I was threatened and intimidated to give up a URL for a .net for a very big corporation name, now I regret it?

Question

they scared me that the legal fees alone would wipe me out, this was 10 years ago, even though I owned it fair and square and it's still on ICANN that I did, they just scared the bejeebers outof me with daily fedexes and calls from a big park avenue law firm (I am a widow with kids)...I cried and begged with them but they kept on threatening until I gave in, because I didn't have any money to goto court...is there anything I can do today? It was worth "a whole lot"...

Answer 1

10 Years is probably past the statute of limitations...

Answer 2

If they actually threatened you with some sort of harm, then you may have a case. If they just said "we're gonna sue you", then that's not really a threat because it's perfectly legal to sue someone. If you have a record of the threats (like e-mails or recorded phone conversations) then it may be worth it to see a lawyer about this.

Answer 3

If you were the legally registered owner, you should have fought it then.

Even if you saved all the written threats, and saved recordings of all the phone calls, I believe it is now far too late to do anything about it.

What domain name were you forced out?

Doc

Answer 4

phab4 is right.

the time to negotiate the price of something is before you transfer, something, not after, especially 10 years after.

I am sure an attorney that specializes in this area can reassure you you did the right thing and didn't really have any options anyway.

Answer 5

Sounds like you were a "cybersquatter" and would probably have no right to make any money off the website anyway.

For example, even if you beat McDonald's to registering "mcdonalds.net" doesn't mean they have to pay you for it. The law protects companies and their right to domains.

Answer 6

Well it's too late now. You probably could have made a lot of money out of it if you had gone to a law firm.