wordpess.com – Note: “pess”, not “press”

purpleslog · Member · Jun 28, 2006 at 3:38 am
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There is a domain now called wordpess.com (yes, the “r” is missing). The whois contact information is being blocked by its registry.

It seems to have a single wildcard DNS entry that points the typo to a web redirection instance that pushes the browser to an ad/link page.

For instance typing in http://purpleslog.wordpess.com, redirects you to http://www.purpleslog.wordpess.com/index/index46.php .

Go ahead and try some random name like http://wfgiuerh.wordpess.com – you get the same effect.

WordPress.com folks…can you start the process to strip the owner of wordpess.com?

Thanks!
cornell · Member · Jun 28, 2006 at 6:40 am
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Purpleslog

Can I suggest you send this through feedback to guarantee that one of the admins sees it?

Ta.
keyboardcombatant · Member · Jun 28, 2006 at 10:29 am
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bloody clever advertising. capitalize on typos.
cornell · Member · Jun 28, 2006 at 11:25 am
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It’s a fairly common trick actually.

Think of a misspelling microsoft and at one point or another it’s been registered as a domain, normally dissing MS and then bought out by MS or a C&D order issued against it.
drmike · Member · Jun 28, 2006 at 1:56 pm
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Insert the standard “I’m not a lawyer” bit…

Not a whole lot can be done on this. While squatting on actual trademarked names is illegal here in the States and elsewhere, typos really aren’t.

Heck, perfect example. What they went through with the WordPress.com domain.
purpleslog · Member · Jun 29, 2006 at 3:09 am
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Ok. I just sent “feedback”. I had never seen that option before.
podz · Member · Jun 29, 2006 at 9:37 am
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Someone else recently bought Worpdress too…..

All legal.

It was legal for a kid called Mike Rowe who wrote code to have a site called Mikerowesoft.com too – until the guys at Redmond determined that people would get confused and mistake a one-guy site for a mega-corp (as you would!). They had no legal basis as far as I know to get the site but an xbox did the trick. That is way OT :)
cornell · Member · Jun 29, 2006 at 10:55 am
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Really? He settled for an xbox? Wow! He was going for so much more than that initially!
drmike · Member · Jun 29, 2006 at 5:29 pm
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He asked for a lot more though. :)

They did settle out of court though since the tech press pressed the “Big huge corporation suing a little high schooler” side of the case.

CNN when the case started.

CNN on the settlement.

Wikipedia

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