To those who have "myspace" in their domain.

[DesiNet]

Someone on the forums I run received this from his host:


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello,


We have received a complaint from MySpace, Inc. regarding your site
'myspace******.com'. They contend that you are in violation of their
'MYSPACE' trademark and that your use of their trademark and logo
constitutes trademark and copyright infringement.


At this point, upon review of the matter we have opted to disable all
sites that you host containing the 'MYSPACE' trademark, and ask that you
ensure that no other sites are misusing the intellectual property of
others. Further infractions may result in disablement of your DreamHost
account without notice or refund.


If you have any questions, please let us know.


Jeff,
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I notice that many webmasters here use myspace in their domains so its certainly something to be concerned about. Just thought i'd let you guys know :smartass:

[kenzie]

I was going to include "myspace" in my domain name and now I'm glad I didn't. Thanks for the info.

[Elvis.]

Oh oh, it's back again!

[YabbaDoo]

Why are MySpace doing this?
I actually cannot understand it.
A lot of people have suggested reasons such as protecting copyright, coz you can lose it or something...Sounds like BS to me....
If someone could explain the reasons MS are penalising webmasters for providing the community with a service please do explain it to me, coz I'm baffled!

[pookie]

hmmm there are a lot of sites with myspace in the domain names. myspace is really trying to crack down

[Panic!]

That would happen when I purchase a domain afew hours ago.

[YabbaDoo]

You're allowed to set it to forward, and they wont sue you, just Cease and Desist

[Christina]

By people having "myspace" in their domain is just promoting myspace.com, and because of so many resource sites i doubt myspace would be where it is today!

it's probably because they have an idea that people are making so much money from myspace resources, which may be the reason they changed contact tables & disabled online now icons...

[rize]

they changed contact tables?

[YabbaDoo]

So, technically THIS very Forum is in breach of the above stated Trademark problem?!

[bradley]

I don't think they will ever do anything... xD

[Elvis.]

Well think of it like this. Say someone opens a store called PepsiOne, and starts selling ALL Pepsi products. I mean, YES, they are promoting Pepsi, but they are making a bank as well. Would you be surprised if they got sued by Pepsi?

[laars]

I would. Honestly.

[shimmeringgraphix]

Speaking of online now icons... has anyone found a fix for that?

[Kasami2k4]

Actually, in michigan one of our stores got sued by Disney for having mickey mouse painted on the side of their building. Because they didn't ask for permission. :) I have no doubt myspace will sue.

I warned people about this before on another forum but they all laughed at me >.>

And honestly. Myspace is international but STARTED in America. Do you guys seriously doubt AMERICANS wouldn't sue you naked?
Where fatchicks sue mcdonalds because they're fat? >.>

[DesiNet]

So, technically THIS very Forum is in breach of the above stated Trademark problem?!


lol I just realized that. By law, yes this forums name is trouble but who knows ... maybe myspace will let this one go so they can keep up with myspace news from webmaster protective views. .. like someone said, they will C&D before they go into suing.

On side news, It seems myspace is suing spammers/sites secretly. If I was myspace, I would be doing the same with the increasement of spam that has popped up in the last 3 months.

[YabbaDoo]

Yet, somehow, I doubt they would touch it.
You know, I think Christina's right; they just don't want anyone to make money off their Trademarks other than them.
So, they just want to knock everyone off and keep 100% of all MS related income to themselves...In doing this, they are making people mad and when people get mad - They leave!
You know what, I think Rupert Murdoch is silly; he makes these "hugely intelligent" moves like pulling Sky off Virgin Media, pulling us off MSRS sites, etc...When in effect is all he's doing is making customers mad, budding entrepreneurs mad, other already established billionaire businessmen VERY mad (Richard Branson) etc etc...And when people are mad - They get even!
I actually genuinely believe, strongly now, MySpace is NOT here to stay.
I don't think Sky is here to stay either; Richard will come up with a plan to make VM better than them and take the whole network down.
I also heard rumours of other company’s thinking of taking on MySpace, wont be long til something bigger and better than everything that damn News Corp own comes along and knocks the damn lot of em outta the water!

