The Curious Case of Cybersquatters: Can You Fight It?

Technology is my passion.  Advancements in computer processors, televisions, internet, and digital entertainment in general are things I live for.  Don’t get me wrong, law is my passion, too, but if someone had a time machine and travelled back to when I was a kid just to ask me what I wanted to be when I grow up, I’d answer Ronin Warrior.  But after being pushed for a realistic occupation, I know I’d eventually say computer programmer and hacker . . . who moonlights as a Ronin Warrior.

Where am I going with all of this you ask?  Well, seeing as how I like to think of myself as something of a technology aficionado, I was very surprised to learn only recently about the long-running practice of “cybersquatting.”  Moreover, I was even more shocked to learn that there is actually federal legislation that both prohibits the practice and protects potential victims against it.  Who knew it was such a problem that the federal government saw it fit to enact a law way back in 1999?

If you haven’t heard of the term cybersquatting before, as a user of the internet, you’ve probably run across the results of its aftermath at least once in your life, most likely while you were conducting some sort of online research.  Ever Google something and find a website in the search results that fits exactly what you were looking for, only to click on the link and be confronted with a generic webpage like this?  Don’t worry about clicking that last link either, it just a picture of a cybersquatter’s page.

Anyway, cybersquatting is when a person or corporation purchases an internet domain name, generally one that is likely to be needed by someone or an organization in the future.  The cybersquatter buys the domain name not to utilize it to create a relevant web page, but simply to hold onto it with the hopes that one day a legitimate entity actually interested in purchasing the domain to develop content on will find that it’s unavailable.  At which point, the bidding or, more precisely put, the gouging begins.

Cybersquatting may seem like an uncommon practice for a number of reasons.  Most importantly because the cybersquatter has no guarantee that the domain they’re holding onto will lead to extorted cash and that the amount they would have to pay every year just to keep a domain would be worth it.  Well, to this comment I say that one should keep in mind just how cheap it is to register a domain name, even a lot of them, and also how much one stands to make if the cybersquatter happens to pick right.

Celebrities are a favorite target of cybersquatters since they are, more likely than not, generally a demographic that will utilize the internet in order to help promote their own careers.  However, don’t let this lull you into a false sense of comfort.  Corporations and businesses in general are also huge targets for cybersquatters for much of the same reasons that celebrities are targeted.

Fortunately, there is legal recourse for victims of cybersquatters under the federal Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act.  In order to file suit to win back ownership from a domain held by a cybersquatter, the plaintiff must prove that the cybersquatter bought and kept the domain name in bad faith.  The definition of “bad faith” under this Act is very board and complex.  Generally, one must show through various factors that the current holder of the contested domain name had and has no intention of using it for anything other than to extort money from potential purchasers.

Unfortunately, the bad news is that it can be very expensive and difficult to win even the most seeming clear cases of cybersquatting.  Therefore, the best advice is to take preventative action.  This means if you know you may want or need to create a website one day, register your desired domain name as soon as possible.

Because if the Boss can’t win a cybersquatting case, then you know it must be tough.