Microsoft trained its legal guns with accusations against cybersquatters Tuesday, saying it has filed three lawsuits to stifle attempts to profit from domain names that contain the company’s trademarked terms.
trained its legal guns with accusations against cybersquatters Tuesday, saying it has filed three lawsuits to stifle attempts to profit from domain names that contain the company’s trademarked terms.
Microsoft alleges that cybersquatters, or typosquatters, have registered thousands of domain names targeting Microsoft in a bid to mislead users and make thousands of dollars by serving text ads along the way.
On an average day more than 2,000 domain names are registered that contain Microsoft trademark terms, the company estimates. Of those, at least 75 percent are owned by what are believed to be professional domain name holding operations.
The lawsuits, the first federal action by Microsoft against so-called domain squatters, have been filed under the 1999 Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act. Microsoft has filed two civil lawsuits against four defendants, who have allegedly registered nearly 400 domain names that target Microsoft trademarks.
“Microsoft has seen a virtual land rush for Internet domain names with the goal of driving customers to a web site for profit,” said attorney Aaron Kornblum for Microsoft’s Internet Safety Enforcement.
Take, for instance, microsoftrebate.com. The company does not own the domain name but has said that the sites are a way for squatters to profit off Microsoft intellectual property. Other examples include downloadvistaforswindows.com, gamesonxbox.com, halochamp.com, and genuinewindowsvista.com
Surfing to these web pages leads visitors to a screen full of pay-per-click advertisements and little meaningful content, Microsoft has alleged. But cybersquatters continue to profit because of the money earned through online ad networks like those of Google.
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Until the rise of Google’s ad network, most squatters registered domain names as a way to drive up the price and resell it to the original claimant for the name. But now with the right domain names, squatters can earn thousands of dollars by serving text ads to users. For instance, if users enter a site called xbox360com.com, instead of xbox360.com, then they can be shown a number of relevant text ads that, when clicked through, could make money for the squatter.
“There is a new ecosystem of cybersquatters that has been created and supported by online ad networks,” Mr. Kornblum said.
Microsoft said its Trademark and Internet Safety Enforcement groups noticed a surge in domain name registrations containing the company’s intellectual property earlier this year while monitoring web sites registered by phishers. The company has now decided to expand its anti-phishing initiative called “Domain Defense Program,” to include anti-cybersquatting initiatives.
Microsoft has also filed a lawsuit to unmask defendants who are using “privacy services” offered by domain name registration companies. These services conceal the identities of the registrar. Approximately one quarter of all domain registrations containing Microsoft trademark terms are registered via “privacy services.”
Contact the writer:PGanapati@RedHerring.com