Valid purpose for Nominet dispute?

Plxply

Hello,

I have been looking to register a lastname.* domain (obviously lastname is where my last name fits in), ones such as lastname.com are already taken by a business which I am completely fine with. However this is one domain lastname.co.uk which seems to be taken by a cyber squatter, all that is displayed on the page is the fake search results along with a "£445 + VAT" for the price of the domain. Obviously I would be not willing to pay this and this is obviously an attempt by a shameful company at getting free money from a virtually cheap operation for them.

As lastname.co.uk is actually my last name and I intend to use the domain name for an actual purpose (mainly email, however I will use it to share files with family and friends) is this a valid reason to start a dispute with Nominet regarding the domain?

sillygoose

I doubt it.

Good luck anyway, I have been shopping for a domain but its very frustrating as my 'lastname' is also a common word so there is virtually nothing nice left. Like you a couple of decent domains are just being sat on with holding pages for many years now.

I suspect as I am not a public figure and someone is sitting on my whole name or a company with an established brand there is no chance of getting them.

Anyone recommend a good reliable company with a bargain package consisting of a domain reg, a few POP3 emails accounts and a modest website space?

KillerWatt

Plxply wrote: »

is this a valid reason to start a dispute with Nominet regarding the domain?

You stand more chance of getting a blowjob off the pope than winning that one.

KillerWatt

sillygoose wrote: »

Anyone recommend a good reliable company with a bargain package consisting of a domain reg, a few POP3 emails accounts and a modest website space?

http://www.krystal.co.uk/

You get a tad more than just a crappy bit of POP3 forwarding as well.

davb

I would say no chance.
The only right to a domain name AFIK is that if you are a limited company, you are entitled to registeredcompanyname.ltd.uk

kwikbreaks

lastname.org.uk and other lastname domains are free. If you only want it for email then just take one of those

John_Gray

Suppose your name were Smith. What chance do you think would have of getting any one of the domain names:
smith.co.uk
smith.org.uk
smith.com
smith.me
smith.me.uk
and so on? You're right - you're about ten years too late!

Suggest you plug your name into this search engine and see if there are any corresponding domain names available - the more unusual and foreign ones cost £lots!

debitcardmayhem

how about yourname.me just an idea , sadly in my case some nasty company used my name for .com and have made a few quid out of squatting on it. Regards Rob Apple.
Not my real name but the other company makes IT kit too.

Plxply

I would be totally fine with it, however it is obvious that they are purely doing it in an attempt at a quick grab for money. My last name is not actually that common and many alternatives exist but I find it slightly irritating how this company is so blatantly not using it for any real purpose.

debitcardmayhem

Plxply wrote: »

I would be totally fine with it, however it is obvious that they are purely doing it in an attempt at a quick grab for money. My last name is not actually that common and many alternatives exist but I find it slightly irritating how this company is so blatantly not using it for any real purpose.

At the end of the day, they are using it for a possible money making excercise, and there is no point challenging it, they won't hang on to it for ever unless people show an interest.

S0litaire

First do a "whois" search for the domain name.
Find out when it was registered and when it expires.
It will also say who's hosting the domain (GoDaddy, NetworkSolutions etc...) and go direct to their site and see if it's on offer from there.
The usually put a £### on a domain page but if you go direct you can sometimes get it cheaper (or after it becomes invalid).

Someone had my full name as a domain name (<first><last>.com) and had it up for $499 but it was set to expire a few months later.
It was registered on GoDaddy so I waited till the day it expired and bought it from GoDaddy for £10.99 ^_^