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Frequently Asked Questions

FAQ's about celebrity names, domain registration in general, and what I am doing
If you have a question that isn't here, just ask.

Celebrity Names


What's so special about registration of celebrity names?
Celebrity websites, official or fan sites, are a very popular thing on the internet, and when someone wants to find out a little about a celebrity, it's very common to try theirname.com to see if there is a site there. A few years ago that worked nice. If there was a site, you got it, otherwise you got something like "page not found". For this reason, some people, cybersquatters, decided to register names that were still available and put advertising or adult content on them or maybe sell them. They actually made money doing this, so more people started doing it. Now if a famous name isn't registered by someone yet, they're probably not that famous, especially if it's a female celebrity.

Is registration of celebrity names the same with male and female celebrities?
No. Female celebrity names registered for money are probably 10 times as popular, and much more likely to be used for a site that can be harmful or degrading to the celebrity.

Why don't the celebrities register the names themselves?
Legally a registrant must be 18, so the younger stars would have to have a parent or their agent register it. Also, many celebrities are too busy with acting to get into the internet, so they don't care about owning their name and don't realise what kind of content someone else could put up. Some think they can just register it whenever they decide to. Many of them have no idea how important it is to protect their name.

Cybersquatting


What is cybersquatting?
Good question, several variations of answers, but in simple terms, it's when someone registers a domain which is the same as any business, product, or famous person, for the purpose of making money from it.
get some definitions

Why do cybersquatters register celebrity names?
Easy money. Pay $10/year for a domain, put advertising on it, and there's almost always profit. Sometimes they sell it to the celebrity or agent, or just a serious fan, for 3 digits or more.

Is cybersquatting illegal?
Sort of. The United States does have a federal law known as the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, but it has been around for a while and doesn't stop the cybersquatters. I don't know about the laws in other countries. Most .com domain disputes are taken to Icann.
(ICANN Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy)

Domain Registration


Don't famous people have the right to own their name in .com?
Yes and no. They have the right to own their name, but unless it's a registered trademark, anyone else can own it too. Sometimes there are other people with the same name who are not famous who decide to register it. As a general rule, as long as the domain isn't being used for cybersquatting or for a site that can be harmful or derogatory to the celebrity, there is very little they can do if they want it.

What can a celebrity do if their name is used for cybersquatting or for a damaging or derogatory site?
- They can ask the owner to give it to them. (almost never works)
- They can offer to buy the domain. (probably expensive)
- They can take the owner to court. (very time consuming and costly - court & legal costs, and time off work)
- *They can go to an Icann Approved Dispute-Resolution Service Provider. (designed for this problem)
- They can hope the owner decides to let it go later. (may never happen and doesn't fix current problem)
- They can just ignore it and hope most who visit the site realise it has nothing to do with them. (That's what most end up doing)

Eventually everyone will know that going to somename.com doesn't guarantee finding what they want, but there will always be people trying it.

*Under this policy, a celebrity can get their .com, but must prove 3 things:

  • The domain name registered by the domain name registrant is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark in which the complainant has rights;
  • The domain name registrant has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name in question and
  • The domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith.
The cost to claim your domain through dispute resolution is $1500 and up.
If your domain name is currently in the hands of a cybersquatter, and you want help recovering it, email me. I can help you figure out the best way to get it and can be your intermediary if you wish.

What I do and why


Why do I register some names in .com?
Simple, to cut down on the amount of garbage people find when typing in somename.com, and to make sure the celebrity can have their name if they decide later they want it.
If you are a celebrity and I have yourname.com and you want it, just email me and you can have it, free. The only requirement I would have is to have a way of being certain you are that person.

Why don't I just leave the name unregistered for the celebrity to register later?
Did you read the previous questions?
Did you check out the Abused Names?
If I don't register it, someone else will. Some will register a name to give that celebrity, but most want to make money with it.
Now, some of you will be thinking: "So what, celebrities make good money. What's wrong with getting some of it?"
Acting is probably the occupation with the widest range of pay rates. Some of the most famous might make more in a day than most of us make in a year, but most of the not so famous ones do occasional acting on the side while working another job to pay their bills.

Why do I only register female celebrity names?
They are the ones that get used for adult content and are 10 times as popular when it comes to cybersquatting. Male celebrities tend to register their own names much more often too. I have registered 2 male names and made contact with both. They both said they didn't want it and weren't worried about it, so I let them both go. Male celebrities just don't have the potential problem that female celebrities do when it comes to their name.

What do I do with the names I register?
First, I try to contact that person, or an agent, and explain to them why I registered it and ask them what they would like to do. If they want it, they can do whatever they want with it. I have contacted a few of them, but due to the difficulty in finding contact data, expecially for the less popular ones, I can't find any way to contact them, so I just wait for them to contact me if they want their domain. Most of the ones I have contacted leave the domain registered with my business (Premier Website Solutions) and use our privacy option. They own the domain but do not have to make their contact info public. Some have chosen to use our hosting services to have their own website, others have it redirected to another site, and some don't want it and tell me I can do whatever I want with it. Until I get in contact with the celebrity or hear from them or someone on behalf of them, I put up a simple parked page and when I get time I make it a simple 1 page site, then later I gradually add more as time permits.
See exactly what names I have registered and what I do with them at the Protected Names page.

