
Google recently revealed how much they paid the guy who briefly owned Google.com - halfimmortal
http://thenextweb.com/google/2016/01/28/google-breaks-its-silence-on-how-much-they-paid-the-guy-who-briefly-owned-google-com/
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azeirah
What would've happened if he decided to keep the domain? Millions?

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smt88
There have been several US court cases where a company was awarded ownership
of a domain that used their name. Google would have easily won the lawsuit,
and the guy who owned it would have owed Google tens of millions in damages,
gone bankrupt, and probably become infamous for screwing up Google services
for hundreds of millions of people.

There really wasn't much of a decision there. He had to give it back.

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tristanj
No, there would be no lawsuit since Google was well within their grounds to
reject his purchase. From their terms of service:
[https://domains.google.com/tos](https://domains.google.com/tos)

3\. Domain Name Availability. _Google does not guarantee that Registrant will
be able to register or renew a desired domain name, even if Google’s systems
indicate that the domain name is available or Registrant is able to complete
an order with respect to such domain name. Google cannot know with certainty
whether or not a third party is simultaneously seeking to register the domain
name that Registrant is seeking to register, or whether there are any
inaccuracies or errors in the domain name registration or renewal process or
related databases, including the various WHOIS or other Registry Operator
databases. Google is not responsible for any inaccuracies or errors in the
domain name registration or renewal process._

4\. Registration Acceptance. _Google may accept or reject Registrant’s
application for registration or renewal for any reason at its sole discretion,
including, rejection due to a prohibited, improper, unavailable, infringing or
otherwise questionable domain name._

The terms of service give Google plenty of room to reject his purchase. Not to
mention it should not have been available anyway since the WHOIS for
google.com expires on 14/9/2020.

A case like this would be quickly kicked out of court.

