PALM BEACH, FL - “Domain squatting” – AKA cybersquatting – and “brand hijacking” are two internet-based threats that present unique dangers to both businesses and end users, opening up some to cybersecurity threats and brand/trademark damage including potential phishing and malware attacks. Domain squatting is registering or using a domain name to profit from a trademark belonging to a well-known brand, typically by registering a misspelled version of their URL to … [Read more...]
Seven Years Later, New gTLD “.Cars” Still Driving Long & Winding Road to Nowhere
WEST PALM BEACH, FL – I recently wanted to see what was going on with the “. Cars” domain name, so I tried visiting a site I thought would probably be one of the best names; “used.cars”…. Not much is going on there; the page just fails to load. Same thing with “used.car”, “new.car” and “new.cars”. A “.cars” domain name costs $2,499 per year to register, renew, or transfer at Dynadot, one of the largest domain name registrars in the world. Same thing with ".Car" which was … [Read more...]
CVS Pharmacy Files WIPO Against “CVS.inc” Domain; Reg Fees Headed Towards Earth
PALM BEACH, FL – It looks like CVS Pharmacy, Inc. isn’t too thrilled with the recent registration of the nGTLD domain name “CVS.inc” which looks to have been registered in May, 2019. The pharmacy company has filed a WIPO dispute (WIPO D2019-2615) which will likely result in a TRANSFER as the majority of their complaints follow that trend. The “CVS.inc” domain name is listed on the get.inc website under “Who's Buying” in the ”recent registrations section” for companies … [Read more...]
Trump Campaign Cyber-Squats on Biden by Snapping Up Domain Name, Social Pages
PALM BEACH, FL – Presidential hopeful Joe Biden created a new outreach ad-campaign targeting specifically Latino voters called “Todos con Biden” (Everyone with Biden) and it appears his campaign team is just about as smart as he is; they forgot it should include an Internet presence. This opened the opportunity for the Trump Campaign, which they immediately did, to register not just the domain name, but to scoop-up corresponding social media pages with it. Cybersquatting, … [Read more...]
Verisign Warns Industry: Far Greater Worry Then Their Minuscule Rate Increase
NEW YORK, NY – They say that when you mess with the bull, you get the horns. Yesterday, Verisign, the company behind all issuing of .com domain names to ICANN approved registries, came out blasting attempts by industry insiders trying to control a price cap that was set by something called the Cooperative Agreement, an agreement between the NTIA (National Telecommunications and Information Administration) and Verisign (NASDAQ: VRSN), which for years, prevented any increase … [Read more...]
Gargiulo Reiterates Necessity for .COM in New Forbes Domain and Branding Article
NEW YORK, NY - Michael Gargiulo, owner of VPN.com, a group of virtual private network consultants, is also part of what Forbes Magazine calls its “Forbes Technology Council”, an invitation only community for senior technology executives. Gargiulo, who I have begun to follow for his ‘straight-shooter’ domain advice, writes periodically for Forbes Magazine and certainly believes in the value of a great domain name, indicated by his decision in 2017 to purchase VPN.com for … [Read more...]
Removing WhoIs Data from Public View Only Removes Transparency from the Net
NEW YORK – There has been no shortage of Data Privacy Leaks in the world; it almost seems like there is a new one every day. However, removing the public registration data behind all domain name registrations makes no-one any safer, and only adds more obscurity and complications to the business for those who buy, sell and trade online, and not just in domains. It’s more a solution that’s looking far-and-wide for its problem. For instance, when someone registers a domain … [Read more...]