White hat domainers are not black hat cybersquatters.
Domains Are Valuable? D’oh!
I’ve been on the Internet since 1984, watched the Internet evolve from text-based protocols to web-based protocols in the 1990s, and completely missed the generic domain name gold rush that has made many millionaire domainers.
Well, almost completely.
On 08/02/95, I registered one good generic domain name – Heels.com. And that was only because I have an unusual surname (“Heels”). Today, I’m busy turning Heels.com into the premier destination for designer women’s shoes. It could be worse. My surname could be Bush.
And so I wondered. Is the domain name gold rush still happening? Am I as oblivious to the opportunities available today as I was 15 years ago? I don’t know, but I do know that most of my contemporaries are kicking themselves for not seeing – 15 years ago – what is obvious today. Namely, that generic top-level domain names (and dot-com domain names in particular) are valuable Internet real estate. Real estate that can be sold (e.g. at a domain auction) or developed (as I’m doing with Heels.com).
Domain Names And The Law
Those who stick to generic domain names are the good guys, the white hats of the domainer industry. Those who do not, those who intentionally register another’s company’s brands as domain names (including typos thereof) are the bad guys, the black hats of the domainer industry. Domainers are not cybersquatters.
There are legal procedures designed to help victims of cybersquatting. The Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) allows a cybersquatting victim to gain (or regain) ownership of a cybersquatted domain. The Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA) allows a cybersquatting victim to win damages in a court action against a cybersquatter. Both the UDRP and the ACPA require the trademark owner to prove “bad faith” on the part of the domain name registrant, which I believe is impossible, as a matter of law, if the domainer has registered only generic words.
Reverse cybersquatting (or reverse domain name hijacking) is when a trademark owner wrongly uses the UDRP or ACPA to acquire a domain name (or get damages from) a good faith domain registrant who can’t afford to defend himself/herself in a UDRP proceeding or in an ACPA lawsuit. I believe that the 02/17/2000 borderpatrol.com UDRP decision is one example of a reverse cybersquatting case. I am sure that there are others.
It is also not uncommon for owners of generic domain names to think that they have more rights than the law provides. For example, say you run a blog about shoes at http://shoes.blogspot.com/. Then imagine that a shoe store launches at http://www.shoes.com/. Can the shoe store get the blogger to turn over control of the shoes.blogspot.com domain name? Can the shoe blogger get the shoe store to turn control of the shoes.com domain name? The answer to both is clearly no. The USPTO’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) usually gets this issue correct (see the lawyers.com decision) but not always. Which means, unfortunately, that there will always be room for those with money to fight their fights, regardless of the strength of their legal arguments.
It’s a good thing that projects like the Chilling Effects Clearinghouse exist to keep overly aggressive litigants and lawyers and underly clued judges honest about various Internet-related topics, including the UDRP, ACPA, and trademark law.
My Domainer Experiment
On 08/24/07, I searched for unregistered blog-related domain names. I started with the General Service List (GSL), a list of about 2000 words that occur most frequently in English. There are other places I could have started, such as Scrabble word lists or Google Zeitgeist. Using Google Zeitgeist as a source of potential domain names would be a bad idea, because many of the most popular search terms are brands or other trademarked terms.
I wanted to stick to generic words, since generic words cannot be trademarked. Just like every grocery store is free to call itself “grocery store,” every law-related blog is allowed to call itself “law blog” or the like.
I then added “blog.com” to all of the 3-letter, 4-letter, and 5-letter words on the GSL. I checked the rest of the list for interesting longer words (such as ChildhoodBlog.com). I used GoDaddy’s bulk registration feature to check which domains were available. Not surprisingly, most of the good domain names were taken, but I registered the ones that were available. Most of these are like crumbs from the king’s table, but there are some good ones on the list (see below).
I ended up registering 183 generic domain names. My intent was (and is) to sell the domain names to help pay for college for my kids. I also hired my 9-year-old daughter to blog about each domain, to teach her about writing, blogging, business, and the Internet.
The experiment has produced some interesting results, which I will blog about at a later date.
183 Generic Blog-Related Domain Names (For Sale)
[EDITOR’S NOTE: In the summer of 2025, Clocktower Intern Mark Magyar used artificial intelligence (AI) software to shorten over 100 Clocktower articles by 17%. The shortened articles are included as comments to the original ones. And 17 is the most random number (https://www.giantpeople.com/4497.html) (https://www.clocktowerlaw.com/5919.html).]
* Domain Name Law 101
White hat domainers are not black hat cybersquatters.
Image licensed by Erik J. Heels from iStockphoto.com.
Domains Are Valuable? D’oh!
I’ve been on the Internet since 1984, watched it evolve from text-based to web-based protocols, and completely missed the generic domain name gold rush that made many millionaire domainers.
Well, almost. On 08/02/95, I registered one good generic domain – Heels.com – only because I have an unusual surname. Today, I’m turning it into a top destination for designer women’s shoes. Could be worse. My surname could be Bush.
Is the gold rush still happening? Maybe. Most of my peers regret not realizing years ago that generic top-level domains (especially dot-coms) are valuable online real estate—assets to sell at auction or develop, like I’m doing with Heels.com.
Domain Names And The Law
Those who stick to generic domain names are the white hats of the industry. Those who intentionally register another’s brands (or typos) are black hats—cybersquatters.
The Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) and the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA) let victims reclaim or get damages from cybersquatters, but both require proving “bad faith,” which is impossible if only generic words are registered.
