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FreeCreditReport.com Wins 1,017 Domains By UDRP

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the not-even-a-finders-fee dept.

typosquatting writes to mention that the largest domain dispute case since the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) was enacted ten years ago has been decided. The decision saw 1,017 cyber-squatting domains turned over to ConsumerInfo.com, owner of FreeCreditReport.com. The full decision can be read via the National Arbitration Forum website. "It would seem that this decision sets or reinforces a fairly strong precedent that trademark holders may be entitled to, not only to the domain name that exactly matches their trademark, but also to a wide swath of other domain names including nearly every possible misspelling or other variation of that trademark, potentially even if the trademark is comprised of generic words."

9 of 184 comments (clear)

  1. Liar beats other liars? by Burdell · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's funny that "free"creditreport.com is upset that someone else is profiting off their name, when their name is designed to profit off someone else's. I don't think they existed before the US government mandated the credit agencies give you a free copy of your credit report every year (via annualcreditreport.com). "free"creditreport.com doesn't actually give you a credit report for free; you have to enroll in a reporting service to get it.

  2. freecreditreport.com sucks ass. by Ethanol-fueled · · Score: 5, Informative

    Don't do it. You give them your info and get a free credit report, but you have to opt out like AOL or else they'll charge you. When you call them to opt out they haggle and harass you like AOL did ("Are you sure you want to cancel? Here are our other plans...") and you have to tell them no multiple times until either of you gives up. Then they continue to spam the living fuck out of your inbox.

    /rant

  3. Re:This is gthe only real answer by Beardo+the+Bearded · · Score: 5, Funny

    No, some people ham-fist addressesd. You'll be tpying laong and hit teh wring button or forget if it was an underscore or a dash. THen where will you go? You don't know, and that's what a lot of scammers have been making money witj for a long tim.

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    ECHELON is a government program to find words like bomb, jihad, plutonium, assassinate, and anarchy.
  4. use annualcreditreport.com instead by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative
    You can get a really-and-truly free annual credit report from this website

    FreeCreditReport.com charges $15 and is run by lying, typo-squatting douches at Experian.

  5. Freecreditreport.com is a criminal scam by Michael+G.+Kaplan · · Score: 5, Informative

    The New York Times recently did an extensive article on this scam.

    The entire basis of their operation is to fool people into paying for something advertised as free. They claim that their site discloses its fees, but the disclosure is still discrete enough to fool massive numbers of people.

    Any site where you make a purchase should disclose the fact that you are making a purchase with at least the level of clarity that you encounter on a reputable site such as Amazon.com. Also a service that advertises itself as "free" should never be allowed to charge -- even if they gratuitously disclosed their fee (which they don't) it would still be a bait an switch scam.

    1. Re:Freecreditreport.com is a criminal scam by drDugan · · Score: 5, Interesting

      But its even deeper than this. Freecreditreport leeches off an even bigger scam. The whole premise that people allow, expect and pay these three companies to collect and sell their own information back to others is a intrinsically a scam.

      The "big three" do not see or treat consumers as their customers - which explains why they are so difficult to deal with: their customers are other companies that buy information about the "worthiness" of potential customers, like you.

      The absurd and unfair treatment that people received from these private companies was so bad that the laws were changed to require them to provide some information back to the unwilling subjects of their profits.

  6. Re:Liar beats other liars? Mod up by wbren · · Score: 5, Informative

    Be careful about checking your credit too often though. When you check your credit too often, it dings your credit score.

    Not true. Applying for new lines of credit will lower your score, but checking it yourself will not. See http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs6c-CreditScores.htm#5

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    -William Brendel
  7. Re:Liar beats other liars? Mod up by Mr.+Freeman · · Score: 5, Insightful

    We should be given access on a completely unrestricted basis 24/7/365 including holidays, weekends, etc. This is data that is used to deny you bank loans, car loans, causes higher rates on many things, etc. No one should be allowed to keep this data without allowing the affected parties to view every single fucking record. Furthermore, there should be financial penalties for any inaccuracies. They accidentally show that you paid late once when you really didn't? That's a $20000 fine, paid to YOU. I don't know why we think that companies need to be allowed to keep records like this and use them in business dealings but keep them completely secret. (Access once per year is nonsense, that's as close to secret as humanly possible)

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    -1 disagree is not a modifier for a reason. -1 troll, flaimbait, redundant, overrated are NOT acceptable substitutes.
  8. slashdot has been trolled. by Jeremy+Erwin · · Score: 5, Informative

    The submitter's name is "typosquatting." The linked article was written by Alias Encore's PR flack , and exists for the sole purpose of selling Alias-Encore's software and services-- namely "helping companies increase highly qualified traffic to their websites through the strategic acquisition of misspelled domain names."