Who owns a Twitter account on a dropped domain?

[scottmccloud]

If you catch a domain (or register an expired domain) that once had a site on it, you can't use the content on the site without the express permission of the previous owner who will still have copyright.

But what about the Twitter (or Facebook) account? Who 'owns' or has rights to use that account? Chances are they used the main email from the site for the Twitter account so it wouldn't be difficult to reset the password and get access to it.

I'm assuming that the new domain owner does (especially if they have access to the email that the account was set up with), or am I missing something?

 

[spiderspider]

The account is still 'owned' by the original creator. Just because you can access it, don't make it yours.

Its a bit like PayPal and eBay accounts on domains where previous owners haven't changed email addresses. I've had several occasions where i have bought domains, and they have received paypal marketing emails ebay, dropbox, twitter, FB friend notifications, Amazon order details, emails from relatives etc etc. As much as I could access them all, I think Mr Policeman might have something to say.

That said, yes I have taken on Twitter accounts that were linked to the business that owned domain, as they had gone into liquidation, and not tweeted in year+. But i wouldn't touch anything else

 

[scottmccloud]

I hadn't thought about Paypal etc, and I bet a hell of a lot of people who let domains drop don't either :shock:. I wonder if fraudsters have cottoned on to that one?

The domain which prompted the question is from a company that is now in liquidation and the Twitter account hasn't been used for over two years.

 

[Adam H]

Agree with the above, Ive got domains which have regular emails from the previous owners Google, ebay, paypal among other things which the previous owner signed up to.

In regards to Twitter or any social pages which wouldnt hold personal identifiable info beyond the company email then I have too used one once as it was associated with the domain which they are suppose to be with.

But beyond that is seriously dodgy, I would consider anything that has the possibility of having identifiable info about an individual could potentially land you in hot water.

 

[scottmccloud]

But beyond that is seriously dodgy, I would consider anything that has the possibility of having identifiable info about an individual could potentially land you in hot water.

Thanks Adam, just to be clear, I'm not wanting to do anything dodgy, it was just a question that occurred to me when I saw the domain that I owned had quite a number of Twitter followers interested in the same subject matter that I'm developing the domain in.

 

[Kari]

yeah same as above posts the twitter account belongs to the individual whos details are on file
any unauthorised changes can be classed as a cyber crime

 

[scottmccloud]

Even if the entity (a limited company) doesn't actually exist as it has been struck off from the companies register at Companies House?

 

[Kari]

when you register it asks your first name...

EDIT :
Apologies, it asks full name
if the account is in the name of the LTd company then should be ok
however if the business owner put HIS full name then its his & not the companies

 

[Edwin]

It should be obvious that you are committing fraud at the point that you're using the expired domain to access anything that doesn't belong to you.

Think of it like somebody dropping a bunch of keys on the ground. That doesn't give you the right to take over their house, even if there's been nobody living in it for years, or their car, even if it's been rusting in a layby for ages.

There are no circumstances I can think of in which it would be legally acceptable to use a domain-based loophole to gain access to somebody else's social media accounts (or any other online services) without their explicit consent. The fact that you might get away with it doesn't make it any less illegal.

 

[spiderspider]

Even if the entity (a limited company) doesn't actually exist as it has been struck off from the companies register at Companies House?

I would go for it, but do it slowly (I'm not a legal person, just my opinion, all at your own risk).

Reset the password, then wait.

Tweet something like quotes and wait.

That way, if anyone still thinks they have access rights to it for whatever reason, they will let you know. I know all of my accounts follow each other, so can see from any one if anything is on others.

You may also want to remove all the old tweets, and check it isn't linked to post on FB when Tweets.

Check on one of the 'follow back' sites to find when that account was last active. As even if not tweeting, someone may be logging in and following still.

 

[spiderspider]

It should be obvious that you are committing fraud at the point that you're using the expired domain to access anything that doesn't belong to you.

Think of it like somebody dropping a bunch of keys on the ground. That doesn't give you the right to take over their house, even if there's been nobody living in it for years, or their car, even if it's been rusting in a layby for ages.

