We understand the daily drop lists are published by Verisign and not controlled by any drop service.

We know that the pool “hot list” is based on the number of backorder requests. However the list is only 20 names so certainly someone could go in and make sure disneymovies.com or similar clearly infringing name is not included on the “Hot List”

The fact that the “Hot List” names are the most backordered ones, means there are a lot of people backordering the domain, not just the one cilent trading customers marks.

Likewise NameJet.com could block those names appearing on their “most backordered page”.

Yes the domains will still drop but there is no need to advertise it.

As far as Godaddy is concerned, the original post by Mr. Castello, talked about not drop names but domains that were offered for sale by their owners that were clear trademark infringements and made the point, that they should self police and have a policy of not allowing such domains to be sold through their system.

I would urge pool.com to adopt such a policy for their resale system.

First, the daily “list” of deleting domains for com/net is published by Verisign and is subsequently made available to potential customers through websites like Pool.com as well as the other drop catchers. It’s a public list. And ALL buyers have access to it including those who have legitimate trademark interests.

Second, Pool.com (and I suspect the same is true for the other drop catchers) publish a short list, or sometimes referred to as a hotlist, that often reflects the most popular domains as represented by the preferences of their customers. With a few exceptions, we only attempt to grab domains for which our customers have placed backorders.

Third, the issue is not whether Pool.com or GoDaddy or anyone in a position to register domain names should allow the registration of domain names that may be contested by a trademark holder. Organizations like Pool.com or GoDaddy do not have the legal right to arbitrate trademark issues.

And finally, there are many organizations that offer brand protection services to their customers. Some are clients of Pool.com and they WANT to see when their clients marks appear in a domain drop so they can proactively manage the possible results. The same would be true for any domain freely available that is registered through any commercail registrar.

Nice coverage although I could have lived without the picture.

After we posted on this, I watched the Indy 500 which was basically a 3 1/2 hour commercial for Godaddy, which strikes at the heart of my comment regarding their appeal to non-domainers

Yes, these obvious TM domains ought to be snapped up and, yes, given to the company holding the TM. To buy or sell an obvious TM infringing domain is both illegal and ethically wrong.

Selling a known TM domain for profit is especially regugnant; perhaps if the registrar (who should know better) were required to refund the buyer in case of a UDRP, you’d probably see this problem solved and fast.

On second thought, perhaps these cybersquatters and greedy domain registrars (who hide behind legalese TOS) deserve each other.

I didn’t buy it or bid on it