[Kasami2k4]

Companies have been tryin to take myspace on forever now. Xanga, tagworld, myyearbook, friendster, and they're almost as big :p

But who cares if myspace isn't here to stay. Graphics are :D

[YabbaDoo]

Yes, I am pissed.
Also, I disagree with the PepsiOne example.
If I owned Coca Cola and someone opened up a shop selling Coca Cola with
"Coca Cola" in the name of the store - so ex: CocaColaRules
I would be HAPPY.
I would not take action against anyone UNLESS the name of the store was CocaColaSucks, you get me?
It's like, Obviously, if the idea was negative or they were doing anything that in anyway is bad to my brand etc, then I would take HARD action against their sorry asses!
But if it was positive and they were making money off my brand I would see an OPPORTUNITY.
I would do deals with them to make them like me so they are helping get the brand out there etc.
Punish those who destroy your band.
Praise and help those who help your brand.

[DesiNet]

Yes, I am pissed.
Also, I disagree with the PepsiOne example.
If I owned Coca Cola and someone opened up a shop selling Coca Cola with
"Coca Cola" in the name of the store - so ex: CocaColaRules
I would be HAPPY.
I would not take action against anyone UNLESS the name of the store was CocaColaSucks, you get me?
It's like, Obviously, if the idea was negative or they were doing anything that in anyway is bad to my brand etc, then I would take HARD action against their sorry asses!
But if it was positive and they were making money off my brand I would see an OPPORTUNITY.
I would do deals with them to make them like me so they are helping get the brand out there etc.
Punish those who destroy your band.
Praise and help those who help your brand.

If I follow your example correctly, this (http://www.myspacepros.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2715) thread would definitely be an example of CocaColaSucks

[minnseoelite]

Myspace has been trying to do this forever but they already lost their case in the courts about their name because its really a generic term "My Space" and has been around in general use forever. It would be like me starting a site called "Youwish.com" and trying to sue every single person that had the words "You Wish" or "Youwish" on their webpages it just wouldnt fly that is why they issue C&D letters to try and scare people.

[barcodeunit]

minnseo is correct. They have already lost a case regarding this matter.

[Selena]

In my opinion, getting rid of myspace resource sites is hurting them. Myspace's point is to make it "their space" and without myspace resource sites, that is almost impossible for the average myspace user. Eliminate the resources, myspace goes downhill at an extremely fast rate, because honestly that has to be the only decent thing about myspace, is being able to do what you like to design the profile, other than that, its basically a piece of crap.

[jeremy860]

Did'nt they try to do this same thing to myspacesupport.com? From the looks of it, they are still running...

[lyzyrdgyzyrd]

People do not register domains containing the word "myspace" by accident ;)

I once got raked by a designer for using their name on a webpage - and I was selling their stuff that was made by them, for one of their authorised distributors!

IMO it's far better to have your own original brand name anyway, regardless of the benefits of riding on the coattails of others.

[YabbaDoo]

If I follow your example correctly, this (http://www.myspacepros.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2715) thread would definitely be an example of CocaColaSucks

Yep, that's correct.
Although, I think that's true lol, You can't sue someone for telling the truth.
But, that's the general idea, to punish the people who "deserve" to be punished and do whatever possible to protect my brand, and then "praise" those who do things regarding my brand to in a way help, but as long as it's positive (CocaColaRocks example) I would WANT to support them as I don't see how it can be anything other than good, however, it has to be dealt with on a case by case basis.

[MyspaceGeeks]

Bull****, myspace sent me a C&D over 1 and a half years ago for my website saying they would shut my site down unless my domain was relinquished to their power and all content ceased.

I sent a reply saying "Go ahead, you cant take my website MysPaceGeeks.com - :D

They never replied, and they never did nothing about it, they also tried the same to my friends site myspacesupport.com - they told him to send his domain to them and he never and he still has his site and they've never contacted him again about it either.

[edit]

Myspace can sue anyone they would like for having myspace in their name, it has nothing to do with if they are using it for a resource site or not. They own that name and if you purchased Myspaceanything.com/net/org/info etc. after they launched myspace.com you can lose your domain. If they lost one case already, thats a miracle for that domain owner.

Even if they don't pursue it to ICANN, which is nothing to a big company like them, they can scare the hell out of any webhost they talk to very easily as demonstrated in the first post, as well as most domain owners.

