'.com' Name Theft in the Inland Empire
Has this happened to you? A web designer pops into your place of biz, says she's designed a web site for you and wants you to check it out. You do and for whatever reason, you decide you don't want it. She goes on her merry way. Sounds like an innocent interaction, right?
What she may NOT have told you is that she also registered a '.com' name for your business. And she sure as hell didn't tell you that if you don't buy the web site she designed for you, you're not getting your '.com' name back until you fork over hundreds or thousands of dollars to buy it from her.
Can she do this to you? Can she cop a big fat cyber-squat on your '.com' name?
Technically, yes. Afterall, anyone can register any available '.com', '.org', or '.net' name for as little as $8 a year. But legally? Maybe not. You can check out the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act for all the legalese but basically it says you can't register domain names ('.com', '.org', etc.) in bad faith--like when you know it's already someone else's trademark and you plan to sell it to them or divert their potential web traffic to your own web site.
I've met 2 business owners (one in Corona, one in Norco) who've been scammed by the same web designer. The audacity! I know swindlers and con people come in all forms. But in web designer form? What's wrong with people? It's hard enough trying to run a small business and make a little pocket change without this kind of crap going on. We should be supporting each other.
Moral of the story: if you haven't already, go register your '.com' name, please. It's really easy and really cheap. Check out my Resource Center page for links. And, if you've been a victim, please look up your local Better Business Bureau and report it (you can register a complaint online). Also, read this one page article on a new dispute procedure you can use to fight the cybersquatter.
What she may NOT have told you is that she also registered a '.com' name for your business. And she sure as hell didn't tell you that if you don't buy the web site she designed for you, you're not getting your '.com' name back until you fork over hundreds or thousands of dollars to buy it from her.
Can she do this to you? Can she cop a big fat cyber-squat on your '.com' name?
Technically, yes. Afterall, anyone can register any available '.com', '.org', or '.net' name for as little as $8 a year. But legally? Maybe not. You can check out the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act for all the legalese but basically it says you can't register domain names ('.com', '.org', etc.) in bad faith--like when you know it's already someone else's trademark and you plan to sell it to them or divert their potential web traffic to your own web site.
I've met 2 business owners (one in Corona, one in Norco) who've been scammed by the same web designer. The audacity! I know swindlers and con people come in all forms. But in web designer form? What's wrong with people? It's hard enough trying to run a small business and make a little pocket change without this kind of crap going on. We should be supporting each other.
Moral of the story: if you haven't already, go register your '.com' name, please. It's really easy and really cheap. Check out my Resource Center page for links. And, if you've been a victim, please look up your local Better Business Bureau and report it (you can register a complaint online). Also, read this one page article on a new dispute procedure you can use to fight the cybersquatter.
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