Why Did One NBA Player Get 800 Domain Names From A Cybersquatter?

from the huh?.com dept

Thu, Oct 15th 2009 11:12am — Mike Masnick

Here's an odd one. Apparently Toronto Raptors forward Chris Bosh was given control over 800 domain names related to NBA basketball players that had been cybersquatted. I'm not sure what it is with professional basketball players and domain name speculation -- as this is the second such story involving that combination -- but what struck me as odd about this is why Bosh was given all the domain names. Bosh had sued over the registration and use of chrisbosh.com -- so you could understand a ruling that gave him control over that domain name. But why give him the other 799 domain names involving other players as well? Bosh has said he'll hand over the rights to the other players for free, but it still doesn't make sense why he got control over them in the first place.

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Filed Under: chris bosh, cybersquatting, domain names, domain squatting

29 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 15 Oct 2009 @ 11:26am

I guess justice is blind and stupid?
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- :Lobo Santo (profile), 15 Oct 2009 @ 11:28am
  
  Re:
  I think you mean "blind & drunk"
  
  Traditionally, she's also bare-breasted.
  
  So.... Justice is a frat-party chick?
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  - Dark Helmet (profile), 15 Oct 2009 @ 11:32am
    
    Re: Re:
    "So.... Justice is a frat-party chick?"
    
    I was going to go with Britney Spears, but yours works too...
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  - ChurchHatesTucker (profile), 15 Oct 2009 @ 11:35am
    
    Re: Re:
    "Traditionally, she's also bare-breasted."
    
    That's to distract you from her thumb on the scales...
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Martin Cohn (profile), 15 Oct 2009 @ 11:48am

That's not a thumb.

Hey babe, take a walk on the wild side.
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John Doe, 15 Oct 2009 @ 11:53am

He who has the gold...
He who has the gold makes the rules.
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nowhere (profile), 15 Oct 2009 @ 11:56am

Why not?
Why leave the squatted domains in the control of the cybersquatter? Bosh isn't going to be putting up ads to make money off the domains but the cybersquatter sure was.
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- John Fenderson (profile), 15 Oct 2009 @ 12:14pm
  
  Re: Why not?
  But why give them to Chris Bosh? If the court rules the domains should be seized, then why doesn't the court seize them itself? Or appoint some more appropriate agency that task?
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  - Anonymous Coward, 15 Oct 2009 @ 12:24pm
    
    Re: Re: Why not?
    Seize this, honkus!
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Oct 2009 @ 12:18pm

Did anyone read the article? He has to give them back to the other athletes.
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- John Doe, 15 Oct 2009 @ 12:25pm
  
  Re:
  What if they don't ask for them? The point here is, if it is illegal for someone to own them besides the person they are named after, why does Chris get them? Why didn't the court take them and distribute them or turn them over to a proper domain name registrar to do the same?
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  - Anonymous Coward, 15 Oct 2009 @ 1:17pm
    
    Re: Re:
    The judge said he HAD to give them back, and who cares if it;s him or some other unknown court-appointed clueless Pedro? At least it's not squatters. Plus, he gives them back for free. So what's the problem? No one said they had to ask for it, they said he had to give them back.
    
    Why not the court distribute? You want us to pay for that? Let some guy handle it free of charge instead of asking the people to pay up for it.
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- Anonymous Coward, 15 Oct 2009 @ 12:55pm
  
  Re:
  Did YOU read the article? He said he WOULD give them back, not that he HAD to give them back.
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  - interval, 15 Oct 2009 @ 1:21pm
    
    Re: Re:
    I'm too lazy to read the article. So the judge, in his wisdom, gave the player the domains as part of the settlement? Perhaps the judge is a believer of "to the victor, the spoils." and simply isn't aware of the actual implication of domain squatting, or the underlying technology. Here's one who is !internet saavy;
    http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/blog/blogView?showComments=true&entry=3344233717
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Oct 2009 @ 12:59pm

If all the domain names are in the same GoDaddy account, and Bosh sued for control of the account, then he would also get control over everything else in that account.
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- John Fenderson (profile), 15 Oct 2009 @ 1:06pm
  
  Re:
  But Bosh only has standing to sue over the use of his own name. (I assume -- this is Canadian law and I'm a USian, but I assume a certain commonality).
  
