I know this is the case right now and is covered under fair use but I don't think there's been a good test case so far. In any case...that's kind of outside the scope of this conversation. I just wanted people to be aware of the risks.
William Rentfrow Principal Consultant, StrataCom Inc. [email protected] O 715-592-5185 C 715-410-8056 ________________________________ From: Action Request System discussion list(ARSList) [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Pierson, Shawn Sent: Wednesday, June 24, 2009 11:30 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Attention BMC/Remedy Partners and Resellers :: Remedy-Themed Internet Domains for Sale or Lease ** This is not always the case. For example, if someone registered "remedysucks.com" and used it to sell T-shirts with smart alec quips about things they don't like about Remedy, I think it would be legal under the first amendment. In that case, they are mocking the product, which is a form of parody, which is legally protected. Where they could get in trouble is like you state, if they tried to do something that could potentially water down the public image of BMC and their products in a way that consumers would not be able to tell whether the site was owned by BMC or not. Additionally, cybersquatting is and has been illegal in certain contexts dealing with trademarks like you stated, so if BMC felt that they had a case they could either take the owner of those domains to court. Shawn Pierson From: Action Request System discussion list(ARSList) [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of William Rentfrow Sent: Wednesday, June 24, 2009 10:52 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Attention BMC/Remedy Partners and Resellers :: Remedy-Themed Internet Domains for Sale or Lease ** The FTC forbids using registered trademarks in domain names for commercial websites unless you are the owner of the trademark. Period. If you use one of these it is quite possible (no idea how likely...) you would get a registered, hand delivered piece of mail telling you to cease and desist, courtesy of BMC's legal department. This does not apply to non-commercial usage. Let's say you grabbed "Remedyusergroup.com" domain though to put up a national user group. For any of use who make our living in the Remedy-related world you would have a very hard case showing the split between where you earned your living and where you didn't make any money off of this - especially if you had your corporate website in your signature like mine below. Furthermore, the entire problem - even if it was sorted out to your advantage - would probably involve the other party's lawyers, government lawyers, and your own lawyers. The costs alone could easily sore into the six figures in a very short period of time. For me the use of any trademark I do not own is an unnacceptable risk. Using the Scott Adams equation: A bad idea is any idea with a limited upside and a huge potential downside. William Rentfrow Principal Consultant, StrataCom Inc. [email protected] O 715-592-5185 C 715-410-8056 ________________________________ From: Action Request System discussion list(ARSList) [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Sanford, Claire Sent: Wednesday, June 24, 2009 9:59 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Attention BMC/Remedy Partners and Resellers :: Remedy-Themed Internet Domains for Sale or Lease ** If Remedy had remained a stand alone company, those prices MAY be justified. As it is... he has been paying to maintain the domain names for however long he has had them for no real reason. I understand that Bing is a well known and respected member of the Remedy community, but what he is asking for the names is extreme for something that is in a sense being "retired" in the corporate naming world. I would be willing to bet that in the next 4 or 5 years, the name "Remedy" will disappear for "BMC" whatever. We are the Cult Of Remedy, not BMC! ;) Claire ________________________________ From: Action Request System discussion list(ARSList) [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Daniel Bloom Sent: Wednesday, June 24, 2009 9:10 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Attention BMC/Remedy Partners and Resellers :: Remedy-Themed Internet Domains for Sale or Lease ** Hi Susan, Exactly my point, he should just hand over the .org URLs since they are theoretically non-commercial in nature. ... Daniel ________________________________ From: Action Request System discussion list(ARSList) [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Susan Palmer Sent: June 23, 2009 10:36 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Attention BMC/Remedy Partners and Resellers :: Remedy-Themed Internet Domains for Sale or Lease ** I do own www.RemedyUserGroups.com <http://www.remedyusergroups.com/> which Matt hosts and uses for all user groups that are interested. Matt does all the work !! Susan On Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 8:48 PM, Daniel Bloom <[email protected]> wrote: ** Hi Bing, Well instead of being a cyber capitalist come on down to WWRUG09 and auction off the URLs and donate the proceeds to charity. Hmm, RemedyUserGroup.org, think that is really ARSlist and WWRUG?? (or perhaps Matt Reinfeldt would like to claim it since he hosts a bunch). Hand it over bud :-) ... Daniel ________________________________ From: Action Request System discussion list(ARSList) [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Bing Sent: June 23, 2009 10:07 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Attention BMC/Remedy Partners and Resellers :: Remedy-Themed Internet Domains for Sale or Lease ** Over the past few years ITM3 California has quietly amassed a collection of Remedy-themed internet domains. But since our business is growing in decidedly non-Remedy areas, we've decided to sell or lease most these domains. Some of the more interesting .com domain names include: RemedyAdministrator.com RemedyAdviser.com RemedyAdvisor.com RemedyConsulting.com RemedyDeveloper.com RemedyInsider.com RemedyIntegrator.com RemedyPartner.com RemedyPros.com Current asking price is $500 lease per year per domain of your choice, or $2,500 for purchase. The entire bundle is currently priced at $2,000 lease per year, or $9,000 for purchase. (Considering the additional revenue/margin you could produce using these domain names using a clever marketing plan, your return on investment should be in weeks, not years.) At one time we also planned to create a national Remedy User Group registry and quietly acquired the following "premium" .org domains: RemedyUserGroup.org RemedyUsersGroup.org Current asking price is $4,000 lease per year for both domains, or $19,000 for purchase. (Imagine the marketing power and prestige of being able to create a national register of local user groups! Rarely does such an opportunity fall in your lap.) -- Bing Bradford Bingel ("Bing") [email protected] (email) 925-260-6394 (mobile) p.s. Apologies in advance to anyone offended by this blatantly capitalistic message. And if you're really offended, call and I'll describe the discounts and complimentary services we provide to non-profit organizations, and the charitable donations we give to non-profits and higher education each year. _Platinum Sponsor: [email protected] ARSlist: "Where the Answers Are"_ _Platinum Sponsor: [email protected] ARSlist: "Where the Answers Are"_ _Platinum Sponsor: [email protected] ARSlist: "Where the Answers Are"_ _Platinum Sponsor: [email protected] ARSlist: "Where the Answers Are"_ _Platinum Sponsor: [email protected] ARSlist: "Where the Answers Are"_ _Platinum Sponsor: [email protected] ARSlist: "Where the Answers Are"_ Private and confidential as detailed here <http://www.sug.com/disclaimers/default.htm#Mail> . If you cannot access hyperlink, please e-mail sender. _Platinum Sponsor: [email protected] ARSlist: "Where the Answers Are"_ _______________________________________________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE or access ARSlist Archives at www.arslist.org Platinum Sponsor:[email protected] ARSlist: "Where the Answers Are"
