After using it for twelve years, I lost my personal .com domain name. I had it set to auto-renew, but forgot to update my credit card with the host, and didn't check my old email very carefully. One day, I went to show someone an old Flash animation, and to my surprise, I got served a site promoting anti-oxidants.
Why anti-oxidants? I don't think the new domain owners share my name, so I assumed they just wanted to sell it back to me at a profit. Surprisingly, they aren't interested in selling it. I don't fully understand their motivation. Are they just trying to improve their search ranking?
I had an exchange of emails with some guy on a hotmail account. I told him that he was
a thief, under the Anti-Cybersquatting provisions of the Lanham Act, specifically 15 U.S.C. §§ 1125 (d) and 1129(1)(A)., which states that:
Any person who registers a domain name that consists of the name of another living person, or a name substantially and confusingly similar thereto, without that person's consent, with the specific intent to profit from such name by selling the domain name for financial gain to that person or any third party, shall be liable in a civil action by such person.
My situation is similar to this,
except that for me, it's not worth pursuing. I don't really need my personal name to be a web site.
Anyway, I started looking up domain names. I'll probably buy something new. I have some ideas. Adfinger.com is taken.
What inspired me to write this post is the onslaught of ads I've been getting since my search. Register.com buys a lot of ads! If someone out there wants to use jbradleyjohnson.net to sell antioxidants, go for it! I don't need it!
