I own the .com they own the .co.uk - good or bad?

[mousy]

A few weeks ago I was looking for a new domain name for my art website.

I typed in a short, catchy, three-word domain name that I wanted (let's call it www.widgetworld.com) into godaddy's domain name checker and to my surprise, it was available.

I didn't purchase it there and then, because I wasn't 100% sure if I wanted it. I figured that because it looked like it had never been registered before (Server not found page was displayed) it would probably be safe for a couple of days.... Big mistake!

the next day I tried to register it only to find that www.widgetworld.com and www.widgetworld.co.uk had now been registered -Bugger!

I'm pretty sure that the names were registered as a direct result of me typing in www.widgetworld.com into godaddy's checker (thus alerting "someone" that www.widgetworld.com was a good idea for a domain name.)

only a few days ago, I checked the status of www.widgetworld.com again and was even more surprised to find that it was available again!

so within five minutes I owned:

www.widgetworld.com
www.widgetworld.org
www.widgetworld.net

However, I could not get hold of www.widgetworld.co.uk, this had been registered by a company that had a website selling a very similar product to mine!

so should I be happy that I will get a small percentage of their traffic (I guess people invariably try .com first) or should I be concerned about not having a monopoly?

[scragar]

if your selling products so surely .org isn't a suitable option.

on the basis of .co.uk you could debate both points, you own the monoply, but if you have a UK based company then you'll find that .co.uk may get typed in a fair amount...

[WebJoel]

Or it could have been a 'pending activation' situation, -they were 'reserving' that name because there had been a good faith inquiry (yours) into it's availability for purchase. -They were 'hiding/holding' the availability for 24 hours to prevent anyone else from snagging it. I think better that that site to feed your computer a 24-hour 'cookie' that lets you and only you get back to that name during this 24-hour consideration period (while everyone else remains unable to), while you decided whether or not to buy it...
I'm an optimist, -I am thinking that they were trying to do you a service whilst you made up your mind to buy or not to buy.

The act of 'buying up' created domains of what can legally be considered "intellectual property" is on the way out. There is some legal branch with an assuming name something like "International Intellectual Property Agency" or someoranother, that investigates claims. For instance, a few years ago when Clinton was U.S. President and the name "Monica Lewinsky" became headline news, the domain name of her name was snapped up immediately (and many variants of it) and I beleive was finally sold (for a rather handsome profit) to a group that wanted to run a legitimate bona~fide 'fan club' of sorts, dedicated to her... (go figure) :confused: That was near the last time that a 'celebrity name' domain name could be created and profited upon.
'Intellectual property' in regards to domain-naming means that you cannot create/buy a web site called "JohnnyCash" even if you are a bank or bail-bondsman that gives out cash/cash loans, -and even if your name actually IS "Johnny", because when you hear the name "Johnny Cash", you think of the late country music singer, not a bank's loan officer or bailbondsman.
There is some continuinig controversy about the Donald Trump tv-show and phrase "You're fired!", -there is a ceramics shop in Michigan I think it was, that this is the name of their business which has been in business for many decades now... I think that they were 'asked' to change their business' name. I think they are refusing to comply and the story fell into obscurity...
Do you remember that "MikeRoweSoft" litigation of a few years back? Some fella name "Mike Rowe" did some software work, and that was his moniker. Clearly, he was trying to make a point. He lost his case. Anyway, I am babbling... :o

[Dragonchaser]

Since you now own it, would you care to share with us which domain name you were talking about? I do not think godaddy's checker alerts "someone" (:-) but I do know their checked does not always work. Gotta try it twice! Or use EuroDNS for checking (not for registering, please).

[webfinity]

.com domains are more common in the US. Unless you're planning for alot of typins I wouldn't be concerned.