Stop, Squatter! Agency seeks to halt cybersquatters with dispute resolution rather than litigation
By Jeffery D. Zbar •
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Imagine you launch a business and attempt to register yourproduct's Internet domain name www.mycoolproduct.com. Only youfind out someone has gotten wind of your creation and registeredthe domain first. Adding insult to injury, they want you to buy itfrom them--for thousands more than the usual $70 registrationfee.
It happened to Microsoft with such domains aswww.microsoftoffice.com and www.windows.com. And if it can happento Microsoft, it can certainly happen to you.
Domain speculators, or "cybersquatters," pay therequired $70 to register domain names similar to those ofwell-known or established corporations, and then negotiate a salewith the company. Prices average between $5,000 and $8,000, thoughsome have gone into the millions.
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