OKC NBA Team and Cybersquatting

[LordGerald]

All's quiet on the Thunder front, which leads me to believe, as I have always contended, that it's a ruse. The ho-hum of the name has permeated all conversation for the past two days at work. People have been reacting with a shrug of the shoulders. Meh...

Anyway, if Mark Rodgers is basing the bulk of his "scoop" on a simple domain name registration, I think we're in luck that there are other options available.

I've been doing some research on cybersquatting, and the power of attaining the desired domain name lies with the PBC. There are legal precedents which showcase that a squatter to a desired domain name must be able to claim a specific rationale for the URL if a complaint is lodged against them. There are also monetary constraints which limit the buyout. My hope is that someone locally who is squatting on a URL, like www.okcbarons.com Coming Soon!, will surrender the domain name for season tickets and a hoody. I would recommend it.

Perhaps the team is going to pursue this process after it releases the name and marks, knowing that they will be able to secure it fairly easily.

I would hope that we don't get stuck with a bad team name just because it was the only URL available. Just some thoughts.

[solitude]

As Betts correctly pointed out in another thread, the URL business is of little consequence in naming the team. The official websites of EVERY NBA team is at:
www.nba.com/timberwolves (fill in the team).
Some teams have other URL's that redirect to the official NBA site, but the official site is in the format above. The credence given to the OKCThunderBasketball.com, as a redirect, is that it was registered by the NBA's exclusive corporate domain registrar who does NOT sell domain names to the public, but only to their corporate clients - of which the National Basketball Association is one. Do you think they would register a name like that for a basketball team to a corporate client that is anybody other than the NBA and risk their business with the league? I doubt it.

[Toadrax]

That and "cybersquatting" doesn't work for reasons I outlined in another thread.

It is also a crime, so good luck with that.

[OU Adonis]

There are ways around the law. I could buy the THE OFFICIAL SITE OF THE NEW ORLEANS HORNETS for example and sell clothing or car parts and they couldn't do anything about it.

[BDP]

If Thunder is in contention at all, which I am sure it is due to it winning the Oklahoman poll, why wouldn't the NBA secure domain names related to that nickname, even if they have not decided to use it? It's cheap to register domain names and it's easier to do that now while they are considering names than to deal with purchasing a name or dealing with any legal action needed to secure it.

Also, cybersquatting relates to trademarks. To prove cybersquatting the registered domain has to have been obtained in an effort to profit off a trademark the purchaser has no right to deal in. If you purchase a domain name that happens to later become a trademarked term and you sell it to them, you have done nothing illegal. Also, obtaining a trademark isn't just about filling out a form, nor is registering it required to make it possible for one to legally enforce a trademark that they developed through normal course of business (but it's obviously a good idea to do so).

In any event, it is correct that domain registration is in no way indicative of what they will call the team, but it is a good way for them to take the temperature of the public on a name without doing anything that wouldn't be expected of any business with a short list of names it is considering. I mean, you shouldn't even search for the availability of a domain related to your business if you are not ready to buy it, because there is a good chance it will be gone in a few short days after the search.

So, again, if Thunder is on the table, I'd would expect them to register it. Add into it that you first have to know what names are being considered to verify that consideration through a WHOIS lookup, and we are really just as much in the dark as we were two weeks ago, as they easily could be gobbling up names that we haven't even discussed yet, but we don't know it because we don't know to look for any activity on those domains.

[HOT ROD]

Like was said, the NBA wouldn't have to secure domain names - because the OFFICIAL team name would be

-http://www.nba.com/thunder.

the NBA owns NBA.com, and they stick their team names under their corporate domain. So, no need to worry about OKCthunderbasketball or whatever, any of those will be unofficial (and mostly fan based) anyways.

[LordGerald]

I understand the concept of extensions. The NBA doesn't have to register extensions to NBA.com, because they are simply web pages added on to their primary site. I'm a Webmaster, so you don't have to tell me how the Web works. These are simply redirects. It does benefit a team to have a redirected web site, such as www.celtics.com. Look it up, and it redirects to the NBA site.

All I'm saying is that I'm not drinking the poison like the rest of you. I refuse to believe that Thunder is our name.

[HOT ROD]

Im not drinking the poison either.

I KNOW Thunder is not the name. Clay Bennett didn't have a press conference on it - and until he does, we dont have a name.

I understand about redirects, but they aren't official. So why would the NBA worry about that? Especially when the name aint been picked yet.