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Is it allowed to register domain misspellings for popular companies?

by enigma2k
10 replies
Hi,
I need more traffic for my site and I am wondering if it is allowed to register misspellings for popular domain names of some big companies or if you can get sued for this?
e.g. wwwmicrosoft.com, www.microsft.com, bestby.com
#allowed #companies #domain #misspellings #popular #register
  • Profile picture of the author Ken Strong
    It's probably not legal, but I don't know for sure... in any case, I bet all the obvious misspellings are already owned.

    For instance, wwwmicrosoft.com is owned by Microsoft already... yahooo.com redirects to Yahoo!, etc.
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    it is called "cybersquatting" and "typosquatting" and it's not legal

    Cybersquatting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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  • Profile picture of the author VegasGreg
    I believe it is legal to register them, but using them could get you in trouble.
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    Greg Schueler - Wordpress Fanatic... Living The Offline Marketing Dream...

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  • Profile picture of the author enigma2k
    I actually got this idea in the course PayPerClick Formula 2.0 by Gauher Chaudhry. He registered the domain wwwbstbuy.com and get some nice traffic through it. He recommends doing so because you get good and free traffic.
    I wonder if it is really that illegal that a company would sue you...
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    • Profile picture of the author davezan
      Originally Posted by enigma2k View Post

      I wonder if it is really that illegal that a company would sue you...
      Some do, others don't. It depends who you're dealing with, but some might be
      so unreasonable yet possibly have the law on their side.

      But as some pointed out, some trademark holders don't tolerate misspellings of
      their trademark. Only they will decide whom to go after or not, despite what a
      few think.

      Don't assume that their not doing anything means they're letting slip, though.
      They can take action anytime...if they see fit.
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      David

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  • Profile picture of the author HomeBizNizz
    MikeRoweSoft.com got slammed...
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    • Profile picture of the author derekwong28
      Originally Posted by HomeBizNizz View Post

      MikeRoweSoft.com got slammed...
      It is highly dubious whether Microsoft would have won if taken to a court. It did settle with Mike Rowe giving him some goodies in return including attendance of Microsoft courses.

      However, this is much more serious.

      Microsoft sues domain name registrar for typosquatting | Security Central - InfoWorld
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  • Profile picture of the author engr.adeel
    I think it is not legal to register. Some people register the misspelled domain because some of those original sites have high traffic and generate good income. So some time people mistaked in spelling for original website and unfortunately go to misspelled website so chances are more that more traffic is generated to misspelled sites
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  • Profile picture of the author Lindsay Brynn
    I wouldn't do it if I were you. However I have registered domains that have a product name in the title and "review" at the end or another word. When I've done this I've always contacted the company or product owner and they have told me it was fine. These weren't huge companies though - just popular marketing products.
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