What's in a name?

'Tis but thy name that is my enemy;
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
And for that name which is no part of thee
Take all myself.
-Juliet, from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet

Just read a CNN article from last week about web domain name auctions. Apparently people are spending tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars on domain names at auctions. It's a growing billion dollar industry and there is even a trade journal for cybersquatters who buy and sell these names for a living.

I personally despise cybersquatting. Some people compare it to real estate, but I know that the United Nations World Intellectual Property Organization doesn't see it that way. There are ways around their findings, but basically domain names aren't real estate. They're intellectual property and you can't just hijack a name unless you have a legitimate use. The WIPO found that the cybersquatter in the case of thesimpsonsmovie.com website "has no rights or legitimate interests with respect to the domain name".

Our only direct contact with cybersquatting came with one of our older clients Hallmark Health. Before we took over maintaining their websites a number of domain names had been registered, of which we had no knowledge. One in particular linked to one of their individual hospitals and was listed on a number of other websites, such as ambulance services. All it did was point at the main website. Then one day we received a call that the web address was pointing at another site. It turned out a cybersquatter had put a watch on the name, and when it came up for grabs, because we had no idea it existed much less needed to be renewed, he grabbed it. Suddenly there were links online which instead of pointing towards the Hallmark Health website, were pointing at another site hosted in Portugal.

In the end, thanks to Hallmark Health's legal staff, we were able to regain control of the domain, and in the meantime we contacted every site which had that domain name as a link and had them remove it. Yet, it's soured me since.

Now new businesses are coming to the web looking to register the names of their companies and finding that the website is already registered, and 9 times out of 10 it isn't being used. Upon contacting the cybersquatter they'll ask for anywhere from 2 thousand dollars to millions for the name, depending on what it is.

So what can you do about it?

Well firstly, get a trademark. If you have a trademark and find someone with that domain name you can sue to get it back, or money as damages. There is a 1999 federal law called the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act which allows you initiate arbitration proceedings under the authority of the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and you can win the name back.

Most cybersquatters these days have not registered for trademarks, so if there's a name you want, and a cybersquatter holds it for ransom, trademark the name, start using it in business (while also using a secondary not as good domain name for the website) and then take the cybersquatter to arbitration. (if you already have a trademark, just go straight to arbitration) It will still cost you time and money, but depending on how much the guy wants, it could be a great deal for you.

The second thing is, if you don't already use the name and you're starting a new business, get creative. What's in a name? A domain name needs to be easily remembered, less than 10 characters, and letters only to really be good, and it's hard to find them these days because of the squatters. If you don't want to go through the rigmarole of trademarking and arbitration, try tagging on an 'inc' or more description. For instance if you want megayachts.com and can't afford it why not try realmegayachts.com. If your name is McDonald and your company has the same name, but obviously you can't get the mcdonalds.com domain name try mcdonaldstrucking.com or whatever the specific industry you're in. As a last resort add in your business type. megayachtsinc.com doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. Stay loose, be creative, and you should be OK.

Just please. I beg you. Don't pay the cybersquatters any money that you can avoid paying. You don't have to spend 100 grand on a domain name to have a profitable website.