[MyspaceGeeks]

Re: Transferring your domains



Mr. Kyle,



Although you stated in the January 3, 2006 email, copied below, that you had changed registration information to reg@MySpace.com, you have failed to do such.



MySpace still expects you to comply with the demands set forth in our initial cease and desist letter, dated December 31, 2005, immediately. Please unlock the domains www.myspacegeeks.com, www.xenra.com and www.myspaceprograms.com and we will facilitate the transfer of your domain to us.



If you have any questions about this, please contact Chanika.Brown@fox.com.



Regards,



Legal Department

MySpace, Inc.

Lmao..... :smartass:

[YabbaDoo]

D'you know what my FIRST REACTION to such things would be ^^

FRAUD! CON! ALERT!

If I recieved an email saying "hand over you domain or else" kinda thing, I would call MySpace and verify it all, coz some of them probably people do it to con people.
Anyone can mask a domain and say "We are Myspace"

[MyspaceGeeks]

Read the quote I just posted, they sent me a C&D in 2005, and I still own my domains.

They don't carry out suing you because that means a loss of money, and myspace can't afford to "lose money" because they are ****in greedy.

[YabbaDoo]

OK, maybe not, that really is real, lol!

[MyspaceGeeks]

As stated in the cease and desist letter, your activities violate various federal and state laws, including without limitation trademark and trade dress infringement and false designation of origin under the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1051, et seq., trademark dilution under the Federal Trademark Dilution Act of 1995, 15 U.S.C. § 1125(c), copyright infringement under the Copyright Revision Act of 1976, 17 U.S.C. § 101, et seq. , and tortious interference with contractual relations between MySpace and its users.

Something else they e-mailed me, must be to make them look serious.

[PGZ]

Hell I had a domain that wasnt even developed and got a letter from them telling me to give it up.

I paid a lawyer $500 bucks to write a nice letter telling them to kiss my *** in so many words....LOL

500 BUCKS just to keep a 8 buck domain. I only did it cause of who they were and they thought they would bully a little guy.

That was 6 months ago and I have heard nothing back.

F them I have over 1 million backlinks from MySpace just from 1 site. I helped and am still helping them be what they are today.

[YabbaDoo]

@ MySpaceGeeks - What has Xenra.com got to do with MySpace?!

[MyspaceGeeks]

Exactly, I just proved in my last 4 replys to this topic that its nothing but a bluff.

Xenra was formerly myspacegeeks.com, it had all my myspace resource content, and because I had the word 'myspace' on the page they wanted my domain name lmao.

[jeremy860]

D'you know what my FIRST REACTION to such things would be ^^

FRAUD! CON! ALERT!

If I recieved an email saying "hand over you domain or else" kinda thing, I would call MySpace and verify it all, coz some of them probably people do it to con people.
Anyone can mask a domain and say "We are Myspace"


exactly! and then thats a nice extra income per month for the con artist lol

[MyspaceGeeks]

Xenra was formerly myspacegeeks.com, it had all my myspace resource content, and because I had the word 'myspace' on the page they wanted my domain name lmao.

[MaxS]

Wait, they're at it again? I remember this happening a long long time ago (to myspacesupport, etc). Is this new?

[MyspaceGeeks]

They sent me mine before myspacesupport lmao.

[YabbaDoo]

Am I the only person here who is a little pissed off at MySpace?
Am I the only person here who feels like telling the lot of em where to shuv there company?
I'm gonna set up a Hi5 or something site now and move away from those bullys, noone else considered doing this?
I've already made up my mind!
They wanna push us around, we'll push them away!
It would only take a few of the big guys to get together and buy new domains and forward everything to a new social network resource site...
If FreeWebLayouts changed to hi5 2moro...a load of people would sign up for hi5 and may even like it, is it just me, or do we actually have a little bit of power over the MySpace Market?, if every resource site switched 2moro, every person in the world would drop myspace and move to whatever the webmasters moved too!
You know it's true...

[YabbaDoo]

Just an example of what MySpace are doing, ;)

[laars]

I don't think so. MySpace gets so much publicity with all the "scandals" and people on the news about how myspace is so bad and it's already so bad, I don't think wiping out myspace is a possibility. They'll keep sending those emails to try to scare everyone out of their domains and include some legal mumbo-jumbo that they probably have no clue about just to make it look better.

