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Masters of Somebody Else's Domain
by Michelle Roy; Staff writer -
June 2001

Columbia Sportswear Company, a leading international seller of outdoor gear, announced last week that it has been successful in its legal action against an individual who registered Internet Domain Names using Columbia's long-established trademarks.

The "cybersquatter" attempted to sell these Domain Names to Columbia earlier in the year for $750,000 each. Not only did he lose the arbitration panel decision, he has been required to transfer both Domain Names to Columbia for free.

So just what is "cybersquatting" and could you possibly be found guilty of it?

In 1999, a US federal law known as the"Anti-cybersquatting Consumber Protection Act" came into place. Under the Act, cybersquatting is defined as registering, trafficking in, or using a domain name with bad-faith intent to profit from the goodwill of a trademark belonging to somebody else. It refers to the practice of registering Domain Names which reflect the names of existing businesses, and intending to sell the names back to the businesses for a profit.

What we call "cybersquatting" began at a time when most businesses were not yet Internet savvy, and were still unaware of future opportunities on the Internet. Some bright entrepreneurs registered the names of well-known companies as Domain Names, with the intent of selling the names back to the companies when they finally realized the value of the Internet. Avon and Panasonic were among the "victims" of early cybersquatters.

Cybersquatters aren't just squatting on trademarked, or company names either. A new batch of cybersquatters have begun the hijacking of celebrity names.

An article in "The National Post" reported a Canadian man who owns more than 1,500 "cybersquatted" names. Some of Jeff Burar's (High Prairie, Alberta) registered Domain Names include brucespringsteen.com, brucewillis.com, aliciasilverstone.com, tomcruise.com, and jeanchretien.com.

While celebrity names cannot be trademarked, the "anti-cybersquatting law" does give celebrities some protection.

Julia Roberts won an arbitration case at the start of June that gave her access to the Domain Name juliaroberts.com. The current owner of the site has taken the issue back to court. But, for most stars, there is no protection.

Rock star Sting has lost the opportunity to set up a website on sting.com. It was found that the current owner was in no way infringing on the musician's name. Sting is a common English word, and the current site does not relate in any way to music, and was not set up in "bad faith".

Celebrity names, and misspellings of names, are a hot market. There are people who are doing their part to combat the problem. At www.mathewperry.com (misspelling) an Internet guru shows a picture of the "Friends" star. Under the photograph he writes, "know this man? Have him contact me. I'm holding his 'misspelled' name." Normally, trying to contact somebody to "sell" them back their name would be grounds for arbitration under the "anti-cybersquatting" act. The owner of mathewperry.com has registered about 15 celebrity names (some dead, some alive) for safe keeping. He thought better he get the name to give to the celebrity FOR FREE, than to have an "entrepreneur" try and make some quick cash from a resale.

Company and celebrity cybersquatting is big business. The number of lawsuits against "cybersquatters" continues to grow. So, even those big companies, and hot celebrities who were a bit too slow in the Domain Name Game may still have a chance to be Masters of Their Own Domain.

This Issue's Internet Sites

www.juliaroberts.com: Here's the site operating under the superstar's name. Some interesting info pertaining to cybersquatting is posted here.

www.madonna.com: The people who have regstiered this name have rebuffed all offers from the singer who wants the name. They believe that there may be other Madonna's out there that have a right to the name, as well.

UPDATE: As of Monday October 16, Madonna has won the rights to www.madonna.com after a long battle with a cybersquatter.

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