I just bought www.dominiondirectory.com This is a marketing company in Canada and they are tied to yellow pages. I checked with Alexa's Way Back machine and sure enough, from 1999 to 2006 this was indeed a Yellow Pages website/directory. Even if the site has been down for 3 years 200-500 people per month are STILL keying in Dominion Directory. And the traffic would be very targeted I presume (clients looking to advertise in Yellow Pages). Now am I violating any copyrights with this? Since the domain only contains generic wording I beleive I'm ok? Should I fully develop the website and then approach Dominion Directory/Yellow Pages or just contact them right away? Should I sell, lease or develop the site? Any feedback much appreciated.
Friend, are you sure you are not a victim of typo error. I mean if a company is tied up with yellow pages and they are still into the business, why they will loose the domain so easily despite knowing that they are still getting traffic. Please double check if this is the same domain. But approaching the company is not a good idea. Its will like inviting trouble for yourself. If not, then you may either develop it or park it. But whatever you do, just make sure you research everything before taking any final decision. If in doubt, the best way is to park the domain.