capemayfurmeet.org ...

[lionkingcmsl]

is now a website regarding the class action suit regarding Vioxx!!!

I will, when they post contact or copyright info, pursue the underhanded action they took in acquiring the .org domain name.

Capemayfurmeet.org in no way shape or form has anything to do with Vioxx. not in the name, what the Cape May Fur Meet is about, etc.

Is there anyone who knows more about the laws and such regarding what has happened?

Comments

[atara.livejournal.com]

The domain expired, and they bought it. Completely legal, and happens all the time. They'll gladly sell it back to you at 250% markup on the cost.

Public service announcement: Keep your domain registrations up to date!

That may be so ...

[lowen-kind.livejournal.com]

but I did try to e-mail them and explain what had happened.

Another person had it regestired in their name and then I couldn't get in contact with them before it expired.

THe people who do have the domain have used GoDaddy's "secret" domain regestration service, and I think they had put up the money for GoDaddy's "we'll watch it and we'll snatch it for you" service, which I didn't think I would need as the domain name is pretty obscure.

I do believe there is a procedure for settling disputes like this, but I do bel;ieve it does cost upwards of #1000 US for it.

It still galls me that there is no contact info anywher on the site. It is like they're biding their time hoping I'l forget about the domain.

Not bloody likey, because if the site is used to defame the CMFM, or furries in general, then it becomes a civil action, because of trademark infringement, of which the name "Cape May Fur Meet" is.

....

[the-lizard-rat.livejournal.com]

Something tells me they were watching for it to expire, and deliberately took it to piss "the furries" off. What person would want Capemayfurmeet.org besides the Cape May Fur Meet, no? It doesn't make sense to take something like this and make the page into something completely UNRELATED to its domain name.

I mean, no contact info? What legit site doesn't keep contact info on it?

I smell a rat. Go get 'em, LK.

Lizard Rat out.
Quirking a brow in New Haven CT

Re: ....

[atara.livejournal.com]

Don't think too much into it. And note, I didn't say it was a legit company.

Seriously. It happens ALL THE TIME. If your domain expires, ANY domain, it is instantly snatched up by spammers who scan lists of expired domains. Their assumption is that the domain has established traffic already, so they have pre-established visitors to the site.

Just look up "expired domains" on Google and you'll find a host of sites that list domains just waiting to be snatched up when they expire. They don't care what the domain is. They don't care who you are. They don't care what your site used to be about. It's a pre-established domain that's already listed on search engines, and they step in to suck your traffic into their ads.

The burned furs let their domain expire, and it turned into a hard-core porn site. A local amusement park let their domain lapse, and suddenly people were getting eyefuls of genitals instead of pictures of roller coasters. A friend's weblog domain expired and turned into a Prozac dispensary. No one is targeting furries - they are just grabbing whatever expired domains they can find.

These are not legit companies doing this, but what they are doing is 100% legal unless you can prove that their owning your domain is causing you financial stress or loss of business. You could probably sue them to get the domain back, IF you can find the people responsible and IF you want to pay the court fees for the hassle.

Oh, and emailing them? Does nothing, except possibly get you added to their spam list.

[the-lizard-rat.livejournal.com]

Glad I decided not to bother with getting a domain then... I get lazy like that. I'll have to point a few of my friends at your comment here to remind them to make sure theirs don't expire.

Lizard Rat out.
Now Informed in New Haven CT

Re: That may be so ...

[skipai.livejournal.com]

Er. This is a .com right?

You /must/ have legitament contact information for a .com domain. I would bring your case to ICANN and see what they can do about it.

People will nick any domain names, you shouldn't really let any go at all as people will take them.

[yaochi.livejournal.com]

How did they end up with this domain and why ?

[strredwolf.livejournal.com]

It looks like it did expire, since it was created on May 30th of 2004. GoDaddy registered it, and it's being held by Domains By Proxy (GoDaddy's reseller). It looks like you'll need to go through Internic, and maybe a few lawyers, to have GoDaddy cough up the real holder of the domain and put it in dispute resolution.

Meanwhile, let me know your server's IP address and I can point capemayfur.dotsig.org to you.

[strredwolf.livejournal.com]

A little bit more digging. The domain points to 66.197.105.215, which is held by CarpathiaHost, a company in Virgina. Carpathiahost.com/carpathiahost.net works.

OrgName: Carpathia Hosting
OrgID: CARPA-3
Address: 2101 Mill Rd
Address: Suite 106
City: Alexandria
StateProv: VA
PostalCode: 22314
Country: US

Their WHOIS is down, so

[mortonfox.livejournal.com]

Never ever let your domain expire!