| CYBERSQUATTING - The Problem | | | | both versions. |
| Cybersquatting, or registering a domain name in bad | | | | DOMAIN EXPIRY- The Problem |
| faith (usually a variation or mis-spelling of your domain | | | | UK domains are bought for two year periods whereas |
| name) an cause untold damage to a company and is | | | | other TLDs can be registered for varying numbers of |
| a major problem on the Internet, where registering a | | | | years. If you have multiple domains, all likely to expire at |
| domain is a quick and automated process. Legal | | | | different times, it is easy to forget one, only to find it |
| recourse is costly and time-consuming and not always | | | | has been registered by a cybersquatter. |
| effective. Cybersquatting can occur in various guises: | | | | DOMAIN EXPIRY- The Solution |
| 1. Competitors - Any potential customer of yours | | | | 1. Ensure that the company you bought your domain |
| getting your domain name wrong ends up as a | | | | names through has your most current e-mail address, |
| customer of theirs! | | | | so they can contact you. |
| 2. Unhappy customers and (ex-) employees - All their | | | | 2. Register your domains for as long a period as |
| complaints about you get posted, whether they are | | | | possible to minimise the chances of unwanted expiry. |
| justified or not. | | | | A welcome side effect of this is that Google may |
| 3. Opportunists - They set up pages that redirect you, | | | | rank you higher than if you registered your domain for |
| or affiliate pages, often linked to pornography, in order | | | | a shorter period of time. |
| to make money or to spread viruses. Other | | | | 3. Use a facility such as to check when your domains |
| opportunists may try and sell these similar domains | | | | expire, and make a diary note or setup an automated |
| back to you at vastly inflated prices. | | | | reminder. |
| CYBERSQUATTING - The Solution | | | | AVOIDING OTHER PROBLEMS |
| Registering multiple domain names can be expensive | | | | 1. Always ensure that your domain names are |
| but many registrars allow a discount when buying 10 | | | | registered in your name if you use a third party to |
| domain names or more. When you have these | | | | make the registrations on your behalf. |
| registered, ensure they all point to your existing | | | | 2. Use an e-mail address for registration purposes that |
| website. | | | | is separate from your domain name, and is not a free |
| 1. Register as many TLD (top level domain) variations | | | | address likely to expire e.g. hotmail or yahoo. If your |
| as possible e.g. .com, .net. .co.uk etc... | | | | e-mail address expires, someone else can register it |
| 2. Register mis-spellings of your domain name | | | | and then take over your domain registration. |
| 3. If your domain is hyphenated, register the | | | | 3. If you receive correspondence asking you to |
| non-hyphenated version too. | | | | confirm, transfer or renew your domain, for whatever |
| 3. If your domain could be plural or singular, register | | | | reason, check it with your registrar first. |