[lyzyrdgyzyrd]

If somebody deliberately/knowingly registers a domain name containing a well-known trademark, they should not complain when the TM holder starts breathing down the back of their neck.

[Kasami2k4]

I agree with lyz. MySpace had a TOS, and we all knew about it forever ago. They're not doing anything wrong. They're trying to force the competition away because well, WHY should people be allowed to leech off the keyword 'myspace' What if someone DOESNT know what myspace is, types in myspace on google and gets a bunch of sites that ARENT myspace.

MS doesn't want people to be confused ;p That's all

[jeremy860]

myspace.com and the resource sites are totally different. you register on myspace and host your profile, you go to any other site and get your resources to pimp out your profile. I dont see how anyone could get that mixed up.

my 2 cents :)

[Kyle]

Why are MySpace doing this?
I actually cannot understand it.
A lot of people have suggested reasons such as protecting copyright, coz you can lose it or something...Sounds like BS to me....
If someone could explain the reasons MS are penalising webmasters for providing the community with a service please do explain it to me, coz I'm baffled!


To take attention away from their real problems - aka child molesters

[Ajay]

Lmao..... :smartass:

that doesn't look real at all, it just looks like some dude tried to hijack your domain.

[Ajay]

Am I the only person here who is a little pissed off at MySpace?
Am I the only person here who feels like telling the lot of em where to shuv there company?
I'm gonna set up a Hi5 or something site now and move away from those bullys, noone else considered doing this?
I've already made up my mind!
They wanna push us around, we'll push them away!
It would only take a few of the big guys to get together and buy new domains and forward everything to a new social network resource site...
If FreeWebLayouts changed to hi5 2moro...a load of people would sign up for hi5 and may even like it, is it just me, or do we actually have a little bit of power over the MySpace Market?, if every resource site switched 2moro, every person in the world would drop myspace and move to whatever the webmasters moved too!
You know it's true...


hey dude, no offense but, you're making money because myspace.com exists... just be thankful. and nobody signs up to myspace because of fwl... the majority of myspace users don't even use resource sites. It's a social network site, not piczo.

[minnseoelite]

People do not register domains containing the word "myspace" by accident ;)

I once got raked by a designer for using their name on a webpage - and I was selling their stuff that was made by them, for one of their authorised distributors!

IMO it's far better to have your own original brand name anyway, regardless of the benefits of riding on the coattails of others.

no they dont do it accidentally but all they have to say is hey i was going to register "my-spacelayouts.com" but it was taken lol

[almir]

By people having "myspace" in their domain is just promoting myspace.com, and because of so many resource sites i doubt myspace would be where it is today!

it's probably because they have an idea that people are making so much money from myspace resources, which may be the reason they changed contact tables & disabled online now icons...

BINGO !!!

They would be a pice of crap if they havent be "supported" by thousands of Myspace resource sites.

If people doesnt have so many things to play with, on their Myspace profiles, it would be pretty stupid site, as thousands of other dating sites.

I just cant understand what are their interests in this kind of beahaviour.

[almir]

And I dont think they can control this at all.

There are so many sites with myspace in it, that it would be idiotic to take acts on all of them.

[Sergio]

I only have one domain with MySpace in it, but somehow I doubt they will find it since it doesn't get much traffic.

[BreannaHemsky]

Woah, that could cause problems for many sites. =\

[Scilynt]

For those that have gotten C&D letters and think all is fine since they haven't followed through, keep in mind that lawsuits can take a long time to get going and could be years before you see any real action. Maybe they are just building up a list of sites to sue all at once ;).

In the end, it IS their trademark and they have rights to it and if they followed through and took it to court you would lose your domain and possible end up having to pay on the revenue you made off it.

The odds of that happening are low though. As everyone says, they should know better and know that it's these types of sites that makes them popular. But to keep control over their trademark they HAVE to defend it or show they have attempted to defend it. If not then they lose rights to it.

I have a lot of domains with "myspace" in it but I just put crappy sites I don't care as much for lol. I'm not really worried they take them but by the way a few people have responded in here it seems they think they have "won". If myspace really wanted the domains and money based on your revenues using their trademark you would be in serious ****e ;).

