Back in 2013, my friend who transferred to me recently a set of domains (he is since deceased, so I cannot ask him any questions about this), acquired five domains (among the many that he had - that I now have), that came up for sale with GoDaddy. To summarize: there were five domains for which the registration for whatever reason lapsed, GoDaddy acquired them, and GoDaddy sold them.
Apparently, these five domains belonged to individuals or entities that had registered them with a domain registrant that went out of business, and then GoDaddy acquired the assets (domains) and resold them on the open market. The details are actually unclear as to WHY the domains were lost in 2013, all that is known is that for whatever reason they ended up in 2013, with GoDaddy, which then sold them on the open market. To my friend. So that is how my friend acquired these particular five domains.
When he (my friend) acquired the domains in 2013, he, as a courtesy because the domains were not yet sold, left the existing nameservers up so as not to disrupt the prior owners' businesses, but when these prior owners contacted him with measly offers, if they contacted him at all (only 1 or 2 of the 5 bothered to even contact him) he just ignored them or told them their offers were too low.
Anyway, I recently sold one of these domains and the guy who lost his website came to me threatening to "report me to the FBI for stealing his domain" and acting like such a jerk that I just ended up telling him I would sue him for libel if he persisted with his nonsense. I eventually explained to him what had really happened and he shut up and disappeared. There's absolutely nothing he can do anyway, legally - there is no trademark at issue, and the concept of laches applies here - IF he had any rights at all, which I don't believe he did, he should have asserted them four years ago. Plus, if he has any beef at all, it is with GoDaddy, as my friend was a bona fide purchaser FROM GoDaddy. Prior to selling the domain, I had contacted this guy multiple times to alert him to the pending sale of the domain, but he ignored me. If he had contacted me before I sold the domain, instead of only after, and not been such a jerk, I might have worked something out with him.
Well, another individual in such a position, he has actually communicated with me but his offer to buy back his old domain is 30X lower than a new offer I just got.
I am not heartless - but life is not always fair, and business is business.
I mean, first of all, the person who acquired these domains, acquired them fair and square, and has maintained them for four years. Time to move on! Match the highest bidder or lose your website, is the way I look at it.
Am I wrong here?
Apparently, these five domains belonged to individuals or entities that had registered them with a domain registrant that went out of business, and then GoDaddy acquired the assets (domains) and resold them on the open market. The details are actually unclear as to WHY the domains were lost in 2013, all that is known is that for whatever reason they ended up in 2013, with GoDaddy, which then sold them on the open market. To my friend. So that is how my friend acquired these particular five domains.
When he (my friend) acquired the domains in 2013, he, as a courtesy because the domains were not yet sold, left the existing nameservers up so as not to disrupt the prior owners' businesses, but when these prior owners contacted him with measly offers, if they contacted him at all (only 1 or 2 of the 5 bothered to even contact him) he just ignored them or told them their offers were too low.
Anyway, I recently sold one of these domains and the guy who lost his website came to me threatening to "report me to the FBI for stealing his domain" and acting like such a jerk that I just ended up telling him I would sue him for libel if he persisted with his nonsense. I eventually explained to him what had really happened and he shut up and disappeared. There's absolutely nothing he can do anyway, legally - there is no trademark at issue, and the concept of laches applies here - IF he had any rights at all, which I don't believe he did, he should have asserted them four years ago. Plus, if he has any beef at all, it is with GoDaddy, as my friend was a bona fide purchaser FROM GoDaddy. Prior to selling the domain, I had contacted this guy multiple times to alert him to the pending sale of the domain, but he ignored me. If he had contacted me before I sold the domain, instead of only after, and not been such a jerk, I might have worked something out with him.
Well, another individual in such a position, he has actually communicated with me but his offer to buy back his old domain is 30X lower than a new offer I just got.
I am not heartless - but life is not always fair, and business is business.
I mean, first of all, the person who acquired these domains, acquired them fair and square, and has maintained them for four years. Time to move on! Match the highest bidder or lose your website, is the way I look at it.
Am I wrong here?