Posted by
CmdrTaco
on from the can-I-have-malda@unix.com? dept.
rbuysse writes "Just browsing around, and I ran across that unix.com is going to be put up for sale! Starting 5/11, it is going to be auctioned off on eBay".
Pretty sweet domain name... How much do you think it'll go for?
Some troll out there will buy Unix.com for a million bucks, and then show they have millions of hits on their site and then have an IPO and become a multimillionare, even without any substance on their site
One (1) rolodex of BOFH excuses, containing at the least, 365 unique excuses
Two (2) litres of Jolt Cola
One (1) lb of Blue Mountain coffee
Three (3) crossover cables
And a bound edition of the Rainbow series of books.
(j/k, btw. I don't have printed rainbow books. D'ya think I could pull this bid off if I did, tho?)
For the record, a search at the Patent Office's web site, reveals that Union Metals in fact owns the trademark, oddly enough. I'm just tacking this on to make my post somewhat less redundant, since two other people mentioned it was trademarked while I was posting.;)
1) You could only use the trademark with regards to the lemonade stand -- you couldn't get the trademark on Unix Lemonade and then use it to sell computers
2) In order to get the domain taken away from someone, the effective date on your trademark would have to be earlier than the "record created on" date on the domain's whois record. Now, if you can prove that you've been selling Unix Lemonade since January 18, 1976, then you could have that date as the effective date even if you don't register it until next week (the name of your company and your products are your trademarks even if you don't register them -- registration just makes it easier to defend them).
Re:Here is the current whois entry
by
ygbsm
·
· Score: 2
More importantly, Tim Bass would qualify as a geek:
From the silkroad.com website:
Tim Bass, President of Silk Road
Education
* Graduate Studies, The Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics
* B.S.E, Tulane University, School of Engineering, 1987
Magna Cum Laude, Departmental Honors, Electrical Engineering
Affiliations
* Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, IEEE
* IEEE Technical Committee on Security and Privacy
* Armed Forces Communications and Engineering Association
* Association of Computing Machinery
* Internet Engineering Task Force, IETF
A contractor geek, but still a geek.
Re:Here is the current whois entry
by
Ineversaidthat
·
· Score: 2
I checked out www.unix.net and found it empty in fear of a lawsuit. Then www.unix.org, which didn't resolve. I've seen the Silkroad name and Tim's as well over the years, and yeah, he qualifies as a confirmed geek. It's unfortunate that the Open Group is probably the only purchaser who could get away with putting it up. I wonder if that's why it's in this shape.
Could mean some bucks for The Open Group, too
by
orpheus
·
· Score: 3
The real question is: "How much will The Open Group" get out of the deal? (I read that they hold the trademark on Unix(TM) now.
It doesn't seem that the seller is OpenGroup (I can't confirm this, my whois is crapping out, but the DNS is CAIS and SILKROAD), but any commercial owner (or computer-related owner) will have to negotiate with OpenGroup to use the domain at all.
__________
--
If you can go to bed, knowing you did
a valuable thing today, you're very lucky.
If you can't... it's not bedtime
UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group
by
jjo
·
· Score: 2
I'm afraid that given current US cybersquatting law, and the fact that the Open Group now has title to the UNIX* trademark, anyone bidding on 'unix.com' had better be clear about their rights to use it before bidding.
Ever since I heard of Unix
I've always had a ball,
From SunOS to Minix
I must have run 'em all
But I ain't seen nothing like him
On systems large or small
That tired, squinting, blind kid
Sure makes a mean sys call!
He sits like a statue,
Becomes part of the machine,
Feeling all the limits,
Knows what the signals mean
Hacks by intuition
His process never stalls,
That tired, squinting blind kid
Sure makes a mean sys call!
He a Unix Wizard,
I just can't get the gist
A Unix wizard's
Got such a mental twist
How do you think he does it?
I don't know!
What makes him so good?
Ain't got no distractions
Don't hear no beeps or bells
Don't see no lights a flashin'
Ignores his sense of smell
Patches running kernels
Dumps no core at all,
That tired, squinting and blind kid
Sure makes a mean sys call!
I thought I was
The process table king,
But I just handed
My root password to him.
Even on my favorite boxen,
His hacks can beat my best.
The network leads him in,
And he just does the rest.
He's got crazy Finger servers
Never will seg-fault...
That tired, squinting karma whore
Sure makes a mean sys call!
--
.
