When Reliance and Disney agreed to merge their Indian streaming businesses, people guessed the new app would be called JioHotstar. One young developer took that guess seriously and bought the web address. What followed was a strange, quick story that touched a student’s dream, two children’s charity project and a large company’s legal team. This article tells the timeline in order, based on news reports, and then explains what brands and small businesses can learn about domain names.
The short version
- 2023: a Delhi-based developer reportedly bought the jiohotstar.com domain, expecting the two companies to merge.
- October 2024: the developer said he would sell it to Reliance for ₹1 crore to fund a course at Cambridge. Reliance reportedly refused and was said to be considering legal action. The developer then sold the domain to two Dubai-based children, Jainam and Jivika, on 26 October.
- November 2024: the siblings said Reliance’s legal team contacted them and that they agreed to hand over the domain for free.
- December 2024: news reports said the domain’s records showed it had moved to Reliance’s Viacom18.
How the story unfolded
The developer and the ₹1 crore ask
The developer reportedly said he had no copyright problem with the name and that the ₹1 crore price matched the cost of a course he wanted to study at Cambridge University. He later said he did not have the money or the resources to fight a large corporation and planned to take the site down for fear of legal trouble.
Two children and a “Journey of Seva”
A day after that, the domain showed a new page. It carried the heading “Welcome to Our Journey of Seva” and a message from Jainam and Jivika, siblings living in Dubai, who said they wanted to spread kindness and help children in need. They said they had bought the domain from the Delhi developer and showed their charity work through photos and YouTube videos. For a few days, the web address of one of India’s most talked-about streaming brands led to a children’s charity page.
The handover
The siblings then said they had been contacted by Reliance’s intellectual property team and chose to pass the domain to the company without any payment. By December 2024, ownership records were reported to show Viacom18 as the owner. The JioStar name was used for the combined company, and the streaming app launched as JioHotstar.
What is “cybersquatting”?
Registering a domain that matches someone else’s brand, hoping to sell it for a profit, is called cybersquatting. Many countries treat it as wrong when it is done in bad faith. Companies can use a dispute process, such as the UDRP run through WIPO for .com addresses, or the INDRP for .in addresses, to ask for such domains to be transferred. These processes take time, which is why many companies try to buy the domains quietly first.
How brands and small businesses can protect themselves
- Register early. Buy your main name with common endings, such as .com and .in, and common spelling mistakes.
- Register your trademark. A registered brand name makes a dispute simpler.
- Renew automatically. Many businesses lose domains simply because a renewal bill went to an old email.
- Use a company email for the domain account, not an employee’s personal address.
- Do not buy a domain you do not have the right to use. Even if the seller seems friendly, the buyer can face legal trouble.
Questions to think about
- If someone buys a domain before a company announces its brand, is that smart business or unfair? Where would you draw the line?
- Did the siblings’ decision to hand over the domain free of cost set a good example?
- Should small startups spend early money on domains and trademarks, or wait until they have more customers?
Related reading
- Elon Musk vs Mukesh Ambani: why the Starlink India launch has turned into a feud
- India Mobile Congress 2024: Akash Ambani on AI and data centres
- Startup funding this week: Indian startups raise $123 million
Sources
- Business Today: JioHotstar domain now with Viacom18/Reliance
- exchange4media: siblings to transfer the domain to Reliance for free
- Angel One: Reliance JioHotstar domain row
This article summarises news reports from October to December 2024. Some details, such as the exact asking price and dates, were reported differently by different outlets.
