Cyber Squatting and Domain Speculation – A Global perspective
Introduction and definitions
‘Cyber squatting’ has become an increasing source of annoyance and problem in the internet world. Apart from some of the other issues such as internet security, hacking and frauds, which usually occur after going online, ‘Cyber Squatting’ is the first major problem faced by any company well before they even setup an internet web site. Before moving on to the various issues, it is often unclear of what ‘Cyber Squatting’ actually is.
Simply put, cyber squatting means the registration of a domain name in violation of a trademark or business name or other intellectual property of its owners. This includes the registration of a name deceptively similar to such business name or trademark. Usually, domain squatters register these domains before the company does and offer these domain names to such business houses at a premium 1.
U.S. Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Judge Berle M. Schiller defined cyber-squatting or cyber-piracy as the "deliberate, bad-faith, and abusive registration of Internet domain names in violation of the rights of trademark owners.” 2. Using this definition put forward by Judge Berle some of the major cyber squatting problems, that directly violate the trademark of corporation, has been solved. But another increasing problem is the issue of Domain Speculation.
Another practice that sometimes, and misleadingly, is called cyber-squatting is domain speculation: the registering of domain names based not on recognized brands but on generic terms (e.g. crocodile.com, homes-for-sale.com, cheapflowers.com). Speculators register generic domain names in the hope that a company will wish to buy a particular name for its own commercial use2.
Current problems
Going back to the problem of cyber squatting we can refer to a much earlier case in China. This was the time when Chinese corporations did not enjoy the protection of the law against cyber squatters.
In the past few years, many cyber squatters registered the names of many famous Chinese companies in domain registrars in countries such as the United States. As a result, these Chinese companies were forced to pay large sums to 'reclaim' their domain names. For example, cyber squatters registered the domain name 'kelon.com'. The Chinese company that owned the trademark 'KELON' paid RMB1 million to reclaim the domain name from the cyber squatter3
In this case we can see that the only way Chinese companies could resolve the issue was to either pay large sums of money to the domain squatter or just get another domain.
The National Conference of State Legislatures (2013) defines Cyber stalking as the use of the internet, email or other electronic communications to stalk. It generally refers to a pattern of threatening behaviors or malicious intent. The NCSL considered it the most dangerous of cyber harassments. According to the Louisiana statute, Cyberstalking is the actions of any person to perform the following:
The Internet, originally arising from the American military, has grown to a main source of communication for millions around the world and has helped in creating a global village. The Internet started gaining fast acceptance in the 1990's especially in North America. Countries such as China however, still have limited access and control over the contents on the internet allowed ...
With the boom of technology in China and the new capitalism ideas, China also has a huge piracy problem. According to the International Intellectual Property Alliance's 2003 report on China, the piracy problem in China creates $1.85 billion in 2002 alone with 90% piracy rates for all copyrighted materials.5 This piracy problem affects negatively on China's global relations and economic improvements. China's current copyright laws are still in its teenage years, and the fast pace of technological advancement isn't helping either.
The ability to conduct warfare through technological methods has increased information security awareness and the need to protect an entities infrastructure. Subsequently, cyber warfare produces increased risk to security practitioners that employ technology and other methods to mitigate risks to information and the various systems that hold or transmit data. A significant risk to information lies in the conduct of electronic commerce, hereinafter called e-commerce. E-commerce is the purchasing or selling of goods and/or services through the internet or other electronic means (Liu, Chen, Huang, & Yang, 2013). In this article, the researcher will discuss cyber warfare risks, present an evaluation on established security measures, identify potential victims of identity theft, and present an examina...
In today’s society technology is used for everything. With the invention of computers and the internet this open doors to the cyber world. Today you can do almost anything without having to leave your home. The internet gives us the opportunity of shopping online, ordering food online, working from home and video chatting with friends and family across the world. Everyone has a computer and internet access in their homes. While the internet is really convenient it also opens doors for cybercrimes, loss of privacy and the need for computer security.
Just as traditional criminal activities, cybercrime can take many forms and occur virtually anytime and anywhere. Criminals committing cybercrime use very different methods, depending on their abilities and goals. This should not surprise anyone after all cybercrime is merely an activity "criminal" to the ingredient that adds a computer or an electronic network for its commission.