Take all good things in moderation, including moderation.
He didn't. Jamie Mason is credited with that one, w/ additions by Wayne Throop. This parody -- and others like at -- are at LEAST 9 years old, as it's archived in a post
From: hanssgen@ira.uka.de (Stefan Haenssgen)
Date: 18 Dec 91 14:53:37 GMT
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Computer Songs & Poems Collection follows in 5 parts
Merry Xmas!
This is the COMPUTER SONGS COLLECTION V1.0, containing songs and poems about computers.
Congratulations. You now seem to be posting at 0, meaning you've somehow pulled yourself out of the -2 cellar. I never understood how you got there in the first place, since your posts all seem to be pretty good.
Trollmastah, a well-known participator in the on-line forum, Slashdot, although once dismissed as a so-called "troll," has risen to the top of the turnip truck by soliciting offers from record producers across the country. They are professing a newly rejuvenated interest in a funky-fresh style among computer kiddies that has been tagged as "digital bands."
No one actually knows what a digital band is, but they're pretty sure it's really stupid.
In summary, I offer the following lyrics from the up-and-coming digital band, Slashdot This, in order to retain topicality (i.e. not off-topic):
UNIX.com: It's What's For Dinner
Wait a second doesnt Open Group own Unix trademark
by
ratsdliw
·
· Score: 2
If The Open Group owns the registered trademark for Unix then they could easily sue Vannoy Heights Trust (the peeps auction the site off) for domain name squating and get it back for free.
So I guess it's a trick question. The ANSWER is: The Open Group is going to get the domain back for FREE.:)
You can find more info about The Open Group here. And you can learn about what trademarks they own here.
It might be interesting to see how Microsoft reacts to this. I understand they offered a great deal of money for linux.com when it was for sale. I was recently at the Boeing/Microsoft technical lookahead and they see Sun as their primary competitor. Perhaps Unix.com is in their strategic plan. Sounds like Sun should be the primary customer for this... --
Quantum Linux Laboratories - Accelerating Business with Linux
* Education
* Integration
* Support
--
*Condense fact from the vapor of nuance*
What's the best way to sell a high-value domain?
by
daviddennis
·
· Score: 2
I own amazing.com . Had it for years, ran my personal web site. Right now, my site is "between servers", so it might not be a bad time to sell.
Has anyone tried selling a high-value name, and if so, what was the experience like?
wait a minute..didn't /. invent UNIX?
by
medicthree
·
· Score: 2
I thought slashdot invented unix..doesn't this mean they own the rights to the domain? obviously this story was posted so that slashdot could claim the domain for themselves as the legal owners, and then with all this attention they'd re-sell it and buy AOL.
It looks like unix is OK but UNIX is not
by
Cy+Guy
·
· Score: 3
The Open Group's Trademark Usage Guide seems to only consider UNIX written in all caps as the trademark. So perhaps as long as it is written as either unix, or Unix, or unix.com there is no infringement.
Also, I know some cybersqauters have been allowed to register trademarks that include the.com when the word used in the second level of the domain is already a registered tradmark not related to the internet.
Finally, SCO has trademarks on several terms with Unix (using an initial capital U) such as UnixWare, which may also indicate that the consistent use of unix.com wouldn't violate the Open Group's trademark.
Re:It looks like unix is OK but UNIX is not
by
jbarnett
·
· Score: 3
From the Trademark Usage Terms it clearly states "It must not be used as a generic term."
If this site put up unix.com as a be-all *nix site, this this/might/ be in voliation of that (depening on how much the Open Group is willing to spend on lawyers).
Also it could be agrued (not by me) that domain names are case insenitive and there isn't really any way to tell the differance between UNIX.COM and unix.com, which could be taken as a voliation of the (all caps) UNIX trademark
--
"`Ford, you're turning into a penguin. Stop it.'" -THHGTTG
I know this is completely ignorant, but why
should anyone get millions of dollars for this domain. No one needed it before?
'Stop the senseless domain name craze.'
Ebay won't allow the auction
by
adam_megacz
·
· Score: 5
Well, unix.com
is slashdotted, so for this post I'll assume that
it is not being sold by Open Group,
the rightful owners of the trademark on the name "unix".
The Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act of 1999 amends current trademark law to encompass domain names, and has already been
tested in the courts. This bill would make registration,
use, or sale of the domain by anyone other than
the Open Group a crime, and I'm pretty sure that
eBay would halt the auction (according to their
current policies)
Re:Ebay won't allow the auction
by
blakestah
·
· Score: 4
Well, unix.com is slashdotted, so for this post I'll assume that it is not being sold by Open Group, the rightful owners of the trademark on the name "unix".
Trademarks are contextual. If someone has a business with the name unix that has nothing to do with operating systems (or probably even computers), they can ALSO have a trademark for the name unix. Trademarks only own a name for specific contexts. For example, ever been to soundgarden.com ?? How about soundgarden.net ? The band wants the names since they have the name trademarked. Others have valid uses of those names that have nothing to do with the band. As such, the band CANNOT retrieve the domain names.
UNIX� is a registered trademark of The Open Group.
by
jbarnett
·
· Score: 4
It must not be used in connection with products, unless the product is licensed to use the mark.
There are detailed guidelines referring to the visual presentation, form and manner of use.
In editorial or articles, but not advertising the trade marks may be used without prior permission - provided that the rules in our
Trademark Usage Guide are followed.
I better get some karama for this dammit;)
--
"`Ford, you're turning into a penguin. Stop it.'" -THHGTTG
When my friend told me about this, I though he said that "www.eunuchs.com" was up for sale. I immediately went to the bank and gave them a convincing argument about why they should loan me to money to get the site.
Now I'm sitting here with $400,000 burning a hole in my pocket, and no website for me and my kind!
Really, pay a million dollars for a domain name that costs what, $75 for 2 years from Internic?
Just make up a name and save 1 miilion dollars, for stuff like oh, servers, bandwidth, web developers, those "extra's" that go with a web site...
I am curious though as what it will go for. I wonder what beta.slashdot.org would go for?
--
"`Ford, you're turning into a penguin. Stop it.'" -THHGTTG
Re:What's the best way to sell a high-value domain
by
humphrm
·
· Score: 2
I've never done it, so I can't say for sure. However, I will say that in general cyber-squatters are seen as lower forms of life. The fact that you've owned & used your domain for some time will be lost on those who villify cyber-squatters.
I know that with my two domain names, dolnick.com and famille.org, I've had groups e-mail me accusing me of cyber-squatting (even though I run legit public web pages on them) simply because they wanted the name. Some French company even roundaboutly offered to open their wallet for famille.org.
Me, I probably wouldn't sell them. If I really had to sell them, I would probably try doing an e-bay auction and give the proceeds to charity, and clearly advertise that fact. Even if you need the money, you could say something like 50% of the proceeds go to charity. You get a nice tax write-off and then you can even post your auction on Slashdot with a good conscience! (Who knows, maybe Rob will post your story twice...:-)
-- --
"In order to have power, I must be taken seriously."
-Mojo Jojo
SCO not a good example...
by
LinuxParanoid
·
· Score: 2
I'm almost positive that SCO has licensed rights for use of the term Unix from the Open Group or its precedessors. SCO bought UnixWare from Novell, Novell bought UnixWare from AT&T who originally owned the trademark for and SVR* implementation of UNIX. Novell owned the trademark and transferred it to the Open Group, if I recall correctly, while retaining the right to use it in their own product. I would imagine that that right was transferred to SCO with the sale of UnixWare.
UnixWare *would* violate the trademark if it weren't already licensed from the OpenGroup. But SCO almost certainly does have such a license.
--LP
what the last asking price was for unix.com
by
Ken+Williams
·
· Score: 2
beginning of '99, on the unix.com web site, they had their, then current, asking price posted. it was $30,000.
i won't be surprised to see two zeros tacked onto that price when it sells on eBay.
What you REALLY want is multics.org. It's available and waaaaay more geeky than unix.com.
For the old time COBOL monkeys out there, primeOS.com is available. I think there are ~6 prime boxes still in operation, so there's a built in audience.
If you want to go head to head with taco and hemos, I suggest ampersanddot.org. It's free as well. &., how cool is that?
--Shoeboy
Re:What's the best way to sell a high-value domain
by
Pope
·
· Score: 2
I'll give you $70 for amazing.com and not a penny more. Why on earth would you *want* to sell it?
Pope
-- It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
It may not go for all that much.
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 2
This may be another indicator that we're on the downside of the "Internet Gold Rush" bell curve. Remember the article in WIRED about how the tiny country of Tivoli was going to become and island full of multi-millionares because they had the.tv domain? Well, as I remember it only sold for about $5 million. A nice bit of change to be sure, but heck, Bill Gates lost almost 2000 times that yesterday when his stock went down.
