This is not cybersquatting...

Unless the name is a unique copyrighted name or the domain owner is otherwise doing something illegal, this is not cybersquatting.

Domains are the online equivalent of real estate. To buy them up in hopes of monetizing the traffic (if it gets any) or to hold and sell at a profit is not in the least bit unethical or illegal.

Cybersquatting connotes something unethical or even illegal.

Nothing unethical about buying domains and asking for a premium price. If I buy a name and it is not a copyright infringement and you wan that name, we must negotiate a price for it. End of story.

Much like buying real estate. Just because you always wanted to buy a certain piece of prime commercial land but never did, does that mean that you can go to some organization and have them literally "steal" the land away form the owner who beat you to the punch?....Answer: Nope!

The domain trading marketing is alive and kicking (unlike Mel White suggested) it's just that things have changed from 5 years ago since the market became saturated (ALL markets change when they become saturated). Mad cash was made on many trades because too many young suits were getting mad investment capital to build website businesses thinking that everything was all fine and paying $XX,XXX for a really good name despite a terrible business plan and lack of knowledge of internet trends. Only to find out that things were not nearly as stable as it appeared. But who cares when your spending investment capital, right?! I, for one, have been in the domain market since 2002 and I make money. I used ot make more, but hey, who is complaining?? Things change. No problem. I saw it all coming and adjusted accordingly.

There is a whole industry devoted to domain trading and it is all but gone. One of the more popular forums for the industry is http://www.namepros.com I suggest you visit them and ask your domain questions there. You will get many more knowledgeable responses, for sure.

About the ICANN thing. You will not get anything done with ICANN. Plus, it will cost about $7,000.00. And the only way they MIGHT help you is if there is a copyright infringement or if a domain owner is doing something illegal or against ICANN's rules.

If this is in fact a cybersquatting issue where the domain trader registered a copyright owned by the company for which you are designing a website, then you are better telling them to get a lawyer involved. Sometimes, all it takes is a cease and desist letter and the domain owner will give the name up. But if the domain owner has a lot of money, it may not be that easy, but you will get the domain eventually if it is a copyright infringement.

To close, be careful when you are using the term "cybersquatter". Make sure you fully understand what is a cybersquatter and whether or not the person you are accusing is in fact one. If not, you will not be taken seriously by folks in the domain business.

Heads up...
Bob Baroner

> Hey Guys,

> I was hoping one of you might have a clever tip for dealing with a
> cybersquatter. I'm helping a company create a web site and they THOUGHT
> they had registered their company name as a domain name. When I went to
> set up their hosting account, I discovered they actually hadn't registered
> it (not sure why they thought they had) and a company that routinely
> squats on domain names owns it.

> On most Who Is searches, the domain owner shows as Compana, LLC. When you
> look up Compana's URL, it's BudgetDomains.com, a (supposed) domain
> reseller. If you do a Who Is on BudgetDomains, it shows Manila Industries
> as the owner. I've found several documents indicating Compana and Manila
> are actually the same company and have been involved in numerous domain
> name disputes (they usually lose). They apparently make it a habit of
> registering domains that are almost identical to very well-known names.
> Citigroup won a domain dispute against them for using several altered
> versions of the citibank domain. (Makes you wonder about all those
> Citibank phishing scams, doesn't it?)

> It appears they own over 300,000 domains they're squatting on. They claim
> they're domain resellers, but as you can see, their domain selling site,
> BudgetDomains.com, is "temporarily closed". Apparently, however,
> they've been "temporarily closed" since at least a year
> (according to the Wayback machine).

> I've emailed both the email address shown for Manila Industries, and the
> sales & support addresses for Budget Domains requesting they sell us
> the domain for a reasonable fee. Even if they ask for some outrageous
> amount for the domain, at least it would be nice if they'd reply and name
> a figure, but it's been several days and no reply.

> The domain is set to expire in mid-December, but my client wants to have
> at least a basic online presence within the next 30 days. I'm not sure
> what to tell them. I realize they could use an alternate domain name --
> CompanyNameOnline.com, for example -- but their original name is really so
> much better.

> I looked into filing a formal dispute, and since my client's company has
> been doing commerce under this name, while Compana/Manila isn't, I think
> my client would probably win. But it looks like filing a dispute costs
> about $2000 dollars and they don't want to spend that kind of money
> without any guarantee they'd win. (I can't blame them.)

> So what do I do? Give up and have them use a so-so domain name? Use a
> different domain temporarily and somehow switch them down the road if they
> gain ownership of their preferred domain? The client will pursue whichever
> recommendation I make, but I'm stuck.