As the JioHotstar.com domain saga involving an anonymous Delhi developer comes to a quiet conclusion, a techie shared his past experience of facing off with Reliance over domain names. Taking to X (formerly Twitter), the tech enthusiast recounted his own story from 2012, where he registered domains related to Jio years before the telecom giant officially launched.
In a series of tweets, the tech enthusiast Amit Bhawani revealed that he had registered two domains—reliancejio.com and riljio.com—back in 2012. At the time, rumours were circulating that Reliance was planning to launch a new telecom brand named Jio. Hoping to capitalise on this speculation, the techie purchased the domains, anticipating they could become valuable once the brand was officially announced.
“Back then, I was into blogging and often bought domains speculatively. Rumours were floating around that ‘Jio’ might be Reliance’s upcoming brand, so I took a chance and registered those domains,” he explained.
However, by 2014, Reliance’s legal team reached out, claiming the domains as their trademarked property. Although he tried negotiating a $25,000 sale, Reliance refused to budge and sent a firm legal notice. Ultimately, he handed over the domains without further dispute. “No drama, no twist – just a straightforward ending,” he tweeted, pointing out that big payouts in such cases are rare.
The JioHotstar domain battle The techie’s experience resonates with the recent case of a 28-year-old app developer from Delhi, who found himself in a similar battle with Reliance over the domain JioHotstar.com. The developer registered the domain in September 2023, anticipating that the merger between JioCinema and Hotstar would make it valuable.
Hoping to finance his executive MBA at Cambridge University, the developer sought ₹1 crore for the domain. Despite several attempts to contact Reliance privately, he received no response. This led him to post an open letter on the JioHotstar.com website, publicly asking Reliance for the sum.
In his letter, he acknowledged the imbalance in power between himself and Reliance, but held out hope for a favourable outcome. However, when Reliance eventually reached out, they only offered to reimburse his registration fee of less than ₹5,000, while refusing his ₹1 crore demand.
The developer’s hopes of securing funds for his education gradually faded as legal warnings and hacking attempts mounted. In a statement titled "Thank You People of Internet," the developer expressed his gratitude to the many lawyers who offered him pro bono legal assistance but admitted that continuing the fight was beyond his means. "What I have understood is that there are many legal opinions and no clear answer until the court pronounces a verdict and I literally don’t have the time and resources to go against a big group," he wrote.
Realising the difficulty of taking on a company as powerful as Reliance, he decided to put the domain up for sale on a domain marketplace at one-tenth of his original asking price. “I had no malicious intent, just the hope for a better future. Bye Bye. This site will go offline soon,” he said, indicating his decision to withdraw from the battle.
For Bhawani, handing over his domains without a fuss was the easier path, while the Delhi developer initially held out for a fair deal but eventually conceded. “Should he have fought? Did he do the right thing? I think it's up to him to decide, not us,” Bhawani reflected in his final tweet, acknowledging that every case is different.