You would have heard the term “cybersquatting” multiple times. What exactly does this term mean? It means registering a domain name that belongs to someone else’s trademark and later sells the same to the trademark owner at an exorbitant amount. The people who perform this activity are known as cyber squatters. Such people practice this technique by registering the domain names of the existing companies and then sell them to those companies to derive the monetary benefit. Many big organizations like Panasonic, Fry’s and ICICI have been a victim of this. Cyber squatters still pose a great threat to those companies who do not proactively get their domain names registered.

Some times these miscreants also adopt a strategy called typo squatting, which means registering the website names that are very similar to the popular trademark names or businesses. This often misleads the consumers. Another strategy followed by them is re-registration of the names. As a rule, the website names that are registered on the internet are valid for a certain amount of time. It is the responsibility of the website owner to re-register it before its expiry. When certain owners forget to re-register it, the cyber squatters take advantage of it and get it registered. This again poses a threat to the original owner, as he/she would have to pay an enormous amount for getting the original name back from the cyber squatters.

Today with the maximum commercial activity being carried out on internet, anyone who plans to open a company or have been just thinking about it should take the first step of registering the domain names. The fee of registering it is quite minimal so there is no harm if you register it in advance. It is always better to proactively register it than to later on pay any huge amounts to cyber squatters for getting it. Before getting the domain name registered, you can always check on the internet about the availability of the names and then accordingly choose yours.

People or businesses that become victim of the above said strategies can get their disputes resolved using the Uniform Domain Name Resolution Policy (UDRP) or by registering under Anti-cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act of 1999. UDRP is a process that has been developed by Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) which is quick and cheap compared to going to court. If all these procedures are a hassle for you, then try to get in touch with the domain name registrant. If you think the amount being asked is reasonable enough then simply pay him rather than getting involved in UDRP or court procedures, which would be money and time consuming.

Who wants to be a prey to these cyber squatters? The answer is none of us. So, always
adopt a proactive approach while registering the domain names. Today if in some corner of your mind you’re having thoughts of launching your services or any product, and then simply register the name. I hope this outlines the necessary steps to avoid any current or future encounters as you put your ideas online.

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