Protip: before having lawyers make threatening demands and filing for intervention with WIPO, try asking or offering a few bucks to buy the domain.

What the hell is a Meg Whitman?

Damn it, Meg.

Procedural Texture: Protip: before having lawyers make threatening demands and filing for intervention with WIPO, try asking or offering a few bucks to buy the domain.

The guy bought them specifically to sell them back to her at an inflated price. Frankly, she should've just paid the blackmail.

I hope she lands on him with both feet. Cybersquatters are one step above professional spammers. If I had her kind of money, I would.

Two ways to solve this problem.

1. Use your middle name.

2. Make up a totally random 5 digit domain like "abjdk.com" and just go with that. If people really care they'll remember it, or if they see an advert for it on the tv or in print they can read it off.

I like my 2nd solution since it involves a big F U to all the squatters. Go ahead, register all 11,881,376 five-digit domains... :-)

RTFA, guy isn't a cyber squatter, just a democrat swinging a tire iron at a republican's knees. Even says himself that he would have considered giving them to her for free.

me texan: I hope she lands on him with both feet. Cybersquatters are one step above professional spammers. If I had her kind of money, I would.

He says he's a media consultant and political writer, as well as a member of the other party. If he was actually making a profit or interfering with her business, then I'd have a problem. A politician who can't take some dissent, however, shouldn't be able to bully people around in the courts.

The guy did it just to be a dick. While being a Democrat I might find it slightly amusing on the surface but it is a dick move and a person's name should be their intellectual property on issues like this. The only time it should be acceptable is with multiple people of the same name, then have it be first come first serve.

I'll be the first in this thread to call him what he is:

DOUCHEBAG

meg whitman is a frosty untc.

heavymetal: The guy did it just to be a dick. While being a Democrat I might find it slightly amusing on the surface but it is a dick move and a person's name should be their intellectual property on issues like this. The only time it should be acceptable is with multiple people of the same name, then have it be first come first serve.

I'm pretty sure Meg Whiteman is a common name, but can he get away with this?

$100K in legal fees is nothing to her. She can wear him out in court, just for a hobby. And she might be keeping the lawyers employed until she has something bigger for them to work on.

Hang on, let me see if I have this straight: It's illegal to buy something that a famous person wants? What the hell?

FissionMan1
I'll be the first in this thread to call him what he is:

DOUCHEWENTZBAG

That's better.

FTFA: "Hall, 50, said he might have given the domains to Whitman for free if she had asked."

Anyone who believes this is a farking idiot.

That's a lot of chocolate down the tubes

Hall acknowledged he owns more than 1,000 domain names but said he mostly registers them for fun, as a sort of Internet collector. He said he makes very little money from them and cannot afford to hire an attorney.

Who the fark owns a thousand domains? Squatters are parasites, nothing more. Someone should break this guys thumbs.

TheApatheticDespot: Hang on, let me see if I have this straight: It's illegal to buy something that a famous person wants? What the hell?

Anti-cybersquatting laws were passed almost 10 years ago. It states that a famous person's name or a company brand name is their intellectual property. It comes under the Federal Trademark Dilution Act. The website could be used to harm the trademark owner's brand, by either diverting traffic or using it to smear them. There are plenty of court cases where cybersquatters were prosecuted under this law.

ScreamingInDigital: FTFA: "Hall, 50, said he might have given the domains to Whitman for free if she had asked."

Anyone who believes this is a farking idiot.

How about this?

"a spokesman for Whitman, said her attorneys initially contacted Hall "to try to work something out," but he never responded to e-mail or telephone messages."

mtman900: RTFA, guy isn't a cyber squatter, just a democrat swinging a tire iron at a republican's knees. Even says himself that he would have considered giving them to her for free.

"Hall acknowledged he owns more than 1,000 domain names but said he mostly registers them for fun, as a sort of Internet collector. He said he makes very little money from them and cannot afford to hire an attorney."

Right.

Lt. Cheese Weasel: Hall acknowledged he owns more than 1,000 domain names but said he mostly registers them for fun, as a sort of Internet collector. He said he makes very little money from them and cannot afford to hire an attorney.

Who the fark owns a thousand domains? Squatters are parasites, nothing more. Someone should break this guys thumbs.

Nah, I gave cybersquatters a golf clap for their quick-thinking & ingenuity when they first started popping up in the mid-90s. Seriously, not trolling. I see them on the same level as con artists, whom I have a respect for (I'm all for financial Darwinism). You have to admit, he's got a point--Whitman should have had the foresight to buy the domain names before she announced her plans to run for governor.

However, there are laws against cybersquatting now, so he's just an idiot to try it 10 years after those laws were passed.

I guess Meg Whitman lowballed him when she sent in her Best Offer.

I see it like this:

1) meg whitman claims to know the internet and how it works, but doesn't.

2) meg whitman thinks she can slam a phalanx of lawyers on some guy who DOES, and loses.

3) Guy makes a nice profit by knowing how the internet works, including how to grab domain names without squatting.


RTFA. It really is a case of Whitman screwing up and this guy cashing in. More power to him. Dumbass politicians that want to use the web better actually know how to use the web. Double if they claim they have expertise in the web, like ol Meg and her beanie baby story does.

