Legal Matters: Keep It in Your Domain

The cybersquatting phenomenon has existed since the early days of the Internet, and there are numerous examples of trademark owners paying large sums to recover domain names. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is the organization responsible for doling out domain names. In the beginning, it did so strictly on a first come, first served basis. Consequently, it was relatively easy for cybersquatters to grab famous brand names and hold out for large payments when trademark owners sought to acquire their own brand names for use as Internet addresses.