Real Estate Agent, Brokerage and Mortgage Blogs

Ever buy a competitors domain or one extremely similar to it or even a misspelled version, then redirect that site to your own? If so, you very well may be looking at a law suit. Because I see it happen quite a bit in the real estate blogosphere, I thought Id do a little research and explain the low down on cybersquatting so you can evaluate whether you are squatting on someone elses property or if someone is trespassing on yours.

Cybersquatting, according to the United States federal law known as the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, is registering, trafficking in, or using a domain name with bad-faith intent to profit from the goodwill of a trademark belonging to someone else. (Note: violating this Act is a FEDERAL crime and punishable with jail time and/or monetary damages as the sentencing guidelines treat the copyright and trademark violations that govern cybersquatting like theft and fraud.)

Now, notice that the above statement doesnt say 'registered trademark.' Why? Because case law has held that certain 'unregistered trademark rights' exist and are enforceable under cybersquatting laws. That means that even if your competitor hasnt registered their company name, product or domain as a trademark , their attorney may be able to reasonably assert their unregistered trademark rights. Just take a look at the 2005 case outlined below:

Case law: BC Fax It Limited v. It's The Fax Ltd. Ryan Galovich (2005)

The Plaintiff was victimized by a competitor who had registered the companys business name as a domain name. Having registered the domain name, the competitor was using it to redirect customers to his own competing website. The attorneys, by properly asserting their clients unregistered trademark rights, were able to recover the domain name.

What is the basic premise of the law?

According to the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, congress finds that the unauthorized registration or use of trademarks as Internet domain names or other identifiers of online locations (commonly known as `cybersquatting')--

(1) results in consumer fraud and public confusion as to the true source or sponsorship of products and services;

(2) impairs electronic commerce, which is important to the economy of the United States; and

(3) deprives owners of trademarks of substantial revenues and consumer goodwill.

Example of Cybersquatting in the real estate blogosphere

Check out the WhoIs entry for RSSPiece.com and RSSPeices.com

These entries have redirected to RSS Pieces competitor since March 14, 2007.

UPDATE: In direct response to this post, Jason Benesch of Real Estate Tomato removed the redirect to the Real Estate Tomato site on June 26, 2007 and his contact information from the WhoIs directory on June 29, 2007. Unfortunately, that does not negate the crime perpetrated against us for the past 3 months. Jason, should you want to resolve this issue among others, contact our attorneys, you know the numbers.

How to avoid a cybersquatting suit?

Manage your business ethically and with dignity. Do not knowingly purchase domains similar to your competitors with the intention of redirecting traffic intended for their website to your own. Cybersquatting is a sleazy practice and the deceptive business practices associated with redirecting traffic from the rightful recipient site is tantamount to consumer fraud as the law and sentencing guidelines outline.

If, for some reason, you accidentally purchase a domain of another company (within your same industry) and they claim you are cybersquatting, make an arrangement to turn over the offending domain quickly. On the other hand, if you do not believe that the domain infringes on the companys rights, then cite the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act and clearly show how your purchase and use of the domain does not meet the criteria for cybersquatting. In this instance, you should also hire an attorney to review the matter.

What you can do if a competitor is squatting on your domains?

(1) while you should always contact your attorney first, you can contact the site owner directly, cite the Anti-cybersquatting Act and request that they immediately turn over the domains to you

(2) if the site owner does not turn over the domains, definitely contact your attorney and ask that he/she serve the offending party with a Cease and Desist Notice

(3) if a notice from your attorney does not work or you believe that the redirection of traffic from those domains has caused you financial harm, take the offender to court! Be aware that the sentencing guidelines for this crime can include both monetary damages and jail time.

UPDATE: April 13, 2008: Karen Loehman's Blog finds that Real Estate Tomato ownes www.pixelnazi.com

RET's chief marketing moron, Jason Benesch has now redirected a domain with the word "nazi" in it to the primary site.  This is just so offensive, I cannot even begin to put it into words.  If this, as Karen claims is a marekting tactic, it is sleezy and cheap, but then again, what would I expect out of the same crew that steals code, cybersquats ad gets their own client unindexed?

Since I figure they will remove the redirect shortly and change the WhoIs info, here's a screen shot: