Cybersquatters

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Cybersquatters is a new term which has only recently started to be used. It describes the registering of a domain which is a trade name or personal name, by a person who does not have any link to this name, the domain is then put up for sale at huge prices. The tactics used are sometimes along the lines of blackmail but this practice may come to an end, with the USA preparing anti-cybersquatting ( anti-domain squatting ) laws.

Cybersquatting in Ireland

Ireland has been a hub of cybersquatting activity over the past few years, between companies getting caught in the trap and politicians getting unwelcome attention from their names being used to register domains. One of the first cybersquatting events to have an impact on Ireland was www.waterfordcrystal.com, where a school-boy from England registered the domain name using his dads credit card. At one point he was getting $40,000 of e-mail orders per week. Waterford Crystal have offered to purchase the domain.

Two Galway schoolboys have become the latest political cybersquatters, by registering a website in the name of Ms Mary Banotti and offering to sell it to the former presidential candidate ; an invitation that Ms Banotti later turned down. Ms Banotti said, that while the registration of the site in her name by teenagers might appear amusing, it left open the prospect of serious abuse. The Fine Gael press office has received two e-mails from a Mr Brendan Holian asking if anyone might be interested in buying it, and asking how to contact Ms Banotti. Mr Brendan Holian confirmed that he was indeed the registered owner of marybanotti.com Mr Holian (16) said his friend, Mr Padraig Finlay (15), a boarder at St Jarlath's, Tuam, had told him how to do it. It had cost $35 to register the name.

The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, has also had his fair share of the cybersquatters with bertieahern.com being used to advertise sexually explicit information. Speaking on the matter, he said that current legislation was ineffective in this area, and admitted he did not know how the problem should be tackled. The company who registered the Taoiseach's name is transnames.com, the table below shows the other names he has registered and how much it is to buy back your domain.

The Minister of State, Mr Willie O'Dea, has become the second politician, after Mr Ahern, to have a Website in his name linked to sexually explicit material. Other domain names of Irish Politicians include www.dickspring.com and www.charliehaughey.com.

Microsoft tackling the cybersquatters

Two Texas men who registered the Internet domain names "microsoftwindows.com" and "microsoftoffice.com," have landed themselves in trouble as the software giant just filed a lawsuit, alleging that the two men are infringing on the company's trademarks and misleading the public. Microsoft characterises the suit as part of its continuing stance against cybersquatting. Microsoft, for its part, said it wouldn't be bullied as they wanted between $50,000 and $100,000 at one time.

According to the suit, Kurtis K. Karr and Kenny Brewer, the accused, allegedly registered a long list of domain names with the intent to sell them. Among the names on that list were: AirborneExpress.com, AlamoRentaCar.com, CitibankMasterCard.com, HewlettPackardss.com, and Wall-Mart.com. The legal action primarily is directed at protecting its intellectual property, a battle it has been fighting for some time, Microsoft said.

"The courts are applying traditional trademark principles to Internet domain names," Microsoft attorney Steve Aeschbacher said. "The case law on this subject is clear."

The End of Cybersquatting ?

The Senate in the USA have passed a bill which would limit "cyber-squatting", the practice in which people register Internet domain names so they can later sell them. Domain names are the addresses computer users enter to access a particular Web site.  They are sandwiched between www. and .com, .net or .org. Some people have found a lucrative practice in registering Web addresses using the trademarks of famous companies in hopes of later forcing the companies to pay sizeable amounts of money to buy the rights to the Internet locations. 
The Senate Judiciary Committee heard numerous tales about consumer confusion stemming from false registration of domain names.  In one case, it learned of a cyber-squatter who registered the names "attphonecard.com" and "attcallingcard.com" allegedly to sell calling cards, and solicited personal information.  

The bill would allow trade-mark owners to recover statutory damages in cases where it is proven that a trademark name was registered in bad faith by a person who intended to unfairly profit from its sale.  The measure also would allow trademark owners to seek the forfeiture, cancellation or transfer of an infringing domain name after satisfying the court that it has tried but was unable to locate the person who registered it. The bill also would encourage registrars of domain names to work with companies to prevent cyber-squatting. But as yet the bill contains no criminal penalties for this practice. Unfortunately, the Clinton administration opposes the measure, contending that courts are already capable of dealing with the situation and that it would be better to allow courts to continue to develop a body of case law in the area.

The Role of ICANN

Draft rules from the organisation responsible for Internet domain names may reduce the amount of domain “cyber squatting” and take away some of the legal worries that now revolve around the process of registering a .com, .net or .org name. At its recent meeting in Santiago, Chile, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, voted to approve rules that call for a common dispute-resolution process.

The dispute resolution model--backed by America Online and register.com, and voluntarily adopted by 20 domain-name registrars--calls for ICANN-endorsed mediation bodies to settle disputes, with the loser paying fees. The mediation process would be spelled out in the standard language of domain-name registration contracts.

ICANN also hammered out rules to discourage domain-name squatting. The group recommended three guidelines for “determining whether a domain name was registered in bad faith:”

• Whether the domain-name holder is making a legitimate non-commercial or fair use of the mark, without intent to divert consumers for commercial gain or to tarnish the mark;
  

• Whether the domain-name holder (including individuals, businesses and other organisations) is commonly known by the domain name, even if the holder has acquired no trademark or service mark rights; and
  

• Whether, in seeking payment for transfer of the domain name, the domain-name holder has limited its request for payment to its out-of-pocket costs.

Whether this will work or not depends on how well the above procedures are implemented by ICANN and the domain registration companies.

This is obviously a very interesting topic and this section will be updated if any developments occur in the coming months.

Relevant Links

Registering Your Domain Name

Zephyr Webdesign Services, Ireland

Note : You can also register domains from this site - see the link on the left hand column

Register.com

Dotster.com

Hosting Your Domain Name

Host Route UK - recommended - tell them Shane McDonald sent you !

HostRoute - Recommended Hosting Company

Find out information about the person who registered a domain by using the swhois at this location