Isn't Your Domain Name Worth Protecting?
Domain names continue to increase in value. Internet traffic continues to become more important for both on-line and brick and mortar companies. Global corporations, everyday businesses and their trademark attorneys are waking up to the value of their domain names, trademarks, copyrights and the need to protect of their on-line presence. How much is a domain name worth? Every domain name dispute attorney who practices Internet, Media & E-Commerce Law knows too well that the front door of their web site is often open and unlocked for cyber-criminals to exploit. Too many companies fail to appreciate the value of their domain name as a corporate asset, the fact that their domain name and associated trademark is under attack by cybersquatters and that their web traffic and customers are being diverted.
Sedo, the leading online market place for buying and selling Internet domain names and websites, has reported that a total of $72,230,731 worth of domains were sold and transferred via the Sedo marketplace in 2007. This is a 60% increase of the same figure from 2006. Now are you still thinking about leaving that domain unprotected?
Investors are so confident in the growth of online advertising - and the ability of domainers to capitalize on that trend - that they plan to soon start selling shares of domain-name companies to the public, even in today's volatile market. Last September, NameMedia, a company based in Waltham, Mass., which has a huge portfolio of generic domain names, filed to go public on the Nasdaq stock market.
The industry's transition to respect and professionalism may not be entirely complete. One strategy that has cast a stigma over the industry is called typo-squatting - registering domain names with variations and misspellings of major brand names, in the hopes that Web users will inadvertently stumble upon the sites. It has not gone away. In the last few months, Yahoo, Dell, BMX and Microsoft have all sued small domain registrars and domainers, asserting that they are profiting from thousands of names similar to their trademarks. The cases are pending.
Domain hijacking is another strategy. This occurs when someone hacks your email or otherwise compromises your registrant login at your chosen registrar. Controlling your registrant login is critical to controlling your domain name.
Domain names are worth real money. They are intangible assets which add value to the bottom line of any company. Isn't it time you protected your domain name for theft, cybersquatting and hijacking?
Enrico Schaefer is the founding attorney of Traverse Legal, PLC, a law firm specializing in web law http://www.traverselegal.com You can find out more about protecting your domain name, UDRP arbitrations and anti-cybersquatting laws at Traverse Legal's domain name theft and trademark blogs found at http://tcattorney.typepad.com/domainnamedispute/ & http://tcattorney.typepad.com/anticybersquatting_consum/ |
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