Reverse cybersquatting is when a trademark owner abuses UDRP or ACPA to take a good-faith registrant’s domain, often targeting those who can’t afford to fight back. The 02/17/2000 borderpatrol.com decision is one example.
Owners of generic domains can also overestimate their rights. If you blog at shoes.blogspot.com and a store launches shoes.com, neither can force the other to give up their domain. The USPTO’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) usually gets this right (see lawyers.com), but not always. That leaves room for well-funded fights, regardless of merit.
Projects like the Chilling Effects Clearinghouse help keep aggressive litigants, lawyers, and underinformed judges honest on Internet law issues.
My Domainer Experiment
On 08/24/07, I searched for unregistered blog-related domains. Starting with the General Service List (GSL) of the 2000 most common English words, I added “blog.com” to all 3–5 letter words and selected longer ones of interest (e.g., ChildhoodBlog.com). Using GoDaddy’s bulk search, I registered the available ones—mostly crumbs, but a few gems.
In total, I registered 183 generic domains, planning to sell them to help pay for my kids’ college. I also hired my 9-year-old daughter to blog about each domain, teaching her writing, blogging, and business skills.
The experiment has produced interesting results, which I’ll blog about later.
183 Generic Blog-Related Domain Names (For Sale)
AcheBlog.com
AdmitBlog.com
AgoBlog.com
AheadBlog.com
AllowBlog.com
AloneBlog.com
AloudBlog.com
AmongBlog.com
AnnoyBlog.com
ApartBlog.com
AriseBlog.com
AwakeBlog.com
BasinBlog.com
BasisBlog.com
BatheBlog.com
BeakBlog.com
BelowBlog.com
BleedBlog.com
BlessBlog.com
BoilBlog.com
BothBlog.com
BribeBlog.com
ChestBlog.com
ChildhoodBlog.com
ClerkBlog.com
CombBlog.com
CoughBlog.com
CouldBlog.com
CoverBlog.com
CruelBlog.com
CurseBlog.com
DampBlog.com
DecayBlog.com
DeedBlog.com
DitchBlog.com
DrownBlog.com
DustBlog.com
EagerBlog.com
ElseBlog.com
EverlastingBlog.com
ExistBlog.com
FadeBlog.com
FailBlog.com
FaintBlog.com
FaultBlog.com
FeastBlog.com
FewBlog.com
FlourBlog.com
FoldBlog.com
FondBlog.com
ForkBlog.com
ForthBlog.com
FryBlog.com
GentlemanBlog.com
GrainBlog.com
GraveBlog.com
GrindBlog.com
HarmBlog.com
HasteBlog.com
HeapBlog.com
HoleBlog.com
HonorBlog.com
HurtBlog.com
InchBlog.com
KneelBlog.com
LackBlog.com
LayBlog.com
LeafBlog.com
LeastBlog.com
LeaveBlog.com
LiftBlog.com
LimbBlog.com
LimitBlog.com
LoafBlog.com
LoseBlog.com
LoyalBlog.com
LumpBlog.com
MaybeBlog.com
MeltBlog.com
MildBlog.com
NearBlog.com
NeckBlog.com
NieceBlog.com
NoonBlog.com
NounBlog.com
OarBlog.com
ObeyBlog.com
OftenBlog.com
OmitBlog.com
OrganizeBlog.com
OughtBlog.com
OunceBlog.com
PasteBlog.com
PieceBlog.com
PinchBlog.com
PityBlog.com
PlowBlog.com
PoliticianBlog.com
ProofBlog.com
ProveBlog.com
PupilBlog.com
QuiteBlog.com
ReferBlog.com
RejoiceBlog.com
ReproductionBlog.com
RidBlog.com
RipenBlog.com
RoastBlog.com
RubBlog.com
RustBlog.com
SandBlog.com
ScaleBlog.com
ScornBlog.com
SeatBlog.com
SeemBlog.com
SeizeBlog.com
SenseBlog.com
ShallBlog.com
SheetBlog.com
ShelfBlog.com
ShoulderBlog.com
ShutBlog.com
SinceBlog.com
SizeBlog.com
SkirtBlog.com
SolveBlog.com
SowBlog.com
SpadeBlog.com
SpendBlog.com
SpillBlog.com
SpiteBlog.com
SplitBlog.com
SpoilBlog.com
StairBlog.com
SteepBlog.com
SteerBlog.com
StiffBlog.com
StirBlog.com
StoveBlog.com
StrapBlog.com
StrawBlog.com
SwearBlog.com
SweepBlog.com
TailBlog.com
TameBlog.com
TearBlog.com
TemptBlog.com
TendBlog.com
ThanBlog.com
TheatricalBlog.com
ThiefBlog.com
ThoseBlog.com
ThrowBlog.com
ThusBlog.com
TillBlog.com
TinBlog.com
TowelBlog.com
TrunkBlog.com
UniteBlog.com
UntilBlog.com
UponBlog.com
UpsetBlog.com
UsualBlog.com
VainBlog.com
VerbBlog.com
VowelBlog.com
WaistBlog.com
WaitBlog.com
WarmBlog.com
WarnBlog.com
WaxBlog.com
WhileBlog.com
WhomBlog.com
WideBlog.com
WidenBlog.com
WidthBlog.com
WingBlog.com
WipeBlog.com
WorseBlog.com
WouldBlog.com
WrapBlog.com
WristBlog.com
YieldBlog.com