In reply to:
> Do you even know where you are right now?
Do you even know where dreamhostinc.com is hosted now?
Guess who is the registrar? (Hint: Registrar: NEW DREAM NETWORK, LLC)
DH could feel differently, but I don't really see a problem with Dreamhost being in a domain name... if it's used in a positive way (reviews, promotion, info, tech help, etc...).
I think the problem is that it's being sold as a webhosting site, and unless the buyer incorporates as Dreamhost, there is no reason to buy it. Competing against DH like this would be a violation of New Dream Network's registered service mark, "Dreamhost."
The current site probably isn't the most deceptive use of a referral link out there, but it certainly has to be one of the laziest. :D
I doubt many companies will give you a hard time over a trade/service mark, if you're using it to their advantage, or at least not competing against them with it. And, of course, make it clear that it's not connected to or endorsed by the mentioned company/site in any way.
That site you mentioned in the other thread, dreamhostsucks.com, probably isn't a violation of the service mark either, since it's not a webhosting site. I've done no legal research on this, but seeing that Wal-Mart (slightly bigger company than DH ;) doesn't seem to be able to stop walmartsucks.com, the same probably goes for DH.
I'd imagine that if a site was called dreamhostsucks.com, and the title of the page was, "Dreamhost sucks--host with us instead!" there would probably be a problem.
Lesson of the day: Always register the ____sucks.com version of your business name! :)
Also, I don't even know if DH would shut that site down if they easily could, since they don't even delete the negative posts about them on their own forums. I always liked how they leave the bad stuff out there with the good.
In reply to:
Can't believe anything you read on the Internet, but... from what I've seen of his other posts, I beg to differ.
Not bad... only 3 of his 6 posts are spam. I guess his next post will be the tie-breaker that decides whether he's a worthless spammer, or the most helpful poster the internet has ever seen. The suspense is killing me!