SAFETY ON THE INTERNET - Cybersquatting

Don't Let Your Domain Name Expire!

Your Domain Name is a very personal, and valuable asset. It is how the rest of the world is able to find you, or your business. It is literally "Your Good Name" on the internet. For this reason it is critical that you maintain control of it, so that more importantly you are able to control the content internet users see when they find "you" using your domain name.

Cybersquatting is the act of registering expired domain names, or domain names not yet registered and using them in bad faith. In other words, reselling them at artificially inflated prices, often using that domain name to expose internet users to objectionable content. These can be any expired domain name, or those connected with celebrities or recognizable trademarks. A cybersquatter takes advantage of the domain registration companies' "first come, first served" policy by submitting a large list of very popular words and names all at once. While the domain registration company is in the process of entering these names, the cybersquatter uses profits from individual domain re-sales to finance the required registration fees.

A cybersquatter can literally sit on a popular domain name for years, causing grief to the actual company or celebrity it represents. As long as a cybersquatter is recognized as the legitimate owner of “yourdomain.com” for example, the real you cannot legally use your own name as a domain. You would have to pursue a lawsuit to compel the cybersquatter to relinquish the name, or actually pay whatever price the current owner assigns. Until a federal Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act became law in 1999, most celebrities and companies found it easier to pay the often exorbitant fees charged by the cybersquatter. However, suing to recover your domain name remains an arduous process.

The actual act of buying an abandoned or unused domain name is not technically illegal. What eventually causes legal trouble for a cybersquatter is using that domain name in "bad faith"; a purpose clearly counter to the reputation or intention of the celebrity name or trademark. If a cybersquatter chooses to create a topic site at “yourdomain.com” they may be protected from prosecution under the language of the federal anti-cybersquatting law. If that same cybersquatter used your status to draw traffic to a pornography site, then you can sue in federal court for an injunction and fines. A successful prosecution is not guaranteed, however, and legal costs may be prohibitive.

An alternative solution to the cybersquatter problem may lie in a regulatory body called the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). ICANN now offers an arbitration option which can settle domain name disputes outside of the court system. Companies and celebrities representatives must still prove the bad faith intentions of a cybersquatter, but a successful arbitration can be held without legal representation. The cybersquatter may be compelled to relinquish domain rights at a fair market value or be fined for improper use of a trademark. This would not apply if the cybersquatter registered a domain name BEFORE it became associated with a celebrity or trademark. If a cybersquatter registers “yourdomain.com” in 2006 and a new music sensation called “yourdomain” becomes famous in 2007, there would be far fewer grounds for a lawsuit.

In short, talk with your webmaster, and don't let your domain name expire.