Tik Tok, Google, Tom Cruise, the Whitehouse, Pay Pal, Nicola Kidman, Harrods, Jennifer Lopez, Walmart and Apple have all been victims of cyber squatting. So what exactly is it, and why should you care?
The modus operandi of cyber squatters is to register internet domain names that are identical or similar to another person’s trademark, company name or personal name. Their objective is to profit from the goodwill associated with the original owner’s brand. Cyber squatting is illegal and can be highly damaging to a legitimate business or brand owner, both reputationally and financially.
Cyber squatting may be used to extort money, steal business, direct consumers to fake sites, facilitate data and identity theft, malign an individual, enable fraudulent purchases, and/or spread spyware and malware. Types of cyber squatting include typosquatting , identify theft, name jacking and reverse cyber squatting.
Help for cyber squatting victims – Contact auDA or Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) or seek legal advice.
