For Immediate Release
June 2, 2000
Recent Court Rulings Favor Authors
A number of authors have recently found themselves the victims of
"cybersquatters." (A squatter is a company or individual who buys
up domain names in order to resell them later at an inflated price).
As a result, they are unable to establish a website using their own
domain unless they're willing to pay an exorbitant price to the
person who holds the name. However, a couple of recent court
rulings have come down squarely in favor of those an individual
having a RIGHT to their own domain name. Julia Roberts has just
won the dispute over her domain name, and last week British
author Jeanette Winterson prevailed in a case against Mark
Hogarth of writerdomains.com and won back her name.
The Winterson/Hogarth case is of particular interest to authors.
Hogarth currently owns the domains of over 100 high-profile writers,
including Susan Elizabeth Phillips. If your domain name has been
taken, particularly if it has been taken by Hogarth, now is the
perfect time to try to get it back. Simply citing the two recent
rulings might be enough to persuade some squatters to come to
terms.
How do you find out if your domain is gone?
1) You can use the "WhoIs" search function at Network Solutions
to find the status of your domain name. Just go to
http://www.networksolutions.com/cgi-bin/whois/whois and type in
yourdomain.com in the search box. You'll find out immediately if
your name is available or if it has been taken.
2) If your domain has been taken, the above WhoIs search will give
you detailed information on who owns your domain name and how
to contact them. You'll see listings for the registrant, the technical
contact and the administrative contact for each domain. The
"registrant" is the actual owner of your domain. You'll find snail
mail, phone, and email contact information listed under the
registrant's name.
3) If your domain name has not yet been taken, RESERVE IT
IMMEDIATELY. It currently costs $35 per year to reserve your
domain name. All domain names must "reside" somewhere, so if
you don't plan to use the domain right away, you'll need to park it
at an ISP. Many sites (including Writerspace) will park the domain
free of charge until you're ready to use it. You might first check
with your ISP to see if they offer free domain parking; many do. If
not, feel free to use Writerspace's domain reservation service at
http://www.writerspace.com/reserve.html to park your domain.