Also, we're reading more and more how e-business IPO's arn't automatic cash cows any more. Fidelity isn't even taking IPO meetings any more because the market is so weird.
So, we may very well be beyond the point where a domain name alone, no matter how cool, is worth millions. Besides, ask yourself this "Which big company would benifit more by owning this domain rather than using the domain name they already have?" Those kinds of companies already have recognizable domain names. UNIX.COM is so generic that it's branding value just might not be that strong.
Hear that sound? It's zeros dropping off of the price tag.
So I look down the list of comments, and besides the usual assortment of first posts and Natalie Portman ate my grits, I see two things:
1. UNIX is copyrighted by the Open Group, so anybody who buys unix.com is screwed.
2. Domain names want to be free and selling them is nothing more than taking advantage of the system.
Does anybody but me see a problem here? I mean, these comments are pretty much the summary of any comments on Slashdot. Somebody posts something and all you amateur lawyers come popping out of the woodwork spewing buzzwords that you don't even understand! Honestly...who knows how much it will go for or if it's even sellable? And, for that matter, who cares? Maybe the Open Group...maybe Union Metals Company...maybe Industria del Vestido...maybe Unix Systems Laboratories...maybe AT&T...maybe Rodenstock USA, Inc...but how in the world could it make a difference to anybody here?
And so what if somebody is making a buck or two off the domain name? VA Linux Systems paid a bunch of money for linux.com. I guess that it was OK, though, because they guy who sold it took care to make sure that it went to the "right people".
Everybody wants to make buck. But I swear, you'd think that Slashdot was a breeding ground for socialism if you gave many of the comments you read much credence. Maybe the real deal is that everybody should be allowed to make a buck after I make a buck.
Sheesh. This has turned into a rant. Don't take my word for it, take a look at the comments you see on the site. And, for that matter, take a look at that last 10 or 15 "Ask Slashdot" questions. Maybe the default answer ought to be, "Talk to your lawyer, 'cause if you take the advice you find here, you'll be in BIG trouble!"
OK, rant mode off.
=h=
unix.com may well sell for $0
by
JoeBuck
·
· Score: 2
Unix is a registered trademark of the Open Group. That
organization could pretty much demand that it
be turned over, thanks to the new cybersquatting
law: someone is clearly attempting to profit
by selling someone else's trademark.
Trademarks were contextual ...
by
JoeBuck
·
· Score: 3
But the cybersquatting law makes them broader.
unix.com can be seized by the Open Group as
soon as they ask for it. It's not even a close
thing.
Re:ok this really pisses me off( trademarks)
by
Xenu
·
· Score: 2
You have to use a trademark for it to be valid, and even then, it is only applicable to the category of product that it is used for. There are also geographical concerns. Your trademark may not be valid in countries where you do not market and sell your product. Printing the name of a trademark is not infringement. Trademarks are not the same thing as copyrights.
Re:What's the best way to sell a high-value domain
by
daviddennis
·
· Score: 2
Fortunately, I don't think anyone who seriously looked at my situation would consider me a cyber squatter. I got the name in 1994, before anyone had even heard of cybersquatting. amazing.com also doesn't map to any specific company or type of business; since it's an ordinary English word there are no trademark issues.
I normally wouldn't want to sell the name, but at the same time when the values of these things are getting close to otherwise hopelesslly unaffordable Malibu real estate, it looks like a tempting proposition.
You can see the content that currently resides under amazing.com at http://207.8.214.218 .
D
----
On the 12th day of auction, netters gave to me...
by
Cmdr+Taco
·
· Score: 2
12 federal injunctions
11 threatening emails
10 lawyers following me
9 appeals denied
8 subponeas daily
7 counts of theft
6 orders to surrender
5 in-dict-ments!
4 phone calls per minute.
3 wifes-a-leaving
2 bankruptcies filed
and a frog suited federal marshall at the door!
Shoppin' for domain names..
by
PopeAlien
·
· Score: 2
This is just an off-topic thought..
What about all those names that become availiable when someone doesn't renew?..What if someone were to rig up a script that checked a list of 'desireable' domain names and alerted the desiree when they became availiable.. You could rig it to page you on your wireless palm when one popped up.. does something like this exist?
