something bad to watch for

[Publisher]

I retired from my webdesign business in January of 2007. About that time my domain name expired, and that was no problem.

However, before I could take my site down, a Russian company snatched up the domain name, swiped all the content from my site, and stuffed it full of Google Adsense ads.

I've notified Google, of course, and just wanted to let you know that this stuff is happening.

[jdancing]

If you had any kind of revenue from that site you should have sold the website and domain instead of just letting it expire.

Even if you were making only a few hundred a month - for an older website with some income - you could have had a nice retirement "bonus".

[Publisher]

The website was for my business, that I closed. The site itself, did not generate cash, but was used to generate leads for me.

[FrostyMug]

BAD business decision! (or an unfortunate slip up..) in any case, not sure what you can do, not even DMCA may help because the site and content is not yours anymore.

If I retired, I'd keep the domain and keep the site up no matter what - for $50/year hosting/domain registration you could have a peace of mind.

[Rosalind]

not even DMCA may help because the site and content is not yours anymore.

How do you figure that out? Retiring and selling a domain name doesn't mean you give up any copyrights you own as well. DMCA is probably the best thing for this situation.

[netmeg]

a Russian company snatched up the domain name, swiped all the content from my site, and stuffed it full of Google Adsense ads.

It doesn't sound like his content is being used anymore, it sounds like his old domain is in a parking program or somesuch. Not much you can do about that.

[sailorjwd]

netmeg,

I think the op said 'swiped', meaning all his content is still there.

I think the regular DMCA procedure may not work. Might require a lawyer.

[Publisher]

My content is definitely on the site...there are many pages of it. Each page has google ads added.

There really is no recourse...I'm certainly not going to try to find an international attorney to fight some entity in Russia.

I did notify Google because this most likely is against the TOS. I think that if their Google account is banned, there's no reason to leave the site up.

[europeforvisitors]

You say that you "notified Google." I hope you did this via the DMCA procedure, because that way, Google is required to take action against the infringer. See:

[google.com...]

[FrostyMug]

but how do you guys feel DMCA is going to work here? He doesn't own the site anymore, how can he prove it was his content? 'wayback machine' or something similar? I know he can prove records of owning the domain through his host.

[europeforvisitors]

The domain and the content are entirely separate issues. Also, Google is legally required to act on the DMCA complaint before (and until) the dispute over content ownership has been resolved.

[Publisher]

I used my name in my business name and domain name...so it's relatively easy to prove who I am.

[netmeg]

I understand how they got your expired domain, but how did they get your content? Did your ISP turn over your hosting account? (That might be actionable - I don't know - never heard of an ISP who did that) Did they scrape it before it was expired? Once it was expired, presumably your content wouldn't show; most registrars change the nameservers after the grace period. It all sounds kinda weird.

[Publisher]

My domain name expiration occurred roughly a day or two of my closing my business. There was probably a window of opportunity of about a week from the time my domain name expired until I removed my site from the server. Since there's really no value to the content, i.e., it was just the usual "we the best" stuff used to sell a web design service. The problem is, of course, that my business is closed and it still has a [bogus] presence on the net. And they're suppposedly making money off the google ads the put the site.

For me it's not a real big deal, but I just wanted to let folks know that they need to take care, that if they're closing down a site, remove all content before the domain expires. Somebody out there might have content that they place much value on and regret it if this happens to them.

[ogletree]

They could still get it from archive.org. Don't ever let a domain with back links expire. You can always find somebody to buy it from you.

[econman]

The OP owns the copyright to his creative efforts. If there was anything creative about his content, it is most likely protected by the copyright laws. He should file a complaint under the DMCA. Even if this doesn't directly benefit him, it will help discourage this sort of activity in the future.