This article isn't about the heartwarming film featuring Nicholas Cage and Brigitte Fonda that aired on cable recently. Instead, it delves into a different kind of experience, one that is decidedly chilling and unpleasant. This is a tale about cybersquatting, a practice where individuals register domain names that were previously someone else's trademark, with the intention of holding the name for ransom. This practice can take a sinister turn when these individuals seize domain names that have lapsed due to their owners failing to renew them in time. This article narrates the unfortunate experience of Jan Tallent-Dandridge, who fell victim to this practice.
Cybersquatting is a practice where individuals register domain names that were previously someone else's trademark, with the intention of holding the name for ransom. Sometimes, these individuals identify trademarks in the marketplace and quickly register the domain name, anticipating that the owner of the trademark will eventually want to register the domain name and may even be willing to pay a hefty sum for the privilege.
In other instances, these individuals seize domain names that have lapsed due to their owners failing to renew them in time. When the former owner attempts to renew, they soon discover to their horror that someone else has usurped them and is demanding several hundreds or thousands of dollars to return their property. As reprehensible as this practice is, it's not a new phenomenon, and the courts are filled with cases brought by the outraged victims.
Imagine being the unfortunate individual who has unwittingly allowed her domain name registration to lapse, only to find that "Dave Web" is now the rightful owner and wants $550 from you to give it back. Now, imagine that not only has Dave Web hijacked your domain name, the one that used to point to the site containing all of your hard work for the past three years, the domain name that is synonymous with your hard-earned reputation, but it now points somewhere else. To a porn site.
This is not just cybersquatting anymore; it has escalated to criminal extortion and defamation. This, believe it or not, is what happened to Jan Tallent-Dandridge just this week. Many of you will know Jan as the publisher of Rim Digest. You may also be familiar with her other websites, Marketing Warrioress and JTD Bizopps, although if you tried to visit the latter site today, you'd get a rather unpleasant surprise. This is the domain name hijacked by Dave Web.
To provide some context to this unfortunate tale, Jan had a domain name, jtdbizopps.com, for over two years but did not renew it. Instead, she set up marketingwarrioress.com as a mirror and stopped running ads, swaps, etc. for the old name. When it came up for renewal, she planned to renew it just to keep it from being used for a year or so as she still had ads and link swaps out there she could not track down.
Network Solutions would not release the name to her without her paying them $70 for 2 years and THEN transferring it somewhere else. She felt this was ridiculous since namebargain.com, etc. are only $10 or so a year. She did not renew in time and when she did try, about a week after the cancellation date, it was "in purge", to quote NS, and she would have to wait 30 days or so for it to become available again.
During this time, an individual bought it somehow and offered it back to her for $550.00. She declined, firstly because she did not want to USE the name anyway and secondly, because that was ransom! To her horror, she found out that this company is parking a PORN site at that domain name and once again offered to sell it back to her for $550.00. She felt this was obvious blackmail but not only did she not have the money, she would not pay that ridiculous amount even if she could.
Her eBook had a "live" link that was accidentally left as jtdbizopps.com instead of marketingwarrioress.com though both her compiler and she thought they had all been changed. She was told off by a new subscriber who eagerly downloaded her eBook and then clicked the link that went straight to the porn site. She has spent the past 3 years working herself half to death, and now her credibility and NAME are in danger due to this "person" using her ex-domain for this purpose.
From Jan's experience, we can learn a few lessons:
Know when your domain names expire and renew them before they lapse. As Jan's experience illustrates only too well, there are vultures out there just waiting to swoop if you make even one false move. There are no second chances in this business and, until the law catches up with the reality of doing business online, it's every man and woman for themselves.
Some things cost more than money. Jan allowed her registration to lapse because she wanted to spend $10 rather than $35 (per year) to renew the name. That decision cost her a whole lot more than $25. Once your good name and reputation are cast into doubt, no amount of money can get them back.
Ensure your names are registered, stay registered, and that you use a reputable domain registrar.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of this article for more insights and lessons from this unfortunate incident.
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