Registrant Resources

Resources for Domain Name Registrants
Editor's note: the resources and references on this page are for general information only, and may not be the latest or updated resources or information available. Always verify and seek more information from the sources indicated, and from your own legal counsel, and other professional advisers, as may be appropriate. 

See also: 
Domain Mondo's ICANN archive page (pdf) for a listing of governmental authorities--California AG, IRS, FTC, US DOJ, FBI, SEC--having jurisdiction over ICANN, its directors, officers, staff, or its Registry operators and Registrars. "ICANN may be a monopoly, but ICANN is not above the law."

Domain Mondo's UDRP archive page (pdf) for info re: RPMs (Rights Protection Mechanisms).

"Registering"* a domain name [*note that technically, and legally, no one can "buy" a domain name, but can only become the domain name registrant subject to a continuing obligation to pay annual registration renewal fees.]:
Domain Name Strategies for Start-Up Companies | Foley Hoag LLP - Trademark, Copyright & Unfair Competition | JDSupra.com: "Domain names can be tricky."

Caveat Emptor re: new gTLDs: News Review | Report: ICANN's New gTLDs As Global DNS Malware.

New gTLDs have "Universal Acceptance" Problems - New gTLD domain names reportedly "break stuff" and fail to work as expected across the internet; in addition, most new gTLD domains also lack future pricing predictability for domain name registration renewal fees--Why build your website on a domain name whose registration renewal fee next year could be $30,000 or more? Of course, you don't even have to wait a year or more before being charged $30,000 a year for some new gTLD domain names, see: This new top level domain name costs $30,000 per year to register | Domain Name Wire. Also note: Security Firm Recommends Blocking ICANN's "Shadiest" New gTLDs, and EFF Says Domain Name Registrants Should Avoid New gTLDs--How Threats Against Domain Names Are Used to Censor Content | Electronic Frontier Foundation | eff.org July 27, 2017--"... you can minimize your exposure to trademark bullying by avoiding registering your website in one of the new domains that is subject to these unfair policies [RPMs]..." See also on DomainMondo.com:
Ways to find your domain name:
  • directly from an ICANN accredited registrar;
  • via a qualified, reputable domain name broker;
  • via a domain name owner (technically, the "domain name registrant") directly, using an escrow service to "close" the transaction;
  • via a domain names aftermarket sales or auction platform.
Before you buy, do your "due diligence."  Check out this free checklist (pdf) as well as reputable sources for "how to do due diligence," including some that may be listed in this search result.

RFC1591: "... The registration of a domain name does not have any Trademark status. It is up to the requestor [registrant] to be sure he is not violating anyone else's Trademark..."

Overreaching: Priority of Rights to Domain Names | IPLegalCorner.com: "Both the UDRP and ACPA are dedicated to evicting squatters, but not all holders of domain names corresponding to trademarks are squatters. Priority of right or legitimate interest is a significant factor in determining whether there is an actionable claim for cybersquatting under either regime."

Noteworthy Decisions April 2015 | IPLegalCorner.com: "Aspect Capital Limited v. Fluder (aka Pierre Fluder), D2015-0475 (WIPO April 14, 2015); Riverbed Technology, Inc. v. Nicholas Bonner, FA1503001608365 (Nat. Arb. Forum April 17, 2015). In determining whether a domain name is identical or confusingly similar to trademark the dot can be ignored. In Aspect, Respondent coupled “aspect” with the new TLD “capital” to form <aspect.capital>. In Riverbed, Respondent coupled “riverbed” with the new TLD “technology” to form <riverbed.technology>."
Official Google Webmaster Central Blog: Google's handling of new top level domains, July 21, 2015: --excerpts (read more at the link above)--
Q: How will new gTLDs affect search? Is Google changing the search algorithm to favor these TLDs? [No.] How important are they really in search? [new gTLDs are not favored in search]
A: Overall, our systems treat new gTLDs like other gTLDs (like .com & .org). Keywords in a TLD do not give any advantage or disadvantage in search. 

Q: Will a .BRAND TLD [domain name] be given any more or less weight than a .COM [domain name]?
A: No. Those TLDs will be treated the same as a other gTLDs. They will require the same geotargeting settings and configuration, and they won’t have more weight or influence in the way we crawl, index, or rank URLs.

Q: How are the new region or city TLDs (like .london or .bayern) handled?
A: Even if they look region-specific, we will treat them as gTLDs. This is consistent with our handling of regional TLDs like .eu and .asia. There may be exceptions at some point down the line, as we see how they're used in practice. See our help center for more information on multi-regional and multilingual sites, and set geotargeting in Search Console where relevant.

Q: What about real ccTLDs (country code top-level domains) : will Google favor ccTLDs (like .uk, .ae, etc.) as a local domain for people searching in those countries?
A: By default, most ccTLDs (with exceptions) result in Google using these to geotarget the website; it tells us that the website is probably more relevant in the appropriate country. Again, see our help center for more information on multi-regional and multilingual sites.

Q: Will Google support my SEO efforts to move my domain from .com to a new TLD? How do I move my website without losing any search ranking or history?
A: We have extensive site move documentation in our Help Center. We treat these moves the same as any other site move. That said, domain changes can take time to be processed for search (and outside of search, users expect email addresses to remain valid over a longer period of time), so it's generally best to choose a domain that will fit your long-term needs. 

Startup Resources:
Legal Resources:
  • Also note: just because a particular work is now in the public domain does not always mean that it is available for free use by the public--law.com.
Domainer Advice (a selection from the many domaining bloggers) Must Reads:

Domain Names--Resources/Tools:
How to Launch Your Own Online Store With Shopify | lifehacker.com: "When you sign up for an account with Shopify, the system will ask you to name your store and it will then assign you a site address. Choose a store named “WeSellStuff,” for example, and your site address will be “wesellstuff.myshopify.com.” While you’re always welcome to keep this site address as the home of your store on the ‘net, you’re more than likely going to want to change it to something more catchy, easy to remember, and not focused on Shopify. Fortunately, setting up a personal [custom] domain name is fairly routine."

Changing your website, domain name or platform?
Google Resources:

Verisign.com (Registry operator of .COM and .NET) Resources:

How Startup Options (and Ownership) Works | Andreessen Horowitz | a16z.com

Small Business How-To Guide | WSJ.com

Raising Capital (a selection of Wikipedia introductory articles): Venture round; Venture Capital; Private equity; Angel Investor; Corporate Finance; Securities offerings; Securities Act of 1933.

 (rev. .07.11.2015; 05.24.2016; 12.30.2016; 09.23.2017, 09.27.2017, 12.20.2017.)
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