FreeCreditReport.com Wins 1,017 "Typo" Domains

[Jesus Perez]

This one is for owners of misspelled domain names.

The largest domain dispute case since the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) was enacted ten years ago has been decided. The decision saw 1,017 cyber-squatting domains turned over to ConsumerInfo.com, owner of FreeCreditReport.com. The full decision can be read via the National Arbitration Forum website.

The disputed domain names were all slight misspellings of FreeCreditReport.com (such as ereecreditreport.com), or they included FreeCreditReport spelled correctly within a longer domain (such as 1-800-freecreditreport.com).

It would seem that this decision sets or reinforces a fairly strong precedent that trademark holders may be entitled to, not only to the domain name that exactly matches their trademark, but also to a wide swath of other domain names including nearly every possible misspelling or other variation of that trademark, potentially even if the trademark is comprised of generic words.

Ouch...

[Ron Douglas]

Wow, that's interesting. Affiliates should really be aware of that.

I wonder were the domains being used by their affiliates as a way to promote freecreditreport.com or were people getting misspelled domains to promote their own products using the credibility and brandname from freecreditreport.com.

I actually don't mind affiliates promoting my sites this way. I recently launched VideoForward.com and I noticed the other day that the .net, .org, .info and many variations of the domain are now registered as well. I take it as a compliment that people really see the potential in the site.

[Alan Petersen]

ereecreditreport.com is just an ad portal landing page so they're not even promoting FreeCreditReport.com as an affiliate so I can see why they got bent.

[dougk48]

FreeCreditReports.com is a scam!...I was going to use them and found out if you try cancelling them it's very hard to get them off your credit card....if you need a credit report you can get one here for free no strings attached every 12 months!

AnnualCreditReport.com is the ONLY authorized source to get your free annual credit report under federal law...(sorry I can post urls yet) The Fair Credit Reporting Act guarantees you access to a free credit report from each of the three nationwide reporting agencies — Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion — every twelve months. The Federal Trade Commission has received complaints from consumers who thought they were ordering their free annual credit report, but instead paid hidden fees or agreed to unwanted services. Don’t be fooled by TV ads, email offers, or online search results. Go to the when you request your free report.


Doug

[Ron Douglas]

Yes, but too bad AnnualCreditReport.com doesn't give you your credit score without paying. They give you the details without the actual score.

[TruWebPro]

Originally Posted by Ron Douglas

Yes, but too bad AnnualCreditReport.com doesn't give you your credit score without paying. They give you the details without the actual score.

That's true, Ron, but neither do the companies that advertise. It's the major credit bureaus themselves that charge a fee to reveal the score that they generate with their own algorithms. If you order it from the resellers like freecreditreport.com, they sell it to you with a markup like any other middle man would, in addition to trying to hook you for other services you don't need. If you use the authorized site annualcreditreport.com as Doug suggested, they link you straight to Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion if you would like to see your score, and you pay that fee directly to those bureaus themselves, so it's minimal.

[SageSound]

Originally Posted by dougk48

FreeCreditReports.com is a scam!...I was going to use them and found out if you try cancelling them it's very hard to get them off your credit card....if you need a credit report you can get one here for free no strings attached every 12 months!

Perhaps that's why FreeCreditReport.com won the action -- because people who had slightly different domain names couldn't tell the difference and got scammed, damaging THEIR name and reputation!

-David

[sbucciarel]

Not exactly a new thing. The Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act was enacted in 1999.

FAQ about ACPA -- Chilling Effects Clearinghouse

[Jay Jennings]

What a load of crap. The words "free credit report" are so generic there's no way the misspellings should have been targeted. This was a horribly bad decision.

Jay Jennings