Super Cool Beas Posted October 17, 2009 Report Share Posted October 17, 2009 (edited) Bosh's victory returns Internet names to celebsby FOXSports.com Think you can exploit Chris Bosh to make an easy buck? Well, you don't know squat. The Toronto Raptors forward won a final legal victory this week and claimed custody of approximately 800 Internet domain names that had been grabbed from athletes and celebrities. Bosh accused a cybersquatter of wrongfully using the names of celebrities as domain names. One of the biggest stars on the list is singer Britney Spears. The Detroit Free Press reported that seven Detroit Pistons players were among those affected. Other NBA standouts whose names were taken include Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns, Carmelo Anthony of the Denver Nuggets, Hedo Turkoglu of the Toronto Raptors, J.J. Redick of the Orlando Magic and Eddy Curry of the New York Knicks. Among college basketball players on the list include Devin Ebanks of West Virginia and Kemba Walker of UConn. Bosh is offering to return the names free of charge to the appropriate stars. Charlie Villanueva had been reduced to using CV31.com as the URL for his site because charlievillanueva.com had already been taken. Other affected Pistons include Tayshaun Prince, Kwame Brown and Chucky Atkins. "Great job, Chris," Villanueva told the newspaper. Cybersquatters often reserve names of promising athletes on speculation, sometimes getting the wheels moving while highly recruited football and basketball players are still in high school. Some try to charge large sums in order for the celebrity to get the name back, or the cybersquatter will actually set up a Web site that treads on the athlete's name to make money. "Right now with people looking to make money off something, especially in tough times, you can expect one way or another people will try to use your likeness or your name, whatever it may be, in order to try to get something from it," Prince told the paper. Bosh's lawyers used a provision of the Federal Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act to move against Luis Zavala and his company Hoopology.com, which had registered chrisbosh.com. Bosh won a preliminary victory earlier this year.Nothing pisses me off more than when nerds do that and its about time somebody finally stepped up to the plate and did something about it. Athletes and celebs shouldn't have to pay a ransom in order to use their own namesakes' web address. Edited October 17, 2009 by Super Cool Beas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenneral Posted October 17, 2009 Report Share Posted October 17, 2009 My name is taken too. I want it back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lkr Posted October 17, 2009 Report Share Posted October 17, 2009 this shouldn't have been ruled in favor of bosh/celebrities. anyone should be allowed to buy any domain name Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Cool Beas Posted October 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2009 this shouldn't have been ruled in favor of bosh/celebrities. anyone should be allowed to buy any domain nameNot if they doing it for the sole purpose of holding those domain names for a hefty ransom and/or profiting off then by installing a bogus website. Yes, you could give the argument that we live in a "Free Country" but pulling a move like that is a pretty [expletive]ty and in reality, misleading and not gonna happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Feelgood Posted October 17, 2009 Report Share Posted October 17, 2009 Awesome job on Bosh's part. Definitely agree with him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Universe Posted October 17, 2009 Report Share Posted October 17, 2009 Pretty stupid since they bought it and own it, they should keep it. Business is business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mac Dre Posted October 18, 2009 Report Share Posted October 18, 2009 yeah, business is business. what if there are 2 people named chris bosh, 1 the athlete and the other an owner of a big company? i think bosh could buy it from him/her, but making it into a lawsuit or whatever is pretty stupid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeefUp Posted October 22, 2009 Report Share Posted October 22, 2009 Wow I'm surprised Bosh won this. Might not be the smartest precedence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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