Cybersquatting
Cybersquatting is the action of attempting to profit from the Internet by purchasing marketable and trademark related terms, and later reselling or licensing domain names back to the companies that developed the trademark.
That is, Cybersquatters undertake the deliberate, abusive registration of domain names in violation of the rights of trademark owners. Abusive registration of a domain names is defined by WIPO as:
- Registration of a domain name which is identical or misleadingly similar to a trademark
- A registration which the registrant has no rights or legitimate interests with respect to the domain name.
- Wherein the domain name has been registered and is used in bad faith.[1]
ICANN and its UDRP
ICANN is involved in counteracting cybersquatting through its creation and implementation of the Uniform Domain Name Resolution Policy, or UDRP.[2] All registrants of .com, .net and .org domains have been subject to the UDRP since 2000. WIPO made proposals on domain name security in 2000; they called for a uniform dispute resolution policy and review panels to arbitrate the disputes. After continued work with ICANN, the UNDRP was accepted at ICANN's Los Angeles meeting in November, 2000, and it was implemented two months later.[3]