How cybersquatters and typosquatters make money from yout own innocent flubs

 

A. But how can large companies, with all their IT experts, allow tons of shams to make revenue? The answer is cybersquatting originated at a time when most businesses were not well informed about commercial opportunities on the Internet. These so-called ‘entrepreneurs’ registered domain names corresponding to the names of well-known businesses to sell the names back to the companies when they finally woke up. Panasonic, Hertz and Avon were among the first targets of cybersquatters. Well-known products and other celebrities are also among the victims.

B. Cybersquatting means registering or using a domain name with the intent to profit in bad faith from the goodwill of a trademark that belongs to someone else. It commonly refers to the practice of buying up domain names that use the names of existing businesses with the intent to sell the names for a profit to those businesses. The term derives from ‘squatting’, the practice of in some way using someone else’s landed property without their permission.

C. Typosquatting is now a crime in the United States. Porn network czar John Zuccarini was the first person charged under the new typosquatting law and found guilty in 2004. He was sentences to 2,5 years in prison. The sites Zuccarini was found to have cybersquattered included those referring to Nicole Kidman, Backstreet Boys, Encarta and others. His manipulation of Britney Spears’ name is among the more recent abuses. The Court held that there was no legitimate purpose for Zuccarini registering and using typo-domains other than to trade on the popularity of the celebrities and products involved.

D. However, if you choose, you can sue to get your domain name - and possibly some money damages – under a federal law known as the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act of 1999, or you can initiate arbitration proceedings under the authority of the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). The ICANN arbitration system is considered by trademark experts to be faster and less expensive than suing under the ACPA.

E. Typosquatting, however, is a much more dangerous practice as it is employed by pornographers to attract children to their websites. Until now, there have been few methods of stopping pornographers from misleading children and adults into accessing sites masquerading as popular legitimate sites. Just as adults do, children get instant messages with graphic sexual images, content, or links to pornographic sites.

F. In other words, typosquatting is based on the probability that a certain number of Internet users will mistype the name of a website when browsing the net. Typosquatters usually register several possible typos for a brand name or website known for its high traffic, then monitor to see how many clicks per day each of them receives, and finally set advertising for the websites that receive a high volume of accidental traffic. Ironically, advertising revenue might come from selling ads to the original sites’ competitors. Getting clicks and traffic by accident appears to be big business worth millions of dollars.

G. Typosquatting, although very similar to cybersquatting, has a different purpose: it is employed by people who want to divert traffic to their websites. Typosquatters are unethical companies and individuals that want to profit from your own confusion and spelling mistakes. Typosquatters typically purchase a domain name that is a variation of a popular domain name with the expectation that some of the traffic for the original website will stray to theirs, and thus capitalize on web surfers’ misspellings of those popular domain names.

H. Today, although trade mark laws may offer some protection, it is often cheaper to buy a domain name from the cybersquatter than sue for its use; though you may be able to recover your costs and attorney fees if you win, there is no guarantee; it is completely up to the judge. Some of the most famous examples of domains resold by cybersquatters to companies are: WassStreet.com for over $1 million, AltaVista.com for $3.5 million and the unprecedented $7.5 million paid for Business.com, all in 1999.    

 

 

Использованная литература

 

1. Анисимова, Е.Г. Английский язык для юристов. Предпринимательское право / Е.Г. Анисимова, С.В. Коростелев. – СПб: Питер, 2006. – 173 с.

2. Илиади, Ю. А. Английский язык для юристов /Ю.А. Илиади. – Москва: Проспект, 2006. – 392 с.

3. Чиронова, И.И. Английский язык для юристов /И.И. Чиронова. – Москва: Юрист, 2012. – 399 с.

4. Amy Krois-Lindner. Introduction to International Legal English / Cambridge University Press, 2008. – 160 p.

5. Amy Krois-Lindner. International Legal English / Cambridge University Press, 2006. – 320 p.

6. Gillian D. Brown, Sally Rice. Professional English in Use – Law / Cambridge University Press, 2007. – 128 p.

7. Hellen Callanan, Lynda Edwards. Absolute Legal English / Cambridge: Delta Publishing, 2010. – 112 p.

[1] (US) articles of incorporation

[2] (US) bylaws

[3] in consideration of – в благодарность за, в виде компенсации