Total bullshit, and it's pretty sad they haven't made a public apology for how they've conducted themselves.
Here is the bottom line.
- Affiliate was given permission to create site using trademarked term.
- Affiliate used the site to specifically promote their program.
- Affiliate spent years to effectively promote their program using said site.
- Affiliate generated over $100k in sales over the years.
- Program owner got greedy threatened affiliate, held payment and then demanded affiliate to turnover domain to them immediately.
Frankly, they should be fucking embarrassed. I can't think of a worse way to treat your hard working, honest affiliates.