ccTLDs.com » Country Code Specific Forums » .in Forum

[Rick Latona]

A few weeks ago I started buying .in names as fast as I could. Since then, I've been hearing horror stories about them.

Notable domain attorneys have told me that it is impossible to defend them. I'm told that the .in registry is infamous for making up reasons to give your name to any Indian company that files a complaint.

What are your experiences?

[Daniel]

Originally Posted by Rick Latona

What are your experiences?

Well, they're right. I once owned hotels.in and jobs.in... I've learned my lesson and now stay away from .in.

[DotUs]

Originally Posted by Daniel

Well, they're right. I once owned hotels.in and jobs.in... I've learned my lesson and now stay away from .in.

They took those 2 names away from you ?

Thats some qulaity of names to loose,

I use to own a few but for some reason could not renew them, dont know why.

[npuva]

You all are making me nervous. I have a few WiMax .in names and because WiMax is so much bigger there than in the US perhaps I'll suffer the same fate.

Hotels.in is a terrible name to lose!

[Rick Latona]

Originally Posted by Daniel

Well, they're right. I once owned hotels.in and jobs.in... I've learned my lesson and now stay away from .in.

What was their excuse for takng them?

[Daniel]

Both domains were challenged under INDRP (.in dispute resolution):

In the case of hotels.in DirectI claimed that I was violating their "hotel" trademark.

They (the parent company of Skenzo) were further arguing that domain parking constitutes bad faith.

jobs.in was awarded to someone who owns several generic (and unused) trademarks for tobacco products (and who is a friend of the arbitrator according to his own web site[1])...

The decisions can be found at http://www.registry.in/policies/disp...ute_decisions/

As one can see there were quite a few other disputes concerning generic domains, each of them obviously resting on bogus arguments.

[1]: http://www.jagdishpurohit.com/credit.htm (Manoj Bhatt was the arbitrator in the jobs.in case who also hosted a personal page on the complainant's web portal indiapress.org that is now offline).

[webplanet]

Yes, I know the experience of Daniel, but also incrediable stories of other german domain owners, losing domains like web.in, business.in etc.
So I have sold all my domains like law.in, weather.in, food.in, tea.in, online.in etc.

Regards,
Jens

[Daniel]

Originally Posted by emm

I heard there is still a case pending in civil court for jobs.in and Hotels.in was actually taken by Directi wasn't it?

Yes, there are court cases pending. What do you mean by "was actually taken by Directi"?

Any local company with tms would probably win against an international company without tm, but then isn't that standard even for gtlds? Though without nexus if you have a tm anywhere in the world and you register a .in before a local company, i don't think they would be able to take it away.

Ever heard of reverse domain hijacking?

[DomainLobe]

Maybe the best investment plan would be to own solid, blue chip names rather then ultra-premium (read; high on the list of names worth stealing and going to court for!).

Personally, I have chosen NNN and LLL as well as a handful of decent keywords. None 'stolen' yet.

There is far too much potential .IN the .Indian domains not to invest .IN despite the inherent risk.

All investments have risk as many security investors have learned recently.

[888]

I remember Daniel losing those names, scandalous on behalf of Directi & their '"buddies". Directi, a registrar and one of the main beneficiaries of the launch- . I don't think they are too much involved in this "hijacking" now they are mainstream and looking to list- potential bad publicity.

They also "claimed" - "caught" the majority of the premium .co.in that were released at the same time as the .in land rush- not exactly a free and fair distribution as I commented on a few occasions at the time- deaf ears abounded.

Business.in is held by the National Internet Exchange of India. Web.in - Domain On Hold For Compliance.

I have not heard of any recent "hijackings" - could be wrong.

[Anunt]

I am traveling in India right now and i have learned one thing very quickly -- Money Talks!

Lots of corruption going on here in India. You can easily get away with almost anything in india if you have the money. You can pay off the court system, police officers...anybody!

In court cases...what they have a tendency of doing out here is pro-longing the court cases for years and years...the case never gets solved!

Anybody out here can take your dot in domains if they really wanted to...all they have to do is pay off the main person and its done...and if there is a court case...this case will go on forever!

Do a whois check to see who owns all the top best .in domains...less than 5 people own the top best .in domains...i wonder how they got them all!!!

[eBusinessDomains]

All of this is scary news. I had such faith in the .IN domain names. I sold and dropped most of .IN domains last, but not because of any such experiences.

[Rick Latona]

I talked to a couple of well known domain lawyers today that told me they have never successfully defended a .in case.

