Many of us have seen the Zcash.com domain for sale.
I have dealt in the past with domain name disputes and i’am familar with the process and i’am 110% sure the Zcash trademark holder (ECC or ZEC foundation) will get this domain nearly for FREE if it finally fills a dispute.
Why is the zcash[.]com domain important?
.com is the most used domain TLD and everybody searching for something is using first .com
It will be more easy to find the Zcash homepage
it will prevent eventually harm from Zcash if someone else uses the domain name with bad intentions.
it adds even value to Zcash owning the zcash[.]com domain
For any serious business it’s a MUST to hold the .com domain of it’s name.
Please consider filling a dispute at Wipo (World Intellectual Property Organisation)
It takes only 2-3 months for a domain name dispute resolution and the domain will be handed over/transfered to the Zcash trademark owner. Really easy steps. As the Zcash trademark owner there is even no chance to fail.
In case this topic is in the wrong place, please move to a better fitting topic.
This is something that ICANN would likely resolve in favor of the Zcash Trademark holder. All domain registrars are supposed to follow the ICANN rules, and zcash.com is registered with GoDaddy so it may be as simple as contacting GoDaddy first.
However, only the Zcash Trademark holder can file a dispute so it would be entirely up to ECC or (when a joint TM agreement is in place) Zcash Foundation to file for remediation if they wanted to.
Not just likely, but 110%, speaking from own experience in many cases i have dealt with domain disputes in the past!
If nothing has changed since than back, it’s still needed a UDPR arbitration service must choosen, WIPO is in my opinion the best one to use (again, at least it was than back). If i remember right, after an arbitration desicision was made it will be submitted to icann.
But no, godaddy can not resolve a dispute for sure, it just needs a little bit more efford.
Thanks for the heads up @boxalex and @Shawn, I’ll definitely keep this in mind for the Foundation. Would love to get this domain for the broader Zcash community.
Looks like the domain is currently owned by a early Zcash investor:
Perhaps they might be willing to make it a charitable contribution to the Zcash Foundation? That could work out be a sizable tax break for them if it’s deductable.
I’ve reached out previously. I also suggested a donation to the foundation. The investor claims he is only brokering it for someone else but all my interactions with him has been through his personal account. Zooko reached out as well. I wanted to pursue this route over filing a dispute as it’s someone we know but they don’t appear to be motivated. It’s been a couple of months since the last communication and I need to revisit. Thanks for the reminder.
Even better if he (a claimed Zcash eary investor) is only brokering the domain.
The domain is just ECC’s property as they hold the trademark for Zcash, easy and simple as that.
I agree that there are always domain buyers/holders that want to make some bucks out of such domains, but nowdays it’s perfectly regulated and such grey zone traders have 0 chance.
I would make a US $ 500 offer in ZEC with the clear message that the in case of no agreement on transfering the domain immediatly a dispute will be filled and the guy will just lose the domain, 110% no doubt on the dispute outcome.
Why holding a trademark if it doesn’t get enforced? Get that domain for ECC, for the Zcash community and even to prevent possible missuse in future of that domain.
No update on that from the ZF, since we don’t own the trademark and therefore have no standing to claim the domain. (That said, a joint trademark agreement between the ECC and the Foundation is being worked out; can’t say much more than that until it’s settled legally.)
Honestly, I’m not sure how the URL reclamation process works.