A warning about registering copyrighted domains

I'll make this section quick and to the point.

One thing you should never be tempted to do is register a domain name that contains a company name which isn't yours, especially when it comes to bigger companies. So don't even think of registering MicrosoftSoftware.com or McdonaldsHamburgers.com, because their legal departments will eat you alive. Literally.

In the early days of the net, there were a lot of "cybersquatters" who registered company domain names in the hope that they could bid them to massive companies and reap millions of dollars for their efforts.Hundreds of court cases and thousands of dollars in legal expenses later, all that happened was the courts summoned the "little guy" to give up his trademarked name and literally give it away to the big companies.

So the warning is simply this. If you spot a hot domain that you think would bring a major company's purchasing department to its knees, resist the temptation. You'll go through much more hassle than it's worth.To ensure that there won't be any copyright conflicts on the particular name, use a trademark search on any new domain. I personally use http://www.nameprotect.com/.

Tread with caution... because if you launch a multi-million dollar venture on a domain that doesn't belong to you, you may end up giving it away.