Watch out! People are registering domains that match the full names of high-profile executives, building them up and ranking them, and using the public visibility to financially scalp them. This could only sound like a “good business plan” to a morally and creatively bankrupt person with no ability to create anything valuable of their own. But, unfortunately, such people exist and they’re doing it.
A mock-up of a existing personal name squatter / extortion site.
If someone registers a name and quietly holds onto it outside of the public eye, that’s opportunistic capitalism or “squatting.” But when someone swipes a person’s name online and uses SEO techniques to make your stolen identity situation blatantly obvious to the world.. in order to pressure you into paying them money… then that’s full blown reputation extortion.
Using a meta description tag to call attention to the executives’ stolen identity
Denver SEO Zach Katz published an interesting account of how he got his domain name back from cybersquatters. Zach wrote the domain company who was holding his .com site, citing section 4b. of ICANN’s Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy:
b. Evidence of Registration and Use in Bad Faith. For the purposes of Paragraph 4(a)(iii), the following circumstances, in particular but without limitation, if found by the Panel to be present, shall be evidence of the registration and use of a domain name in bad faith:
(i) circumstances indicating that you have registered or you have acquired the domain name primarily for the purpose of selling, renting, or otherwise transferring the domain name registration to the complainant who is the owner of the trademark or service mark or to a competitor of that complainant, for valuable consideration in excess of your documented out-of-pocket costs directly related to the domain name…
While writing a letter didn’t directly get Zack’s domain back, his knowledge of the domain trademark dispute process helped him get his request taken seriously. There are a set of rules that all professional domainers are aware of.
ICANN, the international domain authority, has designated the National Arbitration Form as the third party to handle the domain name dispute process.
The arbitration process looks quite messy and complicated – and it seems to favor trademark holders without making specific references to personal names. But it is possible to file a complaint and go through a detailed bureaucratic process if you are willing to pay fees. However… it would be far simpler to just register your own business or personal domains today – even if you don’t plan on using them now or in the forseeable future. Just do it!
Hat tip: to Everett Sizemore for bringing this activity to my attention.
If you have any personal experience dealing with executive domain name squatters / extortionists, or with arbitration.. please leave your comments below!
Click here to share this post on Twitter!
Click here to share this post on Facebook!
“If you enjoyed this post, please leave a quick comment below and subscribe via RSS or e-mail updates. Don’t miss out on new, cutting-edge online reputation management articles and insights!”