  Given that he won the lawsuit, it can only affect that name. The domain name can be easily transferred to him without access to the account (or registrar, for that matter) that created it.
  
  So your postulation would only deepen the problem. Then it would be why did he get control over an account rather than a domain name?
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Oct 2009 @ 1:06pm

And what happens if someone else named Chris Bosh owned it? Then what if the NBA player had a substance addiction? Can you claim he is given your name a bad rap?
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Oct 2009 @ 1:11pm

The other 799 probably want their domain names too and this saves a lot of court costs.
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Robert, 15 Oct 2009 @ 1:17pm

Lawsuit
Could another player turn around and file suit that Chris Bosh is cybersquatting?
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NickA (profile), 15 Oct 2009 @ 1:38pm

From what I was reading and what was explained to me by a buddy (so I cant confirm it), is that the domains were given because Bosh was owed a lot of money and they thought the owner would not pay as he does not have the money to do so. As such he gave the domains instead of cash.
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- Dark Helmet (profile), 15 Oct 2009 @ 1:49pm
  
  Re:
  "From what I was reading and what was explained to me by a buddy (so I cant confirm it), is that the domains were given because Bosh was owed a lot of money and they thought the owner would not pay as he does not have the money to do so. As such he gave the domains instead of cash."
  
  Gave them to him to substitute cash along with an order that he can't keep them?
  
  That's just silly....
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  - NickA (profile), 15 Oct 2009 @ 2:31pm
    
    Re: Re:
    Yea, I also did not hear he cannot keep them. Again, word of mouth from a friend and I only skimmed the article.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Oct 2009 @ 1:50pm

Man, you guys are idiots. I mean really clueless idiots. This is a non-issue in a non-news item not read the not thinking.
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- interval, 15 Oct 2009 @ 2:25pm
  
  Re:
  Please don't feed the troll.
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  - Anonymous Coward, 15 Oct 2009 @ 2:36pm
    
    Re: Re:
    What do trolls eat, anyway?
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Oct 2009 @ 2:32pm

Perhaps when Chris Bosh got the big player's contract, his high school math tutor cashed in a favor.

Let's face it- that's just how it works. Unfortunately, the book worm (tutor) isn't very bright when it comes to practical application of this thing called "life", and well...

BOOM GOES THE DYNAMITE.
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Matt Saunders, 15 Oct 2009 @ 2:57pm

The reason
Pretty straightforward. The squatter failed to pay to $120k. Bosh argued that the domain names were personal property which could be used to satisfy the judgment. Court agreed, hence, portfolio transferred to Bosh.
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Jorvay (profile), 16 Oct 2009 @ 7:16am

Makes some sense
There's a difference between owning a domain and cybersquatting. It's not illegal to own someone else's name as a domain, but it is illegal own it for the sole purpose of profiting at the expense (direct or indirect) of the named person/organization.
Therefore, Chris Bosh can be awarded those domains as personal property in lue of doubtful payment. He just can't take those names and squat on them after.
Of course, being the class act that Chris Bosh is (as any basketball fan knows already), Chris is doing the classy thing and giving those domains to their namesakes.

The moral issue may be a bit sketchy on the legal side of things, but cudos to Bosh for doing the right thing. Us Raptors fans have come to expect no less over the years.
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AW, 16 Oct 2009 @ 10:09am

Why give Chris Bosh the domains? They figured anyone had to have more scruples than a lawyer and since he knew enough to bring the case to court they figured he knew more about web law than every politician in the western hemisphere. That's just my guess.
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