[Carter]

Originally Posted by Rick Latona

I talked to a couple of well known domain lawyers today that told me they have never successfully defended a .in case.

Very sad
It's scandalous what happened to Daniel...I ask myself why they act like this (I know the obvious value of these 2 domains but it's scandalous too).

[Carter]

Originally Posted by Anunt

I am traveling in India right now and i have learned one thing very quickly -- Money Talks!

Lots of corruption going on here in India. You can easily get away with almost anything in india if you have the money. You can pay off the court system, police officers...anybody!

In court cases...what they have a tendency of doing out here is pro-longing the court cases for years and years...the case never gets solved!

Anybody out here can take your dot in domains if they really wanted to...all they have to do is pay off the main person and its done...and if there is a court case...this case will go on forever!

Do a whois check to see who owns all the top best .in domains...less than 5 people own the top best .in domains...i wonder how they got them all!!!

Come to Italy the corruption here is the daily rule...

[Doms1995]

I have hundreds of .IN domains (going on two years) and have not had any issues to date. Sorry to hear about the others who have!

Bribery and corruption has been the way to get things done in India for a long time. Perhaps it's time to sell but I think long term the market value for .IN domains is going to be huge. The population speaks for itself. So you lose a few in the meantime, overall I think you will still make money...

[Rick Latona]

Originally Posted by Doms1995

I have hundreds of .IN domains (going on two years) and have not had any issues to date. Sorry to hear about the others who have!

Bribery and corruption has been the way to get things done in India for a long time. Perhaps it's time to sell but I think long term the market value for .IN domains is going to be huge. The population speaks for itself. So you lose a few in the meantime, overall I think you will still make money...

I agree that most could lose 10% of their portfolio and still make out in the long-run.

[onlinelife]

Originally Posted by Daniel

Both domains were challenged under INDRP (.in dispute resolution):

In the case of hotels.in DirectI claimed that I was violating their "hotel" trademark.

They (the parent company of Skenzo) were further arguing that domain parking constitutes bad faith.

jobs.in was awarded to someone who owns several generic (and unused) trademarks for tobacco products (and who is a friend of the arbitrator according to his own web site[1])...

The decisions can be found at http://www.registry.in/policies/disp...ute_decisions/

As one can see there were quite a few other disputes concerning generic domains, each of them obviously resting on bogus arguments.

[1]: http://www.jagdishpurohit.com/credit.htm (Manoj Bhatt was the arbitrator in the jobs.in case who also hosted a personal page on the complainant's web portal indiapress.org that is now offline).

Its terrible to lose hotels.in and jobs.in especially when Directi reseller register is involved, something is fishy behind this claim. I hope .in registry will not fall for such false claims anymore.
These bunch of "purohit" people known very well for their greediness in Indian society for long time. Do your homework before losing any domain to anyone inside or outside India.

[domain]

I have maybe 20 .in domains, not going to break the bank on them if they can be taken away so easily. I think it's worth holding some, unless the takebacks get really out of control.

[Dnskillz]

I agree .IN have a lot of potential, but with cases like this it will scary the

domainers in general and it will atract more and more reverse domain hijackers.

We hope some authority can handle this fast, without falling in corruption...

[zapdaddy]

I didn't realize it was so easy to lose .in

I'll have to think twice about buying any more.

[888]

These disputes were 3/4 years ago?- I have heard of nothing recently unless referring to blatant tm's

[jagusa]

There are currently pending INDRPs for all,in - honey,in - rig,in - bare,in. I do not know how many of these Respondents are defending their domains, but I know at least one is. The result of these decisions should provide clear market direction on the future viability of the Indian cctld.

Originally Posted by 888

These disputes were 3/4 years ago?- I have heard of nothing recently unless referring to blatant tm's

[domaintrd]

I live in India, dont' own many generic .in's either, but some of the stuff you guys are talking about is hard to believe. How can someone snatch your GENERICS?

When it comes to business, I'm sure there are many out there who'd be willing to swoop down low to snatch domains, but this is too much.

I suggest you hire local experts. Local lawyers are not very expensive either.

You must try to speak to someone here in India.


Aditya
Domain TRD

[chandan]

Originally Posted by Gem

Local lawyers are not very expensive either.

Who says so ? I have experience of loosing domains in INDRP ! I went to India to hire the Attorney and they are upfront asking for USD 2000 to fight the case and then taking out more money from our pocket on any pretext ?

hire some local killers cheap and best