Domain Name expired..help

[waffle]

I very carelessly let my domain name expire (actually its not the main domain name, but rather an alias which also points to my site) and recently received an email from secure that domain:

Recently, XXX.com expired and we acquired it
in a domain name auction. Since you own the XXX-XXX.com
version of this domain name we wanted to provide you
with the opportunity to own the preferred XXX.com version.

Our company specializes in recovering preferred expiring
domains and either selling them to individuals such as
yourself or building out our own web presence on those
valuable domains.

XXX.comis a pretty darn good domain name and,
the truth is, the XXX.com is a far stronger version of the
name than then XXX-XXX.com is.

* XXX.com is much easier to remember


* XXX.com conveys Professionalism that XXX-XXX.com cannot match.

If you'd like to own XXX.com, you can buy it
now by covering our acquisition costs and a modest profit.

If you have any interest I encourage you to act quickly
because this domain name will only be offered for sale
for a limited time.

Is there anything I can do other than pay their ransom?

Thanks?

 

[RedEvo]

I very much doubt it.

d

 

[AdamW]

How many days since it expired? You normally have a grace period to renew it as the existing owner after the expiry date. PM the domain if you want and I'll take a look.

Adam

 

[RedEvo]

It looks like it's too late for that if the other company have registered it.

d

 

[AdamW]

It looks like it's too late for that if the other company have registered it.

d

Indeed this is the case (have checked the domain for the OP) however I have seen plenty of emails like that one where the domain hasn't been registered by the other company etc. Always worth double checking!

 

[ups2007john]

It looks like it's too late for that if the other company have registered it.

d

I agree with your opinion

 

[Jenni384]

I'm a novice at all this, but I thought there was a 14-day cooling off period, and if no-one bites (i.e. you don't pay them), the domain will becomes available again?

 

[RedEvo]

This should clarify things.

d

 

[Patr100]

If they really acquired it by auction it went through all the due process. Registrars pass them on to auction sites. Sites like snapnames.com then sell them off. You could check the whois to see the dates/details it was registered but if they have it they can keep it. If they feel you really don't want it they might just drop it but they could simply resell it.

 

[ADW]

Have you checked how much they actually want for it. I had one of these recently as they new I had the .co.uk version. I had a quick look and it was about $70 they wanted.

 

[waffle]

Thanks for the comments everyone.

It seems I may be able to lodge an appeal through World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), (see http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/analysis/2131833/fighting-cyber-squatters), given it is also a registered trademark and that these cybersquatters acquired it with no intention of using it other than to sell it back. to me.

Anyone been down this route?

 

[Beneddie1112]

If it infringes on your trademark (Which you've said it does) and is in no way a misunderstanding (Which it isn't) and they didn't want to use your site for something unrelated to business or trading (Which they don't), Can't you just threaten them with legal action to surrender the domain name to you?

http://www.nic.uk/disputes/caselaw/index/million/

Cheers,
Ben