Traverse Legal Cybersquatting News Alerts for Monday, July 14, 2008

A new version of typosquatting has recently come into play with ICANN’s allowance of Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs).  This new type of typosquatting consists of the registration of non-standard characters to replace letters in the URL, such as pàypal.com. 

ICANN Tries to Put An End to Domain Tasting and Opens the Door to New gTLDs

It is an exciting time for the development of the Internet, and it has gone almost unnoticed.  A number of developments in the domain name world have occurred today.  ICANN has paved the way to outlaw domain tasting at its Paris meeting this afternoon.  In April 2007, a supermajority of the GNSO (Generic Names Supporting Organization) council voted to discourage domain purchase grace periods in which refunds are given for the purchase of a domain within a set number of days, typically five.  In May 2007, ICANN's at-large advisory committee again asked the GNSO to look at the domain tasting issue, and they came up with five problem areas to address in regards to domain tasting.  Today, ICANN enacted a proposal that will prohibit those registrars that offer the grace periods from offering a refund for domain names that exceed 10% of the registrar's net registrations for the month or, alternatively, 50 domain names, whichever is greater. 

Additionally, the ICANN board voted to approve a massive expansion to the available domain names.  This new expansion, which must still be ratified by the ICANN board (expected in 2009), will allow applicants to the gTLD process to select their own suffixes.  This recommendation paves the way to allow trademark holders to select more marketable suffixes, e.g. diet.pepsi or pumps.reebok, and it allows cities to apply for suffixes (e.g. .newyork & .chicago).  It will be interesting to see how this affects trademark holders, and how it will affect the value of the current premium TLDs such as .com. 

Protecting Your Trademark In Light of ICANN's New Generic Top-Level Domain Names

Domain names have become an important part of our commercial lives.  They act as designators of products and services and serve as shortcuts to reduce consumer search costs.  That is why trademark owners must be vigilant in protecting their trademark rights on the Internet.  On June 24, ICANN gathered to discuss adding new generic top-level domain names, or gTLDs, to the spectrum of available domain name suffixes.  When ICANN adds gTLDs, you can be sure that cybersquatters and typosquatters are watching because it presents them with a new opportunity to register the trademark of another to profit off of the goodwill and Internet traffic associated with the mark.  Domain name disputes inevitably follow the addition of TLDs, so it is important to hire an attorney that is proactive in monitoring the use of your trademarks on the Internet.

New Domain Search Tool Claims To Ensure Upstream Privacy For Domain Availability Search

The Over-the-Rhine-based advertising firm metaphor went to buy an
Internet domain name last winter after a preliminary search found it to
be available, but before they could buy it, the name was snatched away
by an outfit based in the Bahamas with links to China.

• Check out LiberateDomains.com

Metaphor has created a new software application which it claims is a safer way to quietly check on the availability of domain names - of growing importance for both commercial and personal use as the Internet expands.

Battling domain idea theft | Cincinnati Enquirer | Cincinnati.Com

Davis says metaphor's new program - which is being launched on the 25th anniversary of the program that changed the Internet from a number-based to a word-based system - is open-sourced and verifiable, making searches for possible names more secure.

"We're not going to hide how it operates, and we're taking every reasonable effort we can to prevent ourselves or others from snooping on the process," Davis said.

Originally intended as purely an in-house tool, the first version was "originally just hacked together" by Davis and his team. But metaphor chief executive Ran Mullins immediately saw the potential of a commercial launch.

You can also download editspot's white paper on cybersquatting and front running here.

Cybersquatting and Abuse to Mainstream Consumer Brands Intensified in 2007, According to Year-Long Trend Report by MarkMonitor

» Cybersquatting and Abuse to Mainstream Consumer Brands Intensified in 2007, According to Year-Long Trend Report by MarkMonitor Domain Name News, The Domain Industry News, ICANN News, Registry News, Domainer News, Domain

MarkMonitor released their latest Brandjacking Index this week, finding cybersquatting is the most common form of brand abuse—with a 33 percent jump in one year—and that brandjackers are abusing an expanding range of brands that consumers use everyday. The report also shows recent and significant drops in domain kiting and related pay-per-click fraud, indicating that aggressive legal action on the part of brandholders as well as ICANN scrutiny are proving effective in deterring specific brandjacking techniques. In addition, phishing techniques and targets continued in 2007 to evolve with a 533% increase in phish attacks against the retail and services sector. There were 382,248 instances of cybersquatting identified in Q4, followed by 72,582 instances of false association and 27,098 instances of pay-per-click fraud.

