The problem of cybersquatting as it applies to domains, isn’t new.
ICANN started dealing with such violations in 1999, introducing the UDRP process on April 30th of that year.
Although 17 years have passed since, many domain investors continue to fail the cybersquatting test, with regards to the domain registrations of choice.
Cybersquatter.
An article from 1999, titled “Cybersquatting Should Not Be Controlled By Congress” lays the foundation of the issue, and why it’s a matter that the US Congress should be left out of:
To some, the notion of cybersquatting smacks of dirty tricks. They believe people shouldn’t be allowed to lure traffic to a Web site under seemingly false pretenses.
Congress agrees. The House and Senate included anti-cybersquatting provisions in their latest budget bill. President Clinton signed it into law.
Unfortunately, a legal ban on cybersquatting is exactly the wrong approach to solving this complex problem. Decisions about who should own the rights to such-and-such.com are better left to the courts, which can examine conflicting claims on a case-by-case basis.
Interestingly, popular domain investor Rick Schwartz acquired the domain Cybersquatter.com a while back.
For the full coverage on the subject of cybersquatting, circa 1999, click here.
