Is Domain Squatting legal?

[MikeMike]

just wondered, found a website i would LOVE to register, but its just hotlinking to another site and they are jsut trying to sell the other for 2888.00

 

[imported_goku]

who gives a sh1t if you do, just squat anyways until someone b1tches, then put a simple webpage and tell them to screw off, win-win.

 

[phisrow]

Domain squatting is, to the best of my knowledge, legal; but there are a variety of mechanisms by which people who have some sort of "legitimate" claim to a given domain can force transfer for something along the lines of "fair market value". So if you are a celebrity, or a corporation, or holder of trademark, and somebody has the domain that is closely associated with you, or your brand, or whatever, you can probably get the court to force them out. If not, it's pretty much first come, first serve.

 

[Zugzwang152]

Originally posted by: goku
who gives a sh1t if you do, just squat anyways until someone b1tches, then put a simple webpage and tell them to screw off, win-win.

Yup, IIRC, as long as it is being used for something, *anything* other than trying to resell it, then there's nothing you can do unless, like phisrow says, it closely resembles a trademark of yours.