NameCheap.com Scam!! Do Not Buy From them domains!

I owned a Airfrancebooking.com i renewed the domain a week ago for 2 years. And all of a sudden the domain name disappeared from my account without any notification to me no message in my inbox!


Namecheap.COM has Stolen MY domain name!

When i contact them they are saying

please note that your domain name contains a registered trademark name

unfortunately you should get in touch with eNom at to clarify the issue as the domain is no longer in our system.

Note: I did not put any logo of third party or any other material was not copied from anywhere it was all unique content!


Is this not a scam???

 

air france is probably registered trademark.. -_-

 

i thought you could have a domain that was a TM so long as you didnt develop it to try and infring the copyright. i thought someone defended against mcdonals because his name was mcdonald for example, but maybe thats an urban myth.

 

Only if one thinks so. In this case, the domain name was likely cancelled because
of potential trademark infringement.

NameCheap didn't "steal" the domain name, although I understand that's how you
feel about it anyway. The least they can do is refund your money, so check that
out.

The above goes to show how much some people actually know, much more really
understand, intellectual property rights like copyright and trademark. While no one
is born knowing these things, taking time to really understand how they really work
can go a long way to possibly avoiding incidents like this.

In this case, trademarks apply because it involves a word or a phrase that domain
name also has. The more unique and/or famous the trademark, the more likely that
a market is going to "confuse" a domain name with its TM namesake.

With a domain name like AirFranceBooking.com bearing that of renowned airline Air
France, coupled with the word booking to buy a ticket, well...let's just say that it
has t-r-o-u-b-l-e written all over it.

 

But i have previously worked with affiliate programs who does not have any problem as long as we use a name with any word for an examples if i am promoting "Propecia" If i add a word like "BuyPropecia" will that have any illegal activity in that?

 

If the makers of Propecia explicitly let you use their trademark in your domain registration
to promote them, well and good. Alas, it doesn't mean others have to do the same thing,
right?

The essential idea here is if you use someone's trademark in your domain name, there's a
chance it might "confuse" the market into thinking you're associated or endorsed in some
way with its mark holder. Rather than say it's "illegal" because legality depends on laws of
a country, I'll just say that that kind of activity isn't allowed in many countries.

For a .com, though, there's an administrative proceeding addressing this issue even if the
trademark holder and domain owner are in different countries. It won't matter where the
domain name is registered or where its owner is located as long as it's a .com.

In case you ask, "well, by promoting the trademark, aren't they benefiting from me?", here
is a question: if a user types "air france" or "propecia" or whatever, who do you think they
are intending to look for? You...or the actual source of that product or service or so?

I hope you understand what I'm saying here and that it gives you something to consider.

 

I never had issues with Namecheap and Godaddy. Both are great domain registered. The issue you had is more complex than you think.

 

I keep two accounts, so I can take advantage of coupons, and so I can take advantage of transfer deals. If GoDaddy wants me to renew at full price and Name Cheap has a deal for $2.99 transfers, I transfer the domains to my alternate account. It works for me

 

Wow, what a thinking. I never thought about such a way to save money. If you need there is a transfer deal on near future. Check the following article for more details

http://www.techblaster.net/2013/01/namecheap-announces-onepager-website-builder.html

 

A registrar should not get involved in this case. You can register any domain TM or not.
You as the owner of the domain have full responsibility for the domain you register not the registrar. So what they did is kind of illegal.
I'd suggest you to do not use them anymore. A better alternative is Domain.gs

Good luck

 

When i contacted namecheap they say it is enom who had kept the domain on hold and when i emailed enom they are saying that the domain seem to be not in your account so we cannot help!

 

Did you received any email from namecheap saying they are removing your domain from your account? If yes, show to enom that email.

 

even if its a trademark thing, they should at least send notification.

 

air france is trademark name, like trademark adsense, wikipedia or facebook. your content is origin, but your domain name have trademark.

 

In all honesty you are breaking copyright rules from terms of conditions. Namecheap are a great company, I have been with them for years. The issue you have is with Air France themselves instead of Namecheap.

 

If you don't like them, change them then.

 

Any update, OP?

 

truncated whois of airfrancebooking.com

Administrative Contact:
Societe Air France ()
....

seems enom/namecheap simlpy transferred that domain to airfrance ?

 

It's not the place of a registrar to enforce trademark law. You've learned a valuable lesson and why real businesses don't use Reseller's like NameCheap.

You can't call them on the telephone because they don't have any telephone numbers, so you must rely on someone on the other end actually giving a damn about your company. And how long are you willing to wait for your problem to excalate from the first level email contact (Who can not make any real decisions) to someone who can?

GoDaddy and NameSILO both offer telephone access when needed and are actual Registrars not just resellers. NameSILO is also less expensive than NameCheap and offers Free Privacy even at renewal. So instead of chasing down coupons to save 2 or 3 dollars and wasting all your time transferring back and forth create a business strategy with a real Registrar and stick with them. I understand using coupons at renewal at GoDaddy (They are more expensive than NameSilo by several dollars per domain) but to move back and forth makes no sense. Is your time really worth that little?

NameSILO is much cheaper than NameCheap - ironic isn't it?

 

NameCheap is not a scam... I have ordered multiple domains from them before.

The reason why your domain was ceased is perfectly logical. TM domains do get confiscated. For example, if I had bought iPhone5.com before Apple did, the same would happen to me.

FYI, using Trademark domains can get you into trouble.