For more coverage and the MarkMonitor news release, see:

* http://www.markmonitor.com
* http://www.vnunet.com/
* http://blogs.computerworld.com
* http://www.infoworld.com

Technorati Tags: cybersquatting, typosquatting, domain hijacking

How to Retrieve a Stolen Domain Name

In the previous post, we discussed the increase in domain theft and stolen domain names.  Companies losing control of their domains face serious consequences, especially those who have an e-commerce component to their site.  Stolen domain names are becoming more frequent.  While the best approach is to prevent domain theft, many clients contact a lawyer only after the domain dispute has reached crisis level.

Attorney Enrico Schaefer: "Traverse Legal's attorneys know how domain names are lost to partners, employees, web hosts and thrid-parties.  We also know how to cost-effectively retrieve stolen domain names which are critical to your business.  Because we are a boutique litigation law firm, we know how to strategically and efficiently accomplish our client's goals."

If you need assistance reclaiming a stolen domain name you may contact one of our  attorneys for a no-risk evaluation or call 866.936.7447 (International Toll Free).

Recovering a stolen domain name typically involves several steps.  The first is to establish either contract or trademark rights in the domain.  If the company can establish that the domain name is protected by their trademark, a good domain name lawyer can leverage that trademark against any other third-party registrant.  Only the trademark holder is allowed to register a protected domain name.

In the previous post, we discussed the increase in domain theft and stolen domain names.  Companies losing control of their domains face serious consequences, especially those who have an e-commerce component to their site.  Stolen domain names are becoming more frequent.  While the best approach is to prevent domain theft, many clients contact a lawyer only after the domain dispute has reached crisis level.

Attorney Enrico Schaefer: "Traverse Legal's attorneys know how domain names are lost to partners, employees, web hosts and thrid-parties.  We also know how to cost-effectively retrieve stolen domain names which are critical to your business.  Because we are a boutique litigation law firm, we know how to strategically and efficiently accomplish our client's goals."

If you need assistance reclaiming a stolen domain name you may contact one of our  attorneys for a no-risk evaluation or call 866.936.7447 (International Toll Free).

Recovering a stolen domain name typically involves several steps.  The first is to establish either contract or trademark rights in the domain.  If the company can establish that the domain name is protected by their trademark, a good domain name lawyer can leverage that trademark against any other third-party registrant.  Only the trademark holder is allowed to register a protected domain name.

Domain Name Theft Incidents Continue to Increase

Domain name theft presents a distinct problem from cybersquatting.  Cybersquatting is the registration or use of your trademarks and service marks by third-party registrants of infringing domains.  Domain name theft occurs when you lose control of your domain registration and domain registrant status.

Domain theft typically occurs as a result of a company’s failure to lock down or control the registrant log in information at the registrar level. Domain names are stolen in a variety of ways but typically occur when an employee, partner or web developer take control of the registrant log in information.  Each is discussed briefly below.

Domain Name Theft and Cybersquatting on the Rise

Traverse Legal’s cybersquatting attorneys have seen a dramatic increase in stolen domain names, cybersquatting and typosquatting over the last six months.  Domain name theft can occur in a variety of ways including hacking of registrant login information, unauthorized access to registrant administrative contact information and fraud at the registrar level.

Phishing Scams Can Harm Your Business, Your Website and Your Domain Name

It is becomming more common for cybersquatting and other malicious web site scammers try to pass off products and/or services  for the sole purpose of obtaining personal and financial information of web site visitors. 

Domain Name Hijacking Scam: Beyond Cybersquatting

Are your search engine rankings still yours? Other people might hijack your search engine rankings and they might steal your web site visitors. The worst thing is that you might not even notice it. As if the dangers of cybersquatting, typosquatting and domain theft weren't enough, hackers are also after your valuable trademarks and web traffic.