Why were my free wordpress blogs deleted?

Snow_Predator · 09-26-2009, 10:47 AM

Hi

I registered about 10 free wordpress blogs under the same username. Each blog used a brand-name in its url, e.g. samsung. I had completed one blog and was working on the next one, but they were all deleted, apparently I violated their terms of service.

I couldn't really make out what I had done wrong from the terms of service. Am I not allowed to have brand-names in a free wp url? Do I have to get my own domain for that? Or is it because I had registered lots of free domains at once?

Thanks in advance
Snow

R Hagel · 09-26-2009, 11:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snow_Predator

Hi

I registered about 10 free wordpress blogs under the same username. Each blog used a brand-name in its url, e.g. samsung. I had completed one blog and was working on the next one, but they were all deleted, apparently I violated their terms of service.

I couldn't really make out what I had done wrong from the terms of service. Am I not allowed to have brand-names in a free wp url?

Hi Snow,

Re-read section 2 of the Terms of Service: Terms of Service WordPress.com

Specifically:

Quote:

. By making Content available, you represent and warrant that:

* the downloading, copying and use of the Content will not infringe the proprietary rights, including but not limited to the copyright, patent, trademark or trade secret rights, of any third party;

And possibly

Quote:

the Content is not spam, is not machine- or randomly-generated, and does not contain unethical or unwanted commercial content designed to drive traffic to third party sites or boost the search engine rankings of third party sites

Also, you asked:

Quote:

Do I have to get my own domain for that? Or is it because I had registered lots of free domains at once?

If you're planning on using some else's trademark, you need to talk to a lawyer.

In general...

It's much better to have full control of your blog by getting a domain and hosting it yourself. But keep in mind that doing so won't keep you out of legal hot water if you're infringing on other's TMs.

Cheers,
Becky

jasonmorgan · 09-26-2009, 12:06 PM

trademark and copywrite issues are the first problem. Big companies do not like this kind of stuff and many of them will crack down hard on it.

not all free blog hosts like the idea of people using their services for affiliate spam and sales.

I'm just as bad as anyone when it comes to this kind of stuff so I'm not preaching but think about it, if you started a free blog hosting service do you really want 1000 IMers building affiliate sites or do you want real quality content and honest blogs.

Best bet is to buy your own domains and hosting. And avoid using trademarks in the domain or you could lose it.

A good example of why to avoid trademarks. miamidolphins.com, the person who owned this domain was promoting miami dolphins football team merchandise and tickets, which was a trademark infringement, the miami dolphins and nfl took them to court and they won all rights to that domain. If the person had been promoting dolphins and other sea creatures in the miami area it would not have been seen as a trade mark violation. The same thing happened with many adult websites using 'playboy', trademark violation, playboy won.

09-26-2009, 10:47 AM	#1
Snow_Predator HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 389 Thanks: 257 Thanked 59 Times in 39 Posts	Why were my free wordpress blogs deleted? Hi I registered about 10 free wordpress blogs under the same username. Each blog used a brand-name in its url, e.g. samsung. I had completed one blog and was working on the next one, but they were all deleted, apparently I violated their terms of service. I couldn't really make out what I had done wrong from the terms of service. Am I not allowed to have brand-names in a free wp url? Do I have to get my own domain for that? Or is it because I had registered lots of free domains at once? Thanks in advance Snow

09-26-2009, 12:06 PM	#3
jasonmorgan I'm Kind Of A Big Deal Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 2,003 Thanks: 60 Thanked 448 Times in 321 Posts	Re: Why were my free wordpress blogs deleted? trademark and copywrite issues are the first problem. Big companies do not like this kind of stuff and many of them will crack down hard on it. not all free blog hosts like the idea of people using their services for affiliate spam and sales. I'm just as bad as anyone when it comes to this kind of stuff so I'm not preaching but think about it, if you started a free blog hosting service do you really want 1000 IMers building affiliate sites or do you want real quality content and honest blogs. Best bet is to buy your own domains and hosting. And avoid using trademarks in the domain or you could lose it. A good example of why to avoid trademarks. miamidolphins.com, the person who owned this domain was promoting miami dolphins football team merchandise and tickets, which was a trademark infringement, the miami dolphins and nfl took them to court and they won all rights to that domain. If the person had been promoting dolphins and other sea creatures in the miami area it would not have been seen as a trade mark violation. The same thing happened with many adult websites using 'playboy', trademark violation, playboy won.