Despite existing laws and privacy enhancing technological methods, the US is progressively taking full advantage of its dominant position not just as the home of companies like Facebook, Google and Twitter but also acknowledging jurisdiction on all websites registered in the US. Therefore, countries such Brazil, Iran, Russia, India and China “are now challenging United States hegemony of the Internet and even calling for the creation of a new governing body to oversee Internet policy” (Brooke, 2012, p.245).
Every day, citizens are constantly losing money and being victimized due to these fraudulent activities. Cyber crime, including fraud, identity theft, stalking, and hacking, is a growing problem that can be prevented by taking the proper precautions. The biggest cases of cyber crimes are cases of fraud. Online fraud comes in many forms. It ranges from viruses that attack computers with the goal of retrieving personal information, to email schemes that lure victims into wiring money to fraudulent sources” (What is “online fraud”).
The world is in another cold war, except this time countries are battling for cyber supremacy. Cyberspace is a massive land of ever changing technology and personal interaction (McGuffin and Mitchell 1). Cyberspace is not only a place that people post pictures and update their profile, but it also plays an enormous role in running a country. Advanced countries use computers to guide their military, keep track of citizens, run their
Rosenthal, Elisabeth. "China Lists Controls To Restrict the Use Of E-mail and Web." The New York Times, 27 January 2000. Retrieved 26 April 2004.
The Internet is a connection of computers across the world through a network. Its origin dates back to the 1960s when the U.S Military used it for research, but it became more available to the public from the late 1980s. The World Wide Web was created in 1989 and browsers began appearing in the early 1990s. Over the last 24 years, the Internet has enabled people to shop, play, do research, communicate and conduct business online. It has also become cheaper and faster in performing different tasks. As much as the Internet has done immeasurable good to society, it has also dominated people’s lives and brought with it an array of cybercrimes. According to Nicholas Carr in his book The Shallows: How the Internet is Changing the Way we Think, Read and Remember (Carr, 2010). He debates on whether the Internet has done more harm than good. People use the Internet daily to exchange accurate information and constantly personal data such as credit cards, passwords and Social Security numbers are travelling through the network from one computer to another. With security measures put in place on the Internet, personal information remains confidential. But unfortunately, criminals have adapted to innovations in technology, and today, more people are increasingly becoming victims of cybercrime. The Internet has had profound effects on the public, both positive and negative. In this paper we will examine how access to personal information has led to an increase in online and offline crimes. The essay will particularly focus on ecommerce and hacking.
Nissan Motor Co. would be concerned about the use of the two domain names being used by Nissan Computer Corp for several reasons. Firstly, as the Web has become a major marketing tool, customers and potential customers of Nissan Motor Co. might have difficulties finding their information due to the two domain names currently owned by Nissan Computer Corp. Ultimately this could result in the company losing profits if customers are not able to access their website. Another concern would be in regards to the names of the companies and possible confusion of these names by customers. Evidently, persons could presume that there is a connection between these two companies especially taking into consideration the fact that Nissan Motor Co. started marketing cars in the US with the name Nissan in the late 1980s. Following this, in 1991, Nissan Computer Corp was formed with two domains names being acquired Nissan.com and Nissan.net in 1994 and 1996 respectively.
... that Yahoo had faced when the information it turned over to the Chinese government was used to sentence people to prison terms.
Have you ever been a victim of Cybercrime? In today’s society, you can be a victim of cyber crime at any time of day because everything is based off of technology. Our society is all about fast pace and advancement of technology. People entire lives revolve around technology, which we use every day to get things done. Computer systems practically run much of the world today from security systems to the computer systems that run most businesses technology is taking control of the world. In this age of technology cybercrime becomes an increasingly more concerning issue. The world’s growing dependency on technology also leads to the world’s vulnerability. Steps are in place to protect against and prevent
The global community must learn that there are steps that can be taken to prevent these kinds of crimes from being committed and support efforts to combat cybercrime. Works Cited The “Combat Cyber Crime.” Homeland Security. http://www.dhs.gov/combat-cyber-crime>. “Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section.”