FEBRUARY 2008
Slam dunk the domain name slammers
Domain name slamming is one of the latest internet scams. Nick Wood explains how IP owners can protect themselves from it
| One-minute read |
| |
Domain name slammers, the majority of whom seem to be based in China and Hong Kong, are responsible for one of the internet's latest scams. It works like this: the slammer writes to a trade mark owner pretending to be a domain name registrar and advises that a third party is about to register a domain name in China that incorporates the trade mark owner's IP rights. He then offers to register the domain name on behalf of the legitimate trade mark owner – for a fee. Of course, no such third party exists.
A number of unwary trade mark owners, worried at the prospect of losing their rights and prompted into action by the short deadlines outlined in the slammer's letter, have fallen victim to the scam. So how should you respond if a slammer's letter lands on your desk? This article explains. |
You may be in London, you may be in Lisbon; you may be in New York, New Delhi or New Zealand. But wherever you are, if your name or company appears on a trade mark or company formation record that can be found on the internet, you may be targeted by Elvis or Mars, Angus or Eros, Ronald or Liza. Whatever their preferred alias, their message is the same: they've been contacted by a company who wants to register variations of your brands as domain names and, naturally, as responsible citizens of companies in Hong Kong or China with impeccable credentials, they want to give you the chance of getting the names first.
The rest of this article is available to subscribers only. Subscribe today for full access to this article.
Alternatively take a free trial, giving you access to the current issue's contents*
If you are already a subscriber, please log in below to access the rest of this article.
*excludes some surveys and articles.