Re:Shoppin' for domain names..
by
Ed+Random
·
· Score: 2
Unfortunately, someone already offers this service. Check out myinternet.com; they call it MyMonitor. I prefer to call it "Domain Hijacking"...
The service *might* be used for good purposes, but I fear that the spammer-types will soon adopt this kind of "Domain Hijacking" to make an easy buck off of legitimate domain owners.
"End of the Internet predicted. Film at 11."
Greetings,
Ed.
-- --
Gxis!
Ed.
Re:What's the best way to sell a high-value domain
by
daviddennis
·
· Score: 2
Slashdot Mirror
Some troll out there will buy Unix.com for a million bucks, and then show they have millions of hits on their site and then have an IPO and become a multimillionare, even without any substance on their site
Doh!
You've found the hidden slashdot poll!!!
It appears that for every redundant article Taco lists on Slashdot, some new info gets hidden away such as this poll.
E-mail postmaster@unix.com to claim your prize.
One (1) rolodex of BOFH excuses, containing at the least, 365 unique excuses
Two (2) litres of Jolt Cola
One (1) lb of Blue Mountain coffee
Three (3) crossover cables
And a bound edition of the Rainbow series of books.
(j/k, btw. I don't have printed rainbow books. D'ya think I could pull this bid off if I did, tho?)
Returned Peace Corps IT Volunteer
Doesn't AT&T still technically OWN the tradmark Unix(tm).
Looks like somebody is buckin to get his ass sued......
Um, UNIX is a trademarked word. I wouldn't pay very much for the domain name, since you might have to surrender it in court.
100 BILLION DOLLARS!!!
Sorry. Couldn't resist. :P
U * N * I * X * . * C * O * M =
85 * 78 * 73 * 88 * 46 * 67 * 79 * 77 =
$798,490,055,082,720.00
That's right baby!
Registrant:
unix.com inc. (UNIX-DOM)
218 Cherokee Road
Hendersonville, TN 37075
Domain Name: unix.com
Administrative Contact, Technical Contact, Zone Contact:
Bass, Tim (TB7) bass@SILKROAD.COM
218 Cherokee Road
Hendersonville, TN 37075
(703) 222-4243
Record last updated on 04-Jan-1997.
Record expires on 19-Nov-2000.
Record created on 18-Nov-1993.
Database last updated on 23-Apr-2000 20:01:21 EDT.
Domain servers in listed order:
NS.SILKROAD.COM 198.133.151.18
Work for Change & GET PAID!
It doesn't seem that the seller is OpenGroup (I can't confirm this, my whois is crapping out, but the DNS is CAIS and SILKROAD), but any commercial owner (or computer-related owner) will have to negotiate with OpenGroup to use the domain at all.
__________
If you can go to bed, knowing you did a valuable thing today, you're very lucky. If you can't... it's not bedtime
I'm afraid that given current US cybersquatting law, and the fact that the Open Group now has title to the UNIX* trademark, anyone bidding on 'unix.com' had better be clear about their rights to use it before bidding.
*UNIX is no longer a trademark of AT&T Bell Labs.
Ever since I heard of Unix
I've always had a ball,
From SunOS to Minix
I must have run 'em all
But I ain't seen nothing like him
On systems large or small
That tired, squinting, blind kid
Sure makes a mean sys call!
He sits like a statue,
Becomes part of the machine,
Feeling all the limits,
Knows what the signals mean
Hacks by intuition
His process never stalls,
That tired, squinting blind kid
Sure makes a mean sys call!
He a Unix Wizard,
I just can't get the gist
A Unix wizard's
Got such a mental twist
How do you think he does it?
I don't know!
What makes him so good?
Ain't got no distractions
Don't hear no beeps or bells
Don't see no lights a flashin'
Ignores his sense of smell
Patches running kernels
Dumps no core at all,
That tired, squinting and blind kid
Sure makes a mean sys call!
I thought I was
The process table king,
But I just handed
My root password to him.
Even on my favorite boxen,
His hacks can beat my best.
The network leads him in,
And he just does the rest.
He's got crazy Finger servers
Never will seg-fault...
That tired, squinting karma whore
Sure makes a mean sys call!
.
Take all good things in moderation, including moderation.
If The Open Group owns the registered trademark for Unix then they could easily sue Vannoy Heights Trust (the peeps auction the site off) for domain name squating and get it back for free.
:)
So I guess it's a trick question. The ANSWER is:
The Open Group is going to get the domain back for FREE.