What is my "deal" with the ones who do want their name?
There is no "deal". If I have a name registered and that person wants it, they can have it, no strings attached, no cost, no requirements, other than for their safety. To give a domain to the proper owner, I need to make sure they are who they say they are. If they leave it registered with us, proof isn't as important because if it's an imposter and they put up a site that shouldn't be there, I can just take control back, but if they want to transfer the domain away from our services, I have to be certain who they are. Other than that they are free to use or not use any of our services. If they leave it registered with us, we can make them the legal owner without making their contact info public with our privacy option (free). They can also use our hosting services if they wish, or get hosting elsewhere, or choose to have us put up a parked page or even have us put a site together for them. We even give them special deals. ;-)

When did I start doing this?
October 30, 2000 - 2 years before making the internet my business
I started my first website a year earlier, a celebrity website, because I wanted to put up a site about Kim Richards but there was so little about her I decided to go with a general celebrity site. On Oct 30, 2000 I registered kimrichards.net. Kimrichards.com was taken and at that time it went to a celebrity site that was adult oriented. Over the next couple years I found many other names going to sites that I'm sure that person wouldn't approve of, so I registered a couple others as a fan. 2 years after starting my business I made the decision to start protecting more names. That's when the number of names I had registered started to grow. I still have a lot less than many cybersquatters do because most names are already registered and I can't afford to register every name, but I will continue registering names until the system makes it easy for a celebrity to get their name when they want it.

Have I ever made any money off any of these names?
Nope. Never. Not even a penny. Sure, some of the names link to my hosting business, but I have never had a new customer come to me due to those links. As of March 8, 2008, I decided to put affiliate links to related products on some of the sites to bring in a bit of money, but not for profit. I figure if I can cover some of the domain registration costs, I will be able to afford to register more names. So far every person I made contact with was thankful for what I'm doing, so I'm sure others would appreciate it if I kept their name from falling into the wrong hands. I can't afford to register too many names out of my own pocket, so if I can bring in a few dollars from some of them, it'll help protect more of them. Every $ brought in from affiliate ads will go towards the costs involved so I can register more domains to protect.

How many names do I plan to register?
No idea. I'd like to register every female celebrity name that isn't registered yet, even the male ones, but even a winning lottery ticket won't cover that. LOL   For now I'll just add a select few now and then when I find them and can afford them. If you like what I do and would like to help, or if you know of a celebrity name that isn't registered yet, please contact me.

For Celebrities


How can I contact you?
The best way to contact me is email, but you can also contact me in other ways through my business site, premierwebsitesolutions.ca.

Should I be worried or afraid to contact you?
Back in 2007 one of the few celebrities who did contact me actually told me she wanted to do so for a couple years, but she was afraid to. She figured I had to be either a cybersquatter or a stalker. After renewing her .com twice, she decided she had no choice but to contact me, so she had someone contact me on her behalf. I could tell by the email that they were worried. They had read this website and still couldn't believe there wasn't a motive behind this. After a couple emails the domain was hers and she realised she waited 2 years for nothing. She's now using my private registration and hosting.

I don't know what else to say, other than, if you can't believe what I'm doing is for you, contact one of the celebrities who have claimed their domain and ask them. A few of them wished they didn't hold off. If you want your domain, claim it now.

If I contact you, are you going to give my contact info to others or make it public?
NO. I have now been contacted by several celebrities and have never given any of their contact info out to anyone or in any form. I understand the need for privacy. By providing us with entertainment, you give up much of your personal life and you deserve to have some personal life.

My name isn't registered in .com yet. Should I contact you?
That's up to you, but you should register your name before someone else does. If you want to register it through me, (through my business), contact me. I can give you free whois privacy, guarantee that you will never lose the domain, and give you rock bottom pricing on the domain and even hosting and design if you want.

If I deal with you, what are all the possible costs involved?
Domain registration and renewal is approx $10/y, my cost.
Website hosting, if you use my services, is free for 500MB of space and 20GB monthly transfer. If you need more, you get 50% off our normal prices.
I can offer website design at 1/2 or our normal cost, or sometimes free for fairly simple sites done in my spare time. This can help less popular celebrities become more popular.
There are no surprise or hidden costs.

My name isn't registered in .com yet and I don't want it. Can't I just leave it?
You don't have to register your name, BUT, someday someone will register it and what they do with it will be up to them. If they do anything that can harm them, you can fight it, but that is very time consuming and can be costly. For $10/y you should just register your name and not use it. A domain doesn't have to have a website.

My name is registered in .com by someone else and they won't give it to me, or they want a high price for it. What should I do?
Contact me
I will look into it and let you know what your options are.

more coming later