domain name with different extensions

[nadiabodikian]

Hi, I have been contacted by a so called lawyer from China, telling me that my domain name which is a .com is available with .cn / .com.cn / .net.cn / .hk / .com.hk / .tw / .com.tw / .in /.asia

and that he has a client wanting to register.
Is this true?
Can this be done ? or is it a scam to get me to pay money?
If anybody knows anything about this or has had a similar email please help.
Thnaks

[Vasili]

Re: domain name with different extensions

Remarkably, you need to know a bit more about how the WWW and ICANN works .... if you reply with a tersely worded assertion that since you are hosted on US soil, you have the ability to prosecute for infringement, as any similar domain registrations would in fact create cause for complaint that it would be definitive confusion in the market, infringement on an established internet identity, detract monetarily from your earned Good Will (which is a tangible business asset, and subject to protection and enforcement in addition to any infringement), and so on. And that you will most assuredly monitor that no such domain registrations be allowed, subject also to complaint directly to ICANN who will refuse such and/or award them to you based on your provability of First Use and Brand Name establishment

Scare the hell out of HIM!
If worded properly, it will scare him, as everything I've mentioned are indeed within the ICANN provennance, and are regularly prosecuted.

There are a few threads on Copyright and Domain Registration in the Business Forums that might be a starting place for you to read up and learn from ... and following the links therein to explore ICANN would be very beneficial as well.
Copyright, Trademark, Servicemark & Infringement -- Know the Difference!
What happens if you find company using your domain name?

[nadiabodikian]

Re: domain name with different extensions

he is telling me that these names are open for registering, and that he is giving me first refusal, and he will do the registering for me or for a fee if i dont it is open for him to register it for some other company in china. what cheek!

[Vasili]

Re: domain name with different extensions

Trust me .... the same thing happened to me over a year ago, and even now the domain in China is untouched: I got ICANN to flag it by simply sending in a complaint that the Chinese Registrar was resorting to dubious methods, and that I would indeed take issue with the fact my Good Name was being infringed upon.

So, since my complaint was logged, and will show up during any discovery/disclosure process when someone wants to buy it, it will remain unsold until I revoke my complaint.

See it sitting here still? But .... I did not just ignore the issue: I followed up and did something about it to protect my overall, long-term interests.

[nadiabodikian]

Re: domain name with different extensions

Hello, I did file a complaint with ICANN and their reply was as follows
"Please note that the company mentioned in your complaint is not an
ICANN-accredited registrar. Many companies that are not accredited by ICANN
offer domain registration services -- some are reselling names obtained from
accredited registrars. ICANN does not have contractual authority to address
complaints about resellers or hosting providers" so what can I do?

[Tom Finley]

Re: domain name with different extensions

This same scam was sent to my church months ago. I told them to ignore it because who in their right mind would pay for a Chinese version of "Kauai Christian Fellowship"? Nothing at all came of it. Of course, yours is a business and therefore of much more concern--but at least you have one example of them making only a hollow threat.