You can find more info about The Open Group here. And you can learn about what trademarks they own here.
It might be interesting to see how Microsoft reacts to this. I understand they offered a great deal of money for linux.com when it was for sale. I was recently at the Boeing/Microsoft technical lookahead and they see Sun as their primary competitor. Perhaps Unix.com is in their strategic plan. Sounds like Sun should be the primary customer for this...
--
Quantum Linux Laboratories - Accelerating Business with Linux
* Education
* Integration
* Support
*Condense fact from the vapor of nuance*
I own amazing.com . Had it for years, ran my personal web site. Right now, my site is "between servers", so it might not be a bad time to sell.
Has anyone tried selling a high-value name, and if so, what was the experience like?
D
----
Comment removed based on user account deletion
I thought slashdot invented unix..doesn't this mean they own the rights to the domain? obviously this story was posted so that slashdot could claim the domain for themselves as the legal owners, and then with all this attention they'd re-sell it and buy AOL.
The Open Group's Trademark Usage Guide seems to only consider UNIX written in all caps as the trademark. So perhaps as long as it is written as either unix, or Unix, or unix.com there is no infringement.
.com when the word used in the second level of the domain is already a registered tradmark not related to the internet.
Also, I know some cybersqauters have been allowed to register trademarks that include the
Finally, SCO has trademarks on several terms with Unix (using an initial capital U) such as UnixWare, which may also indicate that the consistent use of unix.com wouldn't violate the Open Group's trademark.
Work for Change & GET PAID!
I know this is completely ignorant, but why should anyone get millions of dollars for this domain. No one needed it before? 'Stop the senseless domain name craze.'
Well, unix.com is slashdotted, so for this post I'll assume that it is not being sold by Open Group, the rightful owners of the trademark on the name "unix".
The Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act of 1999 amends current trademark law to encompass domain names, and has already been tested in the courts. This bill would make registration, use, or sale of the domain by anyone other than the Open Group a crime, and I'm pretty sure that eBay would halt the auction (according to their current policies)
Open Group owns the Unix trademark
Trademark Usage Guide(PDF Format)
Please note:
It must not be used as a generic term.
It must not be used in connection with products, unless the product is licensed to use the mark.
There are detailed guidelines referring to the visual presentation, form and manner of use.
In editorial or articles, but not advertising the trade marks may be used without prior permission - provided that the rules in our Trademark Usage Guide are followed.
I better get some karama for this dammit
"`Ford, you're turning into a penguin. Stop it.'" -THHGTTG
Now I'm sitting here with $400,000 burning a hole in my pocket, and no website for me and my kind!
D'oh!
:o)
Got Rhinos?
Really, pay a million dollars for a domain name that costs what, $75 for 2 years from Internic?
Just make up a name and save 1 miilion dollars, for stuff like oh, servers, bandwidth, web developers, those "extra's" that go with a web site...
I am curious though as what it will go for. I wonder what beta.slashdot.org would go for?
"`Ford, you're turning into a penguin. Stop it.'" -THHGTTG
I've never done it, so I can't say for sure. However, I will say that in general cyber-squatters are seen as lower forms of life. The fact that you've owned & used your domain for some time will be lost on those who villify cyber-squatters.
:-)
I know that with my two domain names, dolnick.com and famille.org, I've had groups e-mail me accusing me of cyber-squatting (even though I run legit public web pages on them) simply because they wanted the name. Some French company even roundaboutly offered to open their wallet for famille.org.
Me, I probably wouldn't sell them. If I really had to sell them, I would probably try doing an e-bay auction and give the proceeds to charity, and clearly advertise that fact. Even if you need the money, you could say something like 50% of the proceeds go to charity. You get a nice tax write-off and then you can even post your auction on Slashdot with a good conscience! (Who knows, maybe Rob will post your story twice...
-- "In order to have power, I must be taken seriously." -Mojo Jojo
I'm almost positive that SCO has licensed rights for use of the term Unix from the Open Group or its precedessors. SCO bought UnixWare from Novell, Novell bought UnixWare from AT&T who originally owned the trademark for and SVR* implementation of UNIX. Novell owned the trademark and transferred it to the Open Group, if I recall correctly, while retaining the right to use it in their own product. I would imagine that that right was transferred to SCO with the sale of UnixWare.
UnixWare *would* violate the trademark if it weren't already licensed from the OpenGroup. But SCO almost certainly does have such a license.
