What Is Cybersquatting And What Can You Do About It

You should know what cybersquatting is if you run a website and/or have a business or personal brand. Let's discuss what cybersquatting is, how you can fall victim to it and how to deal with it.

What Is Cybersquatting

Cybersquatting is a tactic that involves buying a domain name that resembles an established or well-known person or organization, but without getting that organization's or person's permission. The person who is committing cybersquatting typically has the intention of selling the domain name to the organization or person that the domain/website resembles. If a domain name was purchased in bad faith, then the person buying the name might be cybersquatting.

How You Can Fall Victim To It

Lets say you have an online business, and you have branded it. You can fall victim to cybersquatting when a person decides to buy a domain name that is very similar to your website's name or they buy the exact domain name as yours, but adds an extension to it (such as .org or .net).

The cybersquatter may contact you to try to get you to buy the domain name. Alternatively, they could try to profit off your domain and brand's likeness by engaging in the same exact business practices as you.

How Cybersquatting Can Impact You

First, it can impact your reputation. If a person sets up an identical website/domain name as yours, and they use it for ill-purposes, then consumers could confuse their site with your own. In turn, your reputation can take a hit.

Sometimes cybersquatters uses a person's domain name and likeness to defraud the real business's/website's customers. In some cases, they could try to steal customer's data. This could cause irreparable damage to your brand.

Dealing With Cybersquatting

Cybersquatting can affect anyone who owns a website, regardless if the site is very well-known or if it's owned by a small business. If you become a victim of cybersquatting, then you might need to take legal action. There are attorneys that specifically pursue lawsuits against cybersquatters.

A law firm should have an array of ways to help you if you've been a victim of cybersquatting. This includes calling upon an SEO expert witness and other industry professionals. An SEO expert witness are professionals who assist lawyers in cases involving SEO methods, which in this case would be cybersquatting.

Suing is not the only way to deal with a cybersquatter. Another way is to use the ICANN arbitration system, but it may not be the easier option. If you suspect someone has cyber-squatted you, then you can go to ICANN's website to file a complaint. However, this does not guarantee that the problem will be taken care of.