There are no circumstances I can think of in which it would be legally acceptable to use a domain-based loophole to gain access to somebody else's social media accounts (or any other online services) without their explicit consent. The fact that you might get away with it doesn't make it any less illegal.

If the 'owner' a ltd company, is no longer a legal entity, then there is no one to de-fraud. The account will have no owner, or controller.

Other option of course is to track down previous directors, and ask them if its ok to use the account

 

[Edwin]

On the other hand, you may want to check with an actual lawyer, since it is likely you would be committing an offence at the point you first manipulate the account by means of your control of the domain name to gain access to it.

Everything beyond that is immaterial.

 

[scottmccloud]

It should be obvious that you are committing fraud at the point that you're using the expired domain to access anything that doesn't belong to you.

Think of it like somebody dropping a bunch of keys on the ground. That doesn't give you the right to take over their house, even if there's been nobody living in it for years, or their car, even if it's been rusting in a layby for ages.

There are no circumstances I can think of in which it would be legally acceptable to use a domain-based loophole to gain access to somebody else's social media accounts (or any other online services) without their explicit consent. The fact that you might get away with it doesn't make it any less illegal.

Edwin, please be clear that I'm not committing fraud or intending to commit fraud, it was just a question that occurred to me when looking at this particular domain. The amount of followers, although sizeable would not sway me to do such a thing without ensuring the legality, hence my question here. Thanks for your input though, as usual it is insightful and useful.

From what you've said, I'm presuming that anyone who uses an email address that has been used on that domain before is potentially opening themselves up for trouble too?

 

[Kari]

or stick to the old addage

If in doubt, stay the hell away

 

[ian]

The amount of followers, although sizeable would not sway me to do such a thing without ensuring the legality, hence my question here.

What do you deem a sizeable amount of followers?

Had a similar situation recently, maybe the same domain, but decided against it.

 

[Edwin]

Edwin, please be clear that I'm not committing fraud or intending to commit fraud, it was just a question that occurred to me when looking at this particular domain. The amount of followers, although sizeable would not sway me to do such a thing without ensuring the legality, hence my question here. Thanks for your input though, as usual it is insightful and useful.

From what you've said, I'm presuming that anyone who uses an email address that has been used on that domain before is potentially opening themselves up for trouble too?

Sorry, didn't mean to suggest or imply that you were thinking of anything untoward. It's just that it's the kind of sticky legal question that really needs professional input, rather than a group of random folk on a forum.

I don't know the answer to the email question, but if I had to guess I'm pretty confident there would be issues there too if there was any kind of misrepresentation going on (people think they're emailing Company X, but the email's going to Company Y because of a change of email control) that was used to take advantage of the information being misdirected.

 

[scottmccloud]

What do you deem a sizeable amount of followers?

Had a similar situation recently, maybe the same domain, but decided against it.

About 9k+, but was in a very niche area and they seemed to be a high proportion of genuine followers. It's not a recent drop, it's a domain that I've had for a while.

Sorry, didn't mean to suggest or imply that you were thinking of anything untoward. It's just that it's the kind of sticky legal question that really needs professional input, rather than a group of random folk on a forum.

I don't know the answer to the email question, but if I had to guess I'm pretty confident there would be issues there too if there was any kind of misrepresentation going on (people think they're emailing Company X, but the email's going to Company Y because of a change of email control) that was used to take advantage of the information being misdirected.

Not a problem Edwin, it's all very interesting the possibilities and problems things like this throw up.

 

[BeachLife]

If the 'owner' a ltd company, is no longer a legal entity, then there is no one to de-fraud. The account will have no owner, or controller.

Anything still owned by a company upon dissolution passes to the Crown, under Bono Vacantia.

Other option of course is to track down previous directors, and ask them if its ok to use the account

If the company no longer exists, they are no longer Directors and so have no say in the matter.

The real question is if a company "owns" a Twitter account, or is just given a license to use it? I would suggest the latter, and hence Twitter could probably remove the account from you if they found out how you obtained it.

Would they care though? I doubt it very much.