The Stealing Eyes of 'Brandits' on the Internet

March 16, 2007— -- The information superhighway runs as fast and as far as any road ever constructed.

On-ramps have been built during the past 15 years into the homes and offices of billions of people around the world. And if you're like most people, your commute to the vast network of information and entertainment probably takes hours out of your average day.

But like most well-traveled byways, the Internet has dangers lurking around every curve.

One of the newest risks on the electronic road — "brandits."

They're companies looking to steal your eyeballs from some of the hottest sites on the Web. And all they need to take money from people is a typo and few seconds.

How Does It Work

The practice is most commonly known as "cybersquatting" and involves a company or individual buying a domain name that is similar to a popular brand name.

For example, you probably typed "www.abcnews.com" into your Web browser to get to this story at the Internet home of ABC News.

If you'd accidentally added an extra "s" to the URL, you'd have found your browser visiting a very different Web site; one owned by Vortal Interactive with no news, just a search box that probably generates revenue by selling advertising to unsuspecting customers.

The same thing happens if you add an extra "s" to "www.disney.com" — you'll end up at a Web site with links to discount Orlando hotels and kids games.

A Growing Trend

The practice is increasingly common according to officials at the World Intellectual Property Organization. Chances are that if you misspell the domain name of any of the Web's most popular sites, you'll fall victim.

Big companies like Microsoft — don't type "www.microsooft.com" into your browser — are taking the brand-busting squatters to task.

The software giant announced that it has filed a number of new legal actions in the United States and the United Kingdom against companies that have bought up domain names similar to its most popular products.

"These infringing domain names are confusing to visitors trying to reach legitimate company web sites," said Aaron Kornblum, senior attorney for Microsoft. "And with each click of a link on these online ad pages and online ad networks the registrants can be making money off your mistakes."

Microsoft is using trademark laws to fight the practice, meeting with some success. Kornblum says that the company recently settled with the U.K.-based Dyslexic Domain Company Ltd. They got a monetary settlement and reclaimed domain names that looked like URLs that would belong to the software leader.

Other companies are not turning to the courts, instead looking to the World Intellectual Property Organization to settle the disputes.

WIPO says cybersquatting disputes jumped by 25 percent last year with more than 1,800 cases launched last year. Most of the cases were from U.S.-based businesses looking to reclaim ".com" domains.

According to figures released by the group most of the cases are resolved — 97 percent have already been cleared off the books. And most result in the complainant getting the domain name that could confuse customers.

Less than 7 percent of the cases filed were decided in favor of the domain registrant.