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Posted on Tue, Oct 27, 2009 : 4:10 p.m.

Cyber-squatter loses court case; Wolverines can get domain names back for free

By Michael Rothstein

Earlier this month, Toronto Raptors forward Chris Bosh won a lawsuit against cyber-squatter Luis Zavala and was awarded the rights to chrisbosh.com.

Zavala also purchased the domain names of 800 other celebrities and athletes - including two current Michigan athletes.

Among the names Zavala purchased were the .com addresses of football wide receiver Darryl Stonum and basketball guard Laval Lucas-Perry, although Stonum's name was spelled darylstonum.com.

As part of the decision against Zavala, Bosh asked for the rights to all of the domain names Zavala purchased and is offering them back to the athletes and celebrities free.

Lucas-Perry, through men's basketball spokesperson Tom Wywrot, said he is aware of the situation but was unavailable for comment.

As far as some of Michigan's other prominent athletes, the .com names of junior guard Manny Harris and senior forward DeShawn Sims have been purchased. Same with the .com name of freshman quarterback Tate Forcier. Actually, many of Michigan's top athletes have domain names that have been claimed. 

Some of the others searched: football players Donovan Warren, Brandon Minor, Denard Robinson and Martavious Odoms along with basketball players Zack Novak, Stu Douglass and Darius Morris. Both football coach Rich Rodriguez and men's basketball coach John Beilein have their domain names purchased, but not by them.

"It wouldn't surprise me," Rodriguez said about his .com name being owned. "They'd probably want me to buy it, but I have no interest in doing that."

Then there is bencronin.com, which is actually something about the adventures of Ben Cronin, PI. Brandon Graham's potential domain name belongs to Brandon Graham, author and poet. Zack Novak's domain name is a Web site that is a memorial to a 26-year-old named Zack Novak.

Some other Michigan football players need not worry: David Moosman, Troy Woolfolk and Zoltan Mesko's .com names are unowned.

"I don't think anybody does," Moosman said. "I would be surprised if somebody did. I'll have to check it out.

"... I couldn't imagine that somebody somewhere would do something like that. It's beyond me. If somebody really wants it and they can do something good with it, that's fine. If they do anything bad, then that's not too good. But I'm not going to do anything with it."

On domain name purchasing Web site GoDaddy.com, a domain name can be purchased for as low as $1.99.

Michael Rothstein covers University of Michigan sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at (734) 623-2558, by e-mail at michaelrothstein@annarbor.com or follow along on Twitter @mikerothstein.

Comments

Wooper

Tue, Oct 27, 2009 : 6:10 p.m.

I noticed michaelrothstein.com does not belong to you.

Michael Rothstein

Tue, Oct 27, 2009 : 3:44 p.m.

Thanks for the heads-up. The site was somewhat confusing with how much the different names cost. I'll change it.

81wolverine

Tue, Oct 27, 2009 : 3:36 p.m.

The.com domain names on GoDaddy actually cost $10.69. The $1.99 cited in the article should have been preceded by "as low as..." In order to get that price, you have to buy one of their monthly subscription services.