Domain Name Disputes Come In Many Flavors

Domain name disputes continue to become more common:

As an internet law attorney specializing in domain name issues, I am always struck by the wide variety of domain name issues which come through our law firm front door.  While cybersquatting domain names and trademark issues have been around for a long time, our lawyers continue to see an increase in other types of domain name disputes.  Many companies do a high percentage of their business on-line.  Some companies do all of their business from the internet.  Yet, few companies protect their domain name assets in a way that reflects the value of those assets to the company.  Here are some of the different types of emails, telephone calls, and referrals which we see on a regular basis:

Massive Facebook Cybersquatting Lawsuit Fails to Stop Bidding on Facebopok.com

Cybersquatting lawsuit not enough to protect typo domain:

Despite Facebook’s cybersquatting lawsuit effort, the typo domain Facebopok.com sold for $1,999 on SnapNames.com, according to TheDomains.com. 

Facebopok.com forwards to f-questionnaire.com, which is clearly a counterfeit site using the same colors, font and facebook logo in order to deceive consumers. 

Facebopok.com:

Just because a registrar allows you to register a domain name, or you are able to pick a domain name up on the aftermarket, doesn’t mean it isn’t domain theft.

Report Domain Theft: The First Stolen Domain Name Database on the Internet

Domain Theft and Stolen Domain Name Update:

Domain theft has been around since the first domain names were registered at the very beginning of the internet.  A domain name can be stolen in a variety of ways.  A domain thief can hack into your email or registrant account and simply take control of the domain name at the registrar level.  An employee, web developer, partner or other person with access to your domain registrant account can simply take control of the domain and move it to their own account.  As an internet lawyer specializing in cyberlaw, I hear about domain theft just about every day. 

Morgan Linton recently launched domaintheft.org, the first internet website where users can upload stolen domain names into a common database, and anyone can search that database to see whether a particular domain name has been reported as stolen.  While domain theft continues to cost companies millions of dollars per year, domaintheft.org is a significant step forward in domain name protection.

If your domain name has been stolen or you are a victim of domain theft, you should enter it into the domaintheft.org database and give one of our internet law attorneys a call.  We can help you understand your options and the cost of getting your domain name back.