DOMAIN question (legal)
 

I know this is a very newb question to ask.

If I register a domain with a popular console name in the title, is that legal?

The answer is NO.

You could get your ass sued.

I thought so, but had to ask.

Thanks dude :)

You mean a gaming console, like if you registered a domain called xboxstuff.com or something?

I really don't know anything about the subject, but I imagine some could consider it a trademark infringement (but can something be considered a trademark infringement if it has no negative effect on the holder? ie. fair use laws). Unless you're selling playstations on the site I doubt they'd care. Look at http://xboxcheats.com/ for example, obviously a 3rd party site earning ad revenue but not hurting microsoft or the xbox brand in any way. At the top it says "an Xbox.com partner site", maybe that has some legal significance?

It's not allowed, But as long as you didn't say anything bad about the company they probably wouldn't mess with you. But it's not right to profit off others trademarks.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nominative_use
I think it falls under this

, also "nominative fair use", is a defense to trademark infringement in the United States, by which a person may use the trademark of another as a reference to describe the other product, or to compare it to their own. Nominative use may be considered to be either related to, or a type of "trademark fair use" (sometimes called "classic fair use" or "statutory fair use"). All "trademark fair use" doctrines, however classified, are distinct from the fair use doctrine in copyright law. The nominative use doctrine was first enunciated by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in New Kids on the Block v. News America Publishing, Inc., 971 F.2d 302 (9th Cir. 1992), which decreed that one party may use or refer to the trademark of another if the following conditions are met:

1. The product or service can not be readily identified without using the trademark (e.g. trademark is descriptive of a person, place, or product attribute)
2. The user only uses so much of the mark as is necessary for the identification (e.g. the words but not the font or symbol)
3. The user does nothing to suggest sponsorship or endorsement by the trademark holder. This applies even if the nominative use is commercial, and the same test applies for metatags.

Furthermore, if a use is found to be nominative, then by definition it can not dilute the trademark.

In New Kids, the court had examined a "New Kids on the Block survey" performed by the defendant, and found that there was no way to ask people their opinion of the band without using its name. This use was extended to metatags in Playboy Enterprises, Inc. v. Welles, 279 F.3d 796 (9th Cir. 2002), where former Playboy Playmate Terri Welles was sued for using the trademarked term, "Playmate of the Year" in a meta element in her website. The court found that Welles had to use the term to describe herself, as she had been given that title by the trademark holder.

Among the older cases cited by the Court in Playboy vs Welles was Volkswagenwerk Aktiengesellschaft v. Church, 411 F.2d 350, 352 (9th Cir. 1969), in which the Ninth Circuit had ruled that an independent auto repair shop that specialized in repairing Volkswagen cars and mentioned that fact in their advertising was not liable for trademark infringement so long as they did not claim or imply that they had any business relationship with the Volkswagen company.

Thanks folks.

My little brother wants to get into seo. I'm trying to think of something he'd enjoy while at the same time learning the ropes. I suppose if I used keywords like console, games, gamer, etc, I'd be ok.

on xbox.com there is a section with popular fan sites that have cheat codes, walkthroughs, forums, etc..

pretty much any site that helps promote the XBOX brand in a good way, will be left alone. Now if you're site is how to mod the Xbox/360 or how to gain free access to xbox live, etc... then you'll most likely be sued. I myself own two 360 sites, both mod related but they're not active