Are domains an asset that could be sold by a trustee?

[naturalchild]

I'm self-employed and considering Chapter 7. The lawyer I consulted said the trustee could consider my domain an asset, and sell it to have funds for my creditors. I've spent 12 years building my website audience and absolutely must not lose the domain.

Can a trustee sell a domain address? In my case it would seem contrary to the intention of the bankruptcy law because I would not be helped to get a fresh start, I would be left without any means of bringing in an income.

Are domains vulnerable in bankruptcy? If so, I could not consider this option. Thanks for any information or ideas.

[keepmine]

What sort of value does the domain have?

[justbroke]

Exactly what keepmine wrote. What's the value of the domain. Business assets are fair game especially when you own them outright.

However, I would say it's only an asset if you have it listed as an asset that has value. You may be able to exempt it under "Tools of the Trade" in your State, although many limit such tools to $5,000.

[StartingOver08]

I found a really interesting case that you may want to read regarding creditors and domain names. It may help your position. I have not done enough research to see if there are other cases, but this is a short interesting one:

http://www.swiggartagin.com/articles/umbro.pdf

Here is another article where a Trustee IS attempting to sell a domain name:

http://www.domaininformer.com/news/press/080312DomainNametoPayCreditors.html

[justbroke]

Very godo case references StartingOver. In my response, above, I was equiting "domain" to site, and not "domain name".

I wonder what naturalchild was referring to, the site itself or the name. The cases you have in that reference are about domain names and not the content (domain) itself.

Did I ever mention that I wanted to be an intellectual property attorney? LOL

[StartingOver08]

JustBroke, I don't know if the reference was to the domain name or to the content. Maybe they have separate values!

[Amy26]

I own a few domains myself but I can't see why anybody would pay more than 10 bucks for them ....

[justbroke]

I own a few domains myself but I can't see why anybody would pay more than 10 bucks for them ....

There are some good ones out there that are worth a lot more than the simple registration fee.

Actually, during the late 1990s, "domain speculation" was a thriving business. This is where you purchased hordes of domain names with names of companies, in the hopes that they'd buy them from your for thousands of dollars. Back then, the names were run by the INTERNIC (not Network Solutions), so grievances over names weren't resolved easily. Back then, there was no sure way of fighting over copyright and trademark issues. (Today Network Solutions has programs for dealing with infringements and disputes.)

One would register things like...

Loews.com, BankofAmerica.com, NBC.com, ABC.com, and every common name or technical name. Then sit on it and hope that someone will pay you for it. In the early 1990s when the Internet went commerical (1994 to be precise) domain names were actually free to register.

So, does a domain name have intrinsic value... absolutely! Fandango recently purchased Movies.com from Disney for $17 million. That wasn't for the content... it was really for the domain name.

[heyu]

If you really want to see the value of domain names just google domain values and enter the domain google.com

[Amy26]

Well I didn't mean corporate or hollywood type domain names... I'm talking about the everyday "hey, I wanna have a domain and call it boobs4u.com ... the average joe schmoe these days isn't gonna have a multi million dollar domain.

Anybody wanna but www.cputrwz.com from me? :P

[naturalchild]

JustBroke, I don't know if the reference was to the domain name or to the content. Maybe they have separate values!

The lawyer was referring to the domain name (address). I have to assume that I own all the content, having prepared over 700 pages of articles and art images over 12 years. But owning the content means little if it is suddenly no longer at the address people have been using, and where many links have been pointing. I'm planning to call an Internet lawyer on Monday, and will report back then. If the domain is in danger, I can't proceed with the bankruptcy.

More generally, isn't the bk law supposed to give us a fresh start, and not leave us without any means of surviving afterward?

[justbroke]

Well I didn't mean corporate or hollywood type domain names... I'm talking about the everyday "hey, I wanna have a domain and call it boobs4u.com ... the average joe schmoe these days isn't gonna have a multi million dollar domain.

Anybody wanna but www.cputrwz.com from me? :P

No, but if you have boobs4u... maybe.

[Amy26]

Call my people... we'll talk ;)

[ready2puke]

Have your people call my people...lol
I can either cry when I'm here or laugh my butt off.....

Hey I ain't got no people

[dingdong]

Sorry guys, I have owned boobs4u.com for quite some time.

Also boobs4u.net, boobs4u.biz, boobs4u.tv, I own them all, except boobs4u.org ( I am trying for my 501(C)3 status, then it will be mine!)

I am trying to donate boobs to worthy recipients at boobs4u.org, incoming donations have been down a bit since the economy went FLAT-