hey everybody, i have purchased two domain names. psuforums.com .. and pennstateforums.com. neither of these sites are directly approved or affiliated with penn state university. my question is basically, can penn state do anything to me about having a website called pennstateforums.com? i mean i can see if their name is copyrighted, i might be liable to get sued by them, but i on the other hand, i own that name, i bought it its mine, so how does this work? i'm very confused.
I bought a gun, I own it. But do I have the right to rob a bank with it? Anyway, read your provider's agreement for starters since it essentially spells out whatever "rights" you have. If you're, say, a student or associated in any way with the party in question, read any applicable agreements or policies.
If the name PennState is trademarked they might have a problem with you using a domain with Pennstate in it, whether or not they make a fuss about it you never know. It's not like you say I have bought the domain and now it's mine, if a name is trademarked the owner can claim it from you via the famous cease and desist letter at any time. Why don't you mail Pennstate Uni first and ask if they are ok with you starting the forum?