Cybersquatting

Cybersquatting is registering a website in the names of popular brands. The word squatting in this context means unauthorised occupation of someone else’s property. In the internet domain, techsavvy entrepreneurs register websites in the names of popular brands, whose owners do not have websites of their own. This can lead to misrepresentation in the internet media about the products or services the brand sells in the market. The brand owners naturally would like to buy the domain either to give authentic information about products and services or to stem the ill-effects of such misrepresented sites. The person who first registered the brand name sells the site and makes a profit. The ethical and legal aspects of such practice are ambiguous as the intention of the original owner of the site can either be genuine or fraudulent.