Ebay - selling information and domain names

[Jake396ss]

What is the name of your state? Minnesota

I was whondering if it would be illegal or in violation of any property/trademark laws if I gathered a group of website addresses that gave away free gifts (you know, the ones that require participation in some kind of program) and sold the list on Ebay. The list would include the website addresses and would clearly state that I am in no way affiliated with them. I basically just want to sell information. Any advice on the legality of this venture?

 

[divgradcurl]

What is the name of your state? Minnesota

I was whondering if it would be illegal or in violation of any property/trademark laws if I gathered a group of website addresses that gave away free gifts (you know, the ones that require participation in some kind of program) and sold the list on Ebay. The list would include the website addresses and would clearly state that I am in no way affiliated with them. I basically just want to sell information. Any advice on the legality of this venture?

As a general rule, compiling and selling publically-available information is not illegal.

 

[Jake396ss]

I tend to agree with you, but I have been recieving mixed to unfavorable feedback concerning the legality of the issue. The comments I've gotten seem to relate this to being a "scam," and "selling something that doesn't belong me." I understand that I may not use other peoples domain names and URLs and pass them off as my own, but I just don't see how selling a list of information on how to get to another's website is infringing on their copyrights to the address/website. There is a very gray area that I have noticed from research on the linking issue, and it may be a very shady subject, but I haven't come across any case or situation that quite compares to mine. Any more incite on the subject and its specifics would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[The Occultist]

Actually, you may be surprised to learn that there actually is not a law within the US that states you are not allowed to pretend somebody else's work is your own.

Anything deemed "public information" (which includes phone numbers!) can be handed out to random people.

 

[divgradcurl]

Actually, you may be surprised to learn that there actually is not a law within the US that states you are not allowed to pretend somebody else's work is your own.

Just FYI, that's not entirely correct. See 17 USC 106A (rights of certain authors to attribution and integrity); there are also trademark regulations against "reverse passing off" that could apply in certain circumstances. But you are generally correct -- there is no general right to attribution in copyright law in the U.S. (typically known as "moral rights" or "rights a droit" or something like that, in Europe). But there are a few exceptions where rights of attribution do apply...

 

[The Occultist]

Ah, I understand! That was a good read, thank you.