[SamOwen]

Why are some people getting mad at MySpace? They're just trying to protect their name. Good for them. It's quite ridiculous to threaten to stop being a MySpace resource site when you are making money pimping MySpace stuff. People are not using MySpace because of MySpace resource sites -- you have it BACKWARDS -- People are using MySpace resource sites because of MySpace.

[GREGO]

You may be able to shrug off a c&d letter but what do you do if myspace goes right to your hosting company as was quoted in the first post. little hosting companies arn't gonna wanna mess with a big company like myspace and they don't care that much about your buisness and they actually wouldn't even have to refund you.

just because you got away with it two years ago means nothing. it looks like they have a new plan and according to the quote in the first post it may be working.

can't say i'm too disapointed, that would eliminate a huge amount of competition.. i know im a jerk :)

[Greg-J]

I've had a backup domain for myspacepros forever now, but I have yet to receive a C&D...

[Marty]

Glad i don't use any domains with myspace in :)

[Assailant]

you dont need to have myspace in your domain in order for it to be successful. look at all the popular sites...most of them dont have myspace in it.

[mincioni]

i agree that just because one hasn't received any follow-through (yet) on a ms c&d letter that the coast is clear. fox has an army of lawyers at its disposal and it takes a while to launch a lawsuit.

it took a long while for the record companies to bring down napster but in the end they did- in the courts. imho, anyone using a domain name with myspace in it should consider a backup domain name- just in case.

btw, hopefully mick jagger won't come after me. :)

[deep]

im scared now lol :(

but i have a backup thats similar
buffmyspace.com
buffmyprofile.com
.. very similar .. :)

and i doubt myspace will take lawsuits against all the websites, b/c its harder to bring down all at once then one by one. there are some big sites that do make lot of money and wont just let myspace whimp them out so dont think fox will just do wutever it pleases even though it has millions to spend to get rid of us.

im hoping that those big sites will stand up *they better*

[minnseoelite]

i dont think myspace would actually do anything......according to an article in one of my PC mag issues a few months back Myspace is already heading into the red zone as the bandwidth costs + employee costs + server & maintanence costs are slowly eating them alive and at the rate they are going within a year or two they will need 1 million people to pay them $100 each just to break even.

[darkimus]

i think it's kinda stupid that myspace is doing this cause all of these sites are just helping to promote myspace even more. they must be some real greedy assholes to take this approach.

[YabbaDoo]

i dont think myspace would actually do anything......according to an article in one of my PC mag issues a few months back Myspace is already heading into the red zone as the bandwidth costs + employee costs + server & maintanence costs are slowly eating them alive and at the rate they are going within a year or two they will need 1 million people to pay them $100 each just to break even.

But, I read the opposite, that they have a huge PROFIT, and are bringing in a LOT more than what they're sending out =/
If anyone else can put their point across on this, as I am not 100% sure, but for some reason what he's saying doesn't sound quite "right" to me.

[minnseoelite]

Yes they are making money right now....the article I read was stating that if Myspace continues to grow at its present rate, and with the added bandwidth usage from the new Myspace video's section that within 2 years they will be starting to loose money.....but this article was also the writers opinion based on his analysis of current + future growth......but who knows alot of stranger things have happened in the world of big corporate business

[Curion]

Myspace should thank us for making free resources for their users. Without us there will be boring same layout you see on each user's profile. I think bandwidth is not their main issue, spammers are. If spammers take over myspace, there will be less users wanted their profiles on myspace and in worse case they might face legal action because of lacking of beating those spammers.

[MKInfo]

Whats the problem?
Just move everything to Sweden and they can't touch you.

[MSowner]

Whats the problem?
Just move everything to Sweden and they can't touch you.

Im from Sweden, need any help? Pm me ;)

[minnseoelite]

Myspace should thank us for making free resources for their users. Without us there will be boring same layout you see on each user's profile. I think bandwidth is not their main issue, spammers are. If spammers take over myspace, there will be less users wanted their profiles on myspace and in worse case they might face legal action because of lacking of beating those spammers.

At the present they can handle the bandwidth but as more users upload more of those dumb personal videos and more people watch them their bandwidth usage will soar......And if they have to start offering their own layouts and graphics for people to use their bandwidth usage will double again........they may be corporate but even corporations have budgets and limits.

[MKInfo]

Im from Sweden, need any help? Pm me ;)

Thanks MSowner.I will bear that in mind.....just in case.

MK