--LP
beginning of '99, on the unix.com web site, they had their, then current, asking price posted. it was $30,000.
i won't be surprised to see two zeros tacked onto that price when it sells on eBay.
-- ken williams
What you REALLY want is multics.org. It's available and waaaaay more geeky than unix.com.
For the old time COBOL monkeys out there, primeOS.com is available. I think there are ~6 prime boxes still in operation, so there's a built in audience.
If you want to go head to head with taco and hemos, I suggest ampersanddot.org. It's free as well. &., how cool is that?
--Shoeboy
I'll give you $70 for amazing.com and not a penny more.
Why on earth would you *want* to sell it?
Pope
It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
Also, we're reading more and more how e-business IPO's arn't automatic cash cows any more. Fidelity isn't even taking IPO meetings any more because the market is so weird.
So, we may very well be beyond the point where a domain name alone, no matter how cool, is worth millions. Besides, ask yourself this "Which big company would benifit more by owning this domain rather than using the domain name they already have?" Those kinds of companies already have recognizable domain names. UNIX.COM is so generic that it's branding value just might not be that strong.
Hear that sound? It's zeros dropping off of the price tag.
1. UNIX is copyrighted by the Open Group, so anybody who buys unix.com is screwed.
2. Domain names want to be free and selling them is nothing more than taking advantage of the system.
Does anybody but me see a problem here? I mean, these comments are pretty much the summary of any comments on Slashdot. Somebody posts something and all you amateur lawyers come popping out of the woodwork spewing buzzwords that you don't even understand! Honestly...who knows how much it will go for or if it's even sellable? And, for that matter, who cares? Maybe the Open Group...maybe Union Metals Company...maybe Industria del Vestido...maybe Unix Systems Laboratories...maybe AT&T...maybe Rodenstock USA, Inc...but how in the world could it make a difference to anybody here?
And so what if somebody is making a buck or two off the domain name? VA Linux Systems paid a bunch of money for linux.com. I guess that it was OK, though, because they guy who sold it took care to make sure that it went to the "right people".
Everybody wants to make buck. But I swear, you'd think that Slashdot was a breeding ground for socialism if you gave many of the comments you read much credence. Maybe the real deal is that everybody should be allowed to make a buck after I make a buck.
Sheesh. This has turned into a rant. Don't take my word for it, take a look at the comments you see on the site. And, for that matter, take a look at that last 10 or 15 "Ask Slashdot" questions. Maybe the default answer ought to be, "Talk to your lawyer, 'cause if you take the advice you find here, you'll be in BIG trouble!"
OK, rant mode off.
=h=
Unix is a registered trademark of the Open Group. That organization could pretty much demand that it be turned over, thanks to the new cybersquatting law: someone is clearly attempting to profit by selling someone else's trademark.
But the cybersquatting law makes them broader. unix.com can be seized by the Open Group as soon as they ask for it. It's not even a close thing.
You have to use a trademark for it to be valid, and even then, it is only applicable to the category of product that it is used for. There are also geographical concerns. Your trademark may not be valid in countries where you do not market and sell your product. Printing the name of a trademark is not infringement. Trademarks are not the same thing as copyrights.
Fortunately, I don't think anyone who seriously looked at my situation would consider me a cyber squatter. I got the name in 1994, before anyone had even heard of cybersquatting. amazing.com also doesn't map to any specific company or type of business; since it's an ordinary English word there are no trademark issues.
I normally wouldn't want to sell the name, but at the same time when the values of these things are getting close to otherwise hopelesslly unaffordable Malibu real estate, it looks like a tempting proposition.
You can see the content that currently resides under amazing.com at http://207.8.214.218 .
D
----
12 federal injunctions
11 threatening emails
10 lawyers following me
9 appeals denied
8 subponeas daily
7 counts of theft
6 orders to surrender
5 in-dict-ments!
4 phone calls per minute.
3 wifes-a-leaving
2 bankruptcies filed
and a frog suited federal marshall at the door!
This is just an off-topic thought..
..What if someone were to rig up a script that checked a list of 'desireable' domain names and alerted the desiree when they became availiable.. You could rig it to page you on your wireless palm when one popped up.. does something like this exist?
What about all those names that become availiable when someone doesn't renew?
Funky hack for all those potential squatters..
-
air and light and time and space
Oh, there are plenty of them.
I just wanted guidance as to which one was best.
Best
D
----