Thinking of registering a new domain name for your web site? A word of caution: beware cybersquatters!

Cybersquatters are those folks buying up attractive domain names (whatever comes before the dot-com in an Internet address) and then sitting on them until someone coughs up the most dough.

New legislation is currently before the House in the hopes of protecting companies against these cybersquatters. The "Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act" was passed by the Senate August 5, 1999 that would make cybersquatters liable to civil action with fines of up to $100,000 if the domain name is trademarked and a bad faith intent to profit is proven.

There are even domain brokers, such as BestDomains, which help sell web assets such as domain name rights with prices ranging from $250 to over $3 million.

Registering a single domain name under various extensions also adds complications. The International Ad Hoc Committee (IAHC) was formed in 1996 for the purpose of dealing with competition in domain name registration, reducing disputes, and fostering global involvement in the registration process.

The IAHC is also proposing the addition of seven new domain levels such as ".web" for web-related activities, ".info" for information services, and ".tm" for trademarked names. The hope is to allow the same name to be used for multiple sites by using more specific domain extensions. The fear is that it will only aggravate the already aggressive registration process.

However, these plans have been in the works since at least 1997, and nothing's happened yet, so we don't recommend holding your breath!

Network Solutions (NSI) has held an almost complete monopoly on registering domain names, but their government contract is ending September 2000. In an effort to open up competition in this arena, the Department of Commerce has stated that NSI's "whois" database of registered domains is a public resource. NSI remains adamant about holding onto their data.

Sorting It All Out

A few bits of advice:

1. Register.
Even if you do not plan on establishing a web presence in the immediate future, register a domain name as soon as possible. Available, relevant domain names are scarce so time is of the essence. Registration is $70 for two years and, for a small fee, you can "park" or reserve one for future use.

2. Trademark.
Get your company name trademarked. Without this, anyone can register your company as their domain name and trademark it themselves.

3. Visit the competition.
Check to see if anyone is illegally using your company name. You can even hire an outside company to watch for this on your behalf.