HACKER Q&A
📣 schleck8

Why is Domain Squatting considered acceptable?


Domain Squatting as in immediately purchasing popular domains once they expire or are first available for purchase, sometimes on a large scale with automation.

While looking for domains for projects I have run into way too many great domains which just sit around unused. The owners ask for really high prices, usually in the thousands.

It's the same as real estate speculation - you buy property in a good district and don't touch it until someone urgently needs it or the price has gone up. A total waste.


  👤 firecall Accepted Answer ✓
It's not acceptable in Australia .com.au domains!

Grab yourself a lawyer and make a formal complaint to AUDA. [1]

You have to establish three main things:

• That the domain name is similar to a trade mark that you hold • That the cybersquatter has no legitimate interest in holding the domain • That the domain name was registered in used in bad faith

I've never made a complaint myself, but you can certainly recover your domain name in Australia!

It varies country to country, so YMMV :-)

[1]https://sprintlaw.com.au/is-cybersquatting-legal/


👤 ggm
Because IPR law makes this kind of behaviour possible, and domain registry profits both ways as do UDRP lawyers.