Does anyone have any experience dealing with submitting domain disputes with ICANN to get a domain name? I'm working with a company that has their domain name held hostage by someone who really has no right to use the name. The domain name is an exact match to the company name. The company has been in business for 20 years. There is no one else in the world that would have use for the domain name... yet someone registered it years ago to exploit the business owners who really aren't tech savvy. The business is a drive-in movie theater. The person who registered it is holding them hostage and will not even sell them the domain name back and the business owners fear that he may post false information on the site to damage their business as well as trying to charge them outrageous $$ to update a crappy site site that looks like it exists in the early 90's era of web site design. Any recommendations on what actions the owners can take to make a dispute? We are talking about a drive-in theater here... there is no money for lawyers etc. They literally have no profit margin as most of the money goes to the movie studios and up keep of the property. It is a labor of love.
Not sure I'm following... Sell them the domain back? Did your friends ever even own the domain? And if that's the case, your friends didn't notice for years that they no longer owned the domain???? How did they update the "movies showing" on their website?...or did they ever have one? And how exactly is the current owner exploiting your friends? It sounds like they're 20 years too late...
When it comes to domains, its first come first serve. It doesnt matter who you are or what you are if you didnt buy it first then you are out of luck. Even if you have a trademark or copyright your odds of getting a domain in a dispute is incredible slim. You'd waste more money fighting to get it than you would if you just offer the person some cash to buy it from them.