Copycat website names.

[scared but happy]

Is it in poor taste or disallowed to register a website name that is slightly different to the real one?

ie www.gooogle.com www.dailywail.com
or a missspelling

www.tigerwoulds.com

Edited by scared but happy on Monday 2nd October 17:24

[victormeldrew]

Probably copyright infringement I would have thought.

[randlemarcus]

Its known as Passing Off, in that it is your intention to attract custom which would otherwise go to the original business.

Google (or gooooogle, I suppose )things like MikeRoweSoft.com and baa.com for excellent examples of SoH failures on this very topic. Most holders of domain names in the public eye tend to frown on this one..

[victormeldrew]

randlemarcus said:

Its known as Passing Off, in that it is your intention to attract custom which would otherwise go to the original business.

Google (or gooooogle, I suppose )things like MikeRoweSoft.com and baa.com for excellent examples of SoH failures on this very topic. Most holders of domain names in the public eye tend to frown on this one..

Lindows was another one, which you'd think was actually nothing like the original name who stopped it. Maybe the Chinese market had something to do with it!

[SlidingSideways]

victormeldrew said:

Lindows was another one, which you'd think was actually nothing like the original name who stopped it. Maybe the Chinese market had something to do with it!

Nope, it was the original name for an easy to use desktop linux distro until MS put a stop to them. It's called Linspire now.

Anyway, the chinese pronounce it Windows, you plick! (Copyright Lethal Weapon 9, or whichever one it was...)

[Plotloss]

There used to be (and maybe there still is) a domain registry in New York the setup shop specifically to sell similar domain names to established ones to drive traffic to their customers.

[thepassenger]

scared but happy said:

Is it in poor taste or disallowed to register a website name that is slightly different to the real one?

ie www.gooogle.com www.dailywail.com
or a missspelling

www.tigerwoulds.com

Edited by scared but happy on Monday 2nd October 17:24

You can I belive register whatever the hell you want for a domain name. However, as a lot of people have said nothing stops the holder of the 'real' domain getting their lawyers, solicitors and other legal attack dogs whipped in to a frenzy and pointing them at you.
Especially if you are running a sex site and/or a parody of their site.

[annodomini2]

www.topgear.com