Cyber Squatters

[Matri]

Found a couple of links that lead to some very interesting reading...

 

Who's Hijacking My Domain Research?

 

And the forum over at DNSStuff.com : link

 

This is a new low. Actively spying on WHOIS queries and then buying them up. Or at the least, reserving the domain in their name.

[Pete]

There's an easy solution though - buy your web space first and upload your own "whois" script. It's what I do since this same thing happened to me.

 

Whilst Larry doesn't think that cNet are passing on details, I do. It's either someone on the inside or a VERY un-secure domain search log and they're unknowingly passing on details.

 

My own whois script does keep a log of all domains I've searched for so I can remember the good ideas I had at a later date. I'd say someone is lgetting access to the search log.

 

Long story short - use a reputable site.I've used a few in the past and ukreg.com and namesco.com are the one's I've used most frequently with no bother. Even if you use godaddy.com to register your domain at a fraction of the price, it's always worth doing your initial research with a company you trust before buying it cheap elsewhere.

[Praetoris]

I've been annoyed by the fact that people own domains that others want for quite a while since I'm also a victim of it. My previous company, megafon, couldn't get the domain we wanted because some guy had registered it already, even though he'll surely never use it. It's still offline a couple of years later and because of the way domain-deals are today no one can help us but the owner. We even offered him a bit of money but he never responded.

 

An idea for a simple rule to stop people from hijacking domains would be for the resellers to state something like: 'If you've bought it we want you to use it, else we'll sell it to someone who does'.

This would have a kind of b-side too though, those who actually plan on doing something with a domain will have to wait until they're ready to pull it off and might loose that uniqe name to someone else while they're "waiting" / preparing for it.

 

Any more ideas how we could make the life of these scums harder?

[Matri]

Like someone on the other forum said, have a mandatory security deposit. But with a twist.

 

If you decide you don't want the domain, you only get back half of the deposit.

 

This won't impact genuine buyers in the least, but the squatters will either lose a lot of money to "false positives", or won't be so quick to snap up domains.

[Pete]

I know that in the UK at least, if you have a business with the same name or product name as a domain name being squatted on by someone else, yuo have a fair chance of getting the rights to it.

 

If they're using it for something though then you don't have a chance in hell, but it's better than nothing for business users.

[Praetoris]

Well Volvo among others have even had their domains stolen before they could book their domains. It's a bit easier for them to claim the rights for it though, but sadly not all of us are owners of a huge and international company with registered brands, names etc.

 

Hopefully someone will come up with some smart solution for it eventually. When "my" domain was taken I asked around at some Swedish suppliers ( what's it called by the way? "domain sellers"? ) and all of them replied, in my own words; "shit happends, we're sorry about it but we can't help you".