the right to seek 'revenge' by taking their domains. I'd stay from all of this and save yourself headaches and potentially a lot of money. Be the bigger person here, as they say..and let it go. Move on.
 
Depends really. All you have to do is occupy the website and you are no longer cybersquatting.

You could also show that they had no intent on renewing as it was made clear to them multiple times. Not to mention, they already forfeit their .net domains.

I would do it. You are not doing anything illegal, it's perfectly legal to buy a domain that is no longer used.


Keep in mind, if you were the person who renewed the domains for the company, it could be said that you purposely dropped the domains with the intent to buy them out and cybersquat them.
 
Yeah it's a touchy subject, not sure what direction to go in. The backorder thing does seem sketchy. I was never responsible for the domain names, but after the DNS service renewal was never paid, I did some investigating into the domains to see when they expired, and I warned them about it multiple times.
 
Technical legalities aside, it is unethical and they can prove that you had an intention to maliciously fraud the company.

IMO, let it drop and move on.
 
In my opinion, that isn't necessarily unethical. Unethical would be NOT telling them to renew it. I would definitely buy both the domains. They are fair game, and an opportunity for financial gain.

Just make sure you occupy the domains with something half useful/ legitimate.

You are breaking no laws, and if ever taken to court you could simply point out that you informed them to renew the domains multiple times.
 
Here is my opinion.

You are claiming to be the only "professional" that was working there and you were fired.

Now you want to show how "professional" you are by sniping your ex-employer's domain names?

I'm sorry bud but move on and find a new job. Why stir the pot and cause trouble for yourself?

The economy is already on the downswing. Now is not the time to dick around and be immature about being laid off.
 
Regardless of ethics, opinions, right, wrong, or indifferent why put yourself in a potentially compromising position? If you really just wanna be a jerk about it have a trusted friend be the "on paper" person and disassociate yourself with the whole thing. No sense in putting your neck on the chopping block for no reason. This is when it's a good time to have a good friend living in a foreign country that doesn't cooperate legally with the usa. Would like to see them try to untangle that mess.

Or use an anonymous domain registrar. This one in particular allows anonymous payment methods and never asks for one shred of personal info to register a domain. So when the lawyer sends them a letter they can't give out any WHOIS info they don't even have on file.

http://www.katzglobal.com/hosting/anonymous-domains.html
 
I would snap them up but only becuase I wouldn't want anyone else to get them. I would then inform them that you have the domain names and they can have them if they pay you what you paid for them. I know they got rid of you etc but I would still do this for them as losing a domain name can be serious.
 
Keep in mind that backordering a domain takes months. They have a LOT of chances to renew that. Their sites will stop working before you ever get the chance to buy it.
 
or just let it go, and someone else will buy it instead of you. i have had domains expire that i had no intention of using anymore and they were snatched up pretty quickly by probably those companies that try to sell them for much more money than they are worth.
 
Yeah, be the bigger person here and register them and then offer to transfer them to the company at no profit to you. If you don't, someone else will. It would also be a good opportunity to mention to them that you have done them a large favor by doing this.
 
Thanks for all of the input. After having a cooldown from everything, I was considering keeping the backorder on to transfer to them for the cost, if I do get it. I think it is definitely better to have the "I save your domain, morons" on my side. It isn't a downturn in the economy causing the layoff, think about it - betting goes UP when the economy tanks. Proven by the income of the track on live nights. They hired a 'regional IT director' and overpaid for him, blowing the already grossly underestimated budget. So they have to make things look good on paper. I spoke with the director, who is a really nice guy that didn't know the shitstorm he walked into. He stated that in January they are looking to get consultants to come in to finish projects up. I was given that opportunity, of course explaining that it's going to cost them a lot more than what I was being paid.

The place is ass backwards, but I definitely don't want to burn the bridge over a domain name and possible lawsuit.
 
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