Raczyna.PL & Dot Com
I wrote a post a while back about Sovereign Domain Names over Iceland the Country trying to sue Iceland the Grocery Chain in the UK.
However moving on I acquired two domain names from where my mother was born in Rączyna (Raczyna.com & Raczyna.pl) in Poland, which I have since developed.
Now I have in the back of my mind slight anxiety because I know how crazy this country Poland is and I have seen firsthand how they demand things, similar to the the Royals in UAE.
Upon doing some research it is apparent that town and village domain names cannot be trademarked, unlike country domain names which in theory cannot be registered as they are part of the sovereign state. This means the Country Name alone cannot be registered and has to have a second or third keyword after it e.g.: ‘UK Domain Brokers’ or ‘UK Website Designers’.
So even though I have recently dropped some ‘Neom’ Keyword domain names I am now feeling slightly apprehensive because the Polish domain names are part of a blog to expand my personal branding and services, but also to teach local farmers about hemp cultivation and CBD products.
So you’re thinking why I am getting myself into a bit of a pickle is because the village ‘Rączyna’ has most of my family living there and because of an ongoing family feud I also wanted to let the whole village know what type of people my family are.
I have tried twice to offer an olive branch to make peace and both times was told they were not interested in making amends. So without mentioning their names, the villagers will put two and two together and will know who I am as news travels fast amongst villagers.
I have purposely not mentioned their names but have put the article under ‘Rączyna News’, Not only that I plan to write an autobiography to include how they have treated my daughter and I. Basically to cut a long story short my Aunt has scammed her way into taking land that rightfully belonged to my mother. My proposal was that they could have the land as long as they started growing hemp. However, my cousin said it was illegal to grow hemp which in the blog I have proved him wrong. I told him if he did not want to work with me I would make sure he would never be able to sell his produce should he change his mind.
So even if they did not use their real names in applying for investments they would surely be found out once they sign written commission agreements which would require a sworn affidavit.
So either way my family bridges have been burnt and to think all I wanted was a public apology from my cousin’s mother and his wife.
If You want to read about it here is the link: https://raczyna.pl/renata-chciala-publicznych-przeprosin-od-rodziny It is written in Polish but there is a translator widget you can use.
So even though I am slightly apprehensive I will wait it out and if the local authorities try to demand I release the domains to them as I have documented evidence that I did try to contact them a while ago to see if they had any objections or if they were interested in acquiring it from me. The domains are in use now. So it will be the case what came first the chicken or the egg.
Towns don’t have trademarks on their names so trademark law does not apply. Anything with a geographical origin cannot be used as a trademark. But once you include some additional letters or text then it is a whole new ball game and these types of domains can be trademarked.
Hence “Cardiff” (Cardiff+ext) cannot be trademarked but “Cardiff Pizza” (Cardiff+keyword+ext) can.
The only time things could go belly up is if the domain damages the reputation of a specific town or village then the domain owner may be held liable for this damage, which will result in a legal complaint and that could result in you losing the domain name.
Obviously, I have not said anything derogatory about the village, just about some of the people in it.
My main focus is to advertise hemp cultivation and CBD production. Even if I lost both these domain names which are merely pointing to my blog they cannot take my blog down and I will have plan B as I have acquired the following domain names which I would put in its place I am merely taking advantage of the fact how much traffic I can generate at this present moment in time:
www.polandmonthly.com
So the only time I think it may be a problem is if:
- The intended use of the website is illegal and detrimental to your town. (Which it is not).
- If the domain is readily available to register then there should not be a problem unless it has been registered and is deemed as cybersquatting in exchange for a ransom monetary demand.
The domain is available for registration (if you can go through with the registration it means that it hasn’t been listed as reserved, registrars have lists of domains not available to the public which sometimes include geographical locations), I beg to differ on this as when I first started out many years ago I got a ticking off even though it was not a geographical location for having guccishoes.wales in which Gucci demanded I surrender the domain name. This was many years ago may I add and have since learned what you can and cannot register.
Just remember do not just buy a domain name and sit on it. Develop it to create traffic which will make your domain name more valuable and if you can offer a product or service you are in theory creating equity.
