retired_member6

A few things I've thought of about complainant and response techniques.

1. The complainant may well watch your domain for several months before taking action, as soon as you slip up that's when they will pounce. This doesn't mean their case holds water. The complainant may point to use of the domain, do print outs of where it was directed at different times, what website was attached.

Response: You can challenge these with your own and numerous print outs, if you play the same game referring to other points in the arguement they will know they're up against someone who is more than capable of handling their dubious explanations.

2. Complainants may refer to whois output to justify any claim.

Response: No matter what a complainant says about the registrant or a DRS was brought due to the registrant showing no address, you can always claim you never received email etc. also to combat the use of the domain in point one, referring to nameservers in any of their whois print outs will show the intenton of development as opposed to say 123 reg nameservers or sedo and parked.

3. There is a way of staving off a possible DRS attack. If the complainant sees your domain is pointing somewhere relevent, to a site that has more rights over a domain than they do, they may monitor from afar but may give up due to not understanding the situation well enough. Although a DRS can still be brought for free.

4. Have a genuine plausable reason for having the domain. All of mine are covered by my activities as an affiliate. Valid reasons that the complainant can't possibly understand but that are also true, meaning they can't argue the point at hand and will fail to follow it up.

Why do I have a domain that the complainant believes they themselves should own, why is it only parked and not seemingly in use, why has it been pointing to different websites?

For the simple reason I bought the domain and have it for as along as I wish, I can see fit to do what I wish with the domain in question. I can point it to any site I wish to ensure maximum income or I find the time to develop it as planned, if you run out of ideas you can always state that it's perfectly acceptable to sell domains as well.

5. Answer every query from the complainant with a perfect and unquestionable answer, an answer that no matter how they phrase a response, simply can't be questioned or proved to be wrong and any following statement would simply make them look stupid and lacking cause.

6. Personal attacks, slight untruths and defamation, it's the complainant's way of destabilising your thought process, making you angry or at the very least ensure you think about something else instead of the matters at hand.

Don't ignore the defamation or personal attack, Instead argue it. If you don't speak up against each of their claims then the judge may well consider it to be true. Feel very aggrieved by the claims, you're unhappy, miserable, really hurt by the suggestion they're making, write a letter or email asking them to withdraw any libelous comments immediately, make it record, record their response and pop it into the DRS defence.

DRS states no contact should be made, not that contact can't be made. Use all to your advantage but don't break too many rules or the judge will see this as backing up the complainant's arguement i.e. breaking rules might be usual behavour. So argue any attacks and again ensure you cannot be answered back, give full precise reasons.

7. Again ensure at all times that you cannot be answered back, give full precise reasons, go over with another person and get your response bang on, get them to be as thorough as possible in arguing your points.

8. You know when you're in the right or in the wrong, you know when something is offered is good or bad, you know when you have a chance of winning or if the complainant is simply using the system to get a good domain and steal it from you. Use your instincts and listen to yourself and use that attitude and thought when in battle.

9. Save your DRS response for any possibly DRS on another domain if you operate the same, then the same defence can be used again and again. use the same print outs, same argument and you may well end up with the same result.

10. A note on mediation. in any court of law a judge expects mediation to take place first - allegedly, this is second hand knowledge. So when receiving a DRS, the complainant may be out for blood, may see you as easy prey or may simply not wish to pay £5000 for a domain and instead around £750 and - remember a DRS isn't only a point of complaint, it's a business avenue and some times cheaper. Mediation should also be utilised.

11. Being a martyr for the domaining 'cause. If your situation is truly unique then yes if you feel going all the way will mean something, have a good case, then go for it. If however another case has gone before, in a similar vein then you may wish to rethink.

12. Solicitors are trained in the art of using good bull**** English, therefore they will try to belittle you, don't get wound up, use those same words on them and tie up your sentances like yoda out of star wars, it sounds more legal.

Anymore?