BTW, clear none of you read the article OR understands how the internet works. Whitman brought the case to WIPO and lost. "She wasn't famous enough to claim her own name was a brand."

Thus, not cybersquatting. Game set match. She can scream all she wants. She got played, at the one single thing she claims to have expertise in, the internet. Looks like FAIL.

Less Meg Whitman

more...



...Mae Whitman.


/yes, her.

Jakevol2: Less Meg Whitman / more Mae Whitman.

Less Meg Whitman. More Meg White.

I think the guy is a lying jackass trying to scam/harass her out of money and he can't be trusted to tell the truth. As others have said, cybersquaters are all scum. He can't afford a lawyer, but he'll spend 10 grand on registries "for fun" ?

What a load of bs. Someone should punch this guy in the dick.

(note: voted for the democrats for president, senate, and county seats
(note: voted for the All Day Breakfast Party for house, because I supported the guys position on bacon for dinner.)
(it's a real party, look it up)

As a fan of irony, I think he should auction off the names on Ebay.

Ummm what right does Meg Whitman have to meg2010.com? Fair enough that she can have megwhitman.com or meg-whitman.com.

Friend of mine had a domain name for quite a well-known product (which appeared after he got the domain). The company went to him and offered what I'd consider a ton of cash. He refused and figure he could play them for more. They gave up after a while and just picked a slightly different domain and then made sure it was all over their billboards and ads.

The best thing she could do is to simply work out something else and campaign around it, like a slogan.

farkeruk: Ummm what right does Meg Whitman have to meg2010.com? Fair enough that she can have megwhitman.com or meg-whitman.com.

Friend of mine had a domain name for quite a well-known product (which appeared after he got the domain). The company went to him and offered what I'd consider a ton of cash. He refused and figure he could play them for more. They gave up after a while and just picked a slightly different domain and then made sure it was all over their billboards and ads.

The best thing she could do is to simply work out something else and campaign around it, like a slogan.

This is exactly how I feel about this.

What exactly is the problem with all the butt-hurt capitalism-haters in here and in the courts and their dishonest characterization of legitimate paying property owners as "squatters"???

Skiboo: Jakevol2: Less Meg Whitman / more Mae Whitman.

Less Meg Whitman. More Meg White.

ahhh, thats who i was picturing in my mine.

If only there was an auction site he can use to sell them?

That guy got what he deserved. The name Meg sucks, and now he's stuck with sucky domain names.

Generation_D: I see it like this:

1) meg whitman claims to know the internet and how it works, but doesn't.

2) meg whitman thinks she can slam a phalanx of lawyers on some guy who DOES, and loses.

3) Guy makes a nice profit by knowing how the internet works, including how to grab domain names without squatting.


RTFA. It really is a case of Whitman screwing up and this guy cashing in. More power to him. Dumbass politicians that want to use the web better actually know how to use the web. Double if they claim they have expertise in the web, like ol Meg and her beanie baby story does.

FARK! She ran a huge internet based business. She isn't that famous. If she was, she'd have had the domain names already. More power to him, make that bank.

He makes his intentions known pretty quick, doesn't he?

Hall also registered the names of seven committees with the California Secretary of State's office, allowing him to legally run a political campaign and accept donations. He hopes his campaign - either an opposition campaign or a parody, he hasn't decided - will prevent Whitman's attorneys from harassing him.

"I hope she fails miserably in her race for governor, and if this is how she treats people - hiring law firms outside of the state of California and then running for governor - it's insane," Hall said.

Don't be a dick, Mr. Hall.

As I see it, just because a domain contains a name, doesn't mean that person "deserves" to own it.

A person's name alone - sure - but not a name combined with another word or words.

If he had posted something inflammatory the Domainer could be sued.

Meg Whitman should purchased the domains or buy Friends of Meg Whitman.com

If she has any...

This guy is kind of a jerk, but having worked for a large domain name registrar I can say that this kind of stuff happens all the time. There are proper channels if you believe that you have a right to a domain name, it very rarely has to involve high priced lawyers over some schmoe. The only thing this has done was damaged Meg Whitman's reputation. The guy has acted a bit like a jerk about it sure, but I probably would too in this case, he registered the domain, too bad for her, get a different domain name.

Rule of thumb, register every domain name you THINK you might ever want to use immediately, and don't check to see if it's available. Never let it expire. If it does expire and someone else buys it, use a backorder service because the registrar who took the domain may let it go as they have X amount of days before they have to pay the registry for it and may be looking for a payout (domain fishing, now THOSE guys are the real wentzbags)

Satanic_Hamster: I think the guy is a lying jackass trying to scam/harass her out of money and he can't be trusted to tell the truth. As others have said, cybersquaters are all scum. He can't afford a lawyer, but he'll spend 10 grand on registries "for fun" ?

What a load of bs. Someone should punch this guy in the dick.

(note: voted for the democrats for president, senate, and county seats
(note: voted for the All Day Breakfast Party for house, because I supported the guys position on bacon for dinner.)
(it's a real party, look it up)

As a fellow central jersy-ite I can support your choice for the all day breakfast party, though I didn't vote for him because I was afraid it would be wasted like a vote for Ron Paul