Laws Every Domainer Needs to Know — 10 US

Domain sniffing, legal entities, domain donations: 10 things every domainer ought to know.

An article published at Aviva Directory is perhaps the most straight-forward, best-researched legal article that every domainer — newbie or experienced — ought to read.

The article covers some of the basic of domaining, such as trademarks, but also covers a variety of topics many domainers may have never considered (such as which form of legal entity to form, how to avoid “piercing the corporate veil, etc.)

1. Domain sniffing – how you can legally go following someone for “sniffing” a domain you query
2. Trademark issues – most experienced domainers know regarding trademarks, but here are some good examples
3. What legal entity you ought to use for your domain name business
4. Where you ought to form your legal entity if you are in the U.S.
5. Piercing the corporate veil – I suspect few domainers actually are aware of this problem. Even if you set up an LLC or S-Corp to run your domain business, you need to be sure to have controls in place to separate your personal and business finances.
6. The distinction between your domaining business as a hobby or business
7. Donating domain names – The article references previous Reglike articles on the subject. My recommendation remains to not donate domains to charity to take a “fair market value” write-off.
8. Employees v. Independent contractors – this is notable as your business grows
9. Inaccurate registration – again, references the GoDaddy fiasco Reglike broke earlier this year.
10. Depreciating vs. Deducting domains – a complicated tax issue that few people agree regarding

This article is a must read for all domainers.