Registering a domain name with malicious intent or in bad faith is popularly called Cybersquatting in WWW. This is usually done for monetary reasons whereby one books a domain similar to a registered trademark or copyright of any known company and then tries to sell it to the concerned company at an exorbitant price. For example, if one registers a domain nike.net and then attempts to sell it back to Nike, it is cybersquatting. It will be in addition a violation of law if he/she puts up a website on nike.net describing Nike products and services in bad taste. On the other hand, if someone own a company trademark like Nike Foods and host a food website on nike.net, there is no cybersquatting or violation of law. So, it is the intention and not just the name which amounts to cybersquatting. Cybersquatting was made illegal by the passage of a federal law in 1999 known as the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act. The law became necessary because numerous large companies were forced to pay large sums to buy their domain names from third parties. These companies included such notables as Panasonic, Fry's Electronics, Hertz and Avon.

Cybersquatting is quite common specially against the popular brands but most of the time, the victim company doesn't know about it. How do you know if a company is a victim of cybersquatting? Type in a name that is a trademark or copyright like Sakshay preceded by "www" and following by ."com," ."net" or ."org." If you get a valid web site which looks like it is related in some way to the domain name, then there is no cybersquatting in effect (although this could be a simple trademark violation). However, if you get one of the following results, then this could be a cybersquatter.

- Can't find server

- under construction

- page with no relationship to domain name

Of course there could be a reasonable explanation for each of these results, so they do not always mean there is cybersquatting occurring. It's a good idea to contact the domain name owner before taking any legal action to find out what's going on.

Since there can be many reasons both in favor and against cybersquatting in any specific case, how can one prove someone is cybersquatting?

- The domain name registrants intention was to profit from your domain name in bad faith

- Your trademark was in effect and widely known at the time the domain name was registered

- The domain name is identical to your trademark

- And you have actually registered the trademark

How do you know there is a bad faith intent? Well, there is probably no bad faith intent if one of the following is true:

- domain name is the same as the person's name or nickname or company providing services or products in different domain.

- They are actually selling or intend on selling something on their web site - They have registered the domain prior to your trademark registration and have been using the domain name for some purpose or other.

- Does the web site owner actually have a legitimate use of the domain name? This would be, for example, true for a company named "Nike Foods." They would have a legitimate reason for owning the "Nike" domain name.

Some clues that cybersquatting is occurring include:

- The domain name owner has put up a web site which in some way harms your company. For example, if you had somehow purchased "TATA.ORG" and created a web site about how inferior are TATA products, you are cybersquatting.

- If the domain name owner never legitimately used the domain name and simply offered to sell it to you, he is cybersquattinhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifg. If a person buys up a lot of names and has sold them over and over, there is a pattern of cybersquatting.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

- If the domain name is the same as a very famous trademark, then it has a greater likelihood of being considered cybersquatting.

By: Ravi Chamria

What can happen if someone is found guilty of cybersquatting is they can be ordered to hand over the domain name. In addition, if the domain was purchased after 1999, they can be ordered to pay monetary damages.

Starting a business, or developing your first website, can be exciting. However, when it comes to getting your URL for your domain name, things can get confusing if not downright irritating. However, learning how to select the best domain name for your business is actually easier than you think!

If you have a website, then you need to make it easy for people to find you. Selecting a domain name that makes no sense, or has nothing to do with your business products or services, is going to hurt you in the long run. If you have software company, your domain name should reflect that. If you have a company that sells ATVs, your domain name should reflect that as well.

If you have an auto repair shop for instance, and you want to build a website to provide information on these services, then you need to have a domain name that is either your company name or a domain name that includes references to what you do.

If you decide for some reason to use another URL such www.bas.com (short for the full name or your company), no one who is searching for accounting services will ever find you. When people search for what they are looking for, the first results provided by the leading search engines will be the words you type in that are found within domain names.

If you have a company that sells custom made canoes, you need to do the same thing. Seattle's Custom Canoes can become www. SeattlesCustomCanoes.com.

Perhaps you have your company name and URL all picked out, but now you find out that someone has already purchased the domain name you want. If you have your heart set on a particular domain name, you might not have to give up - yet. There are a few things you can do.

First, check to see if this is a real company or just someone who bought the name and is hoping to sell the domain at a profit. This is easy to find out simply by the going to the webpage and see what comes up. If the name is for sale, and you really want this one, you might want to consider negotiating a price.

Click on the link or site and see what happens. If you end up at a page that says the domain is for sale, it might be worth your while to contact the owner and see what he wants for it. It's up to you to decide if the investment is worth it, because you still have other options like getting a name that is similar, or changing the extension if that's still available.

In any case, just remember that it will be a waste of money and time and effort if you just buy any domain name that has no brhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifanding recognition for you, your service, or your company. Domains that have abbreviations or a mixture of numbers and letters that don't mean anything to possible customers, won't help you http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif at all.

By: Dhruv Patel

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The way to register a domain name is by signing up with a service that provides domain names called a registrar. ICANN is the main organization that provides standards and procedures for domain name registrars to be certified.

Only a domain name registrar is permitted to access and modify the master database domains that are on InterNIC servers. The fee is determined by the registrar as far as getting a domain name and some registers have special domain name packages.

Domain names can be used for branding purposes, and also you use a domain name to create an identity on the Web. You must come up with a domain name that will catch people's attention. You can use your business name as your URL. If the name of your company is currently in use, then obtain a URL name similar to what your business is. Purchasing a business name domain name isn't the only way to go, and when a keyword domain name could do just fine.

Use common sense when choosing a domain name because your domain name, or URL, can have an impact in both the online and offline marketing of your website. Long or difficult to spell domain names can make people ignore your web site and it has to be pretty good for them to stick with it. Short domain names register better with people's memory and are easy to remember.

Once you select a domain name, you must register it with a domain name registrar. Fees probably will include a one time set-up fee for all of the backend technical work that needs to be accomplished. Then pay your service provider a monthly, semi-annual or annual fee for Web site hosting services.

You can find online tools for your site with your domain registrar.

It will be better if you can purchase a .com domain name, opposed to a .net, .info, .biz or anything else. If your chosen domain name is not available in a .com, keep looking until you find one that isn't taken. It sounds like you've been on the net a long time, when you have a com extension. There is nothing wrong with the other extensions, but most people feel more comfortable in a .com site.

If you want to stay ahead of your competition, then you might consider looking at the length of time your competitors have registered their domain names. If your domain name expires, there's a good chance that someone will register your domain name immediately after it expires. By renewing your domain name for several years, your domain name won't expire for a while, and it won't be opened up to expired domain name buyers.

Remember, your domain name is an extension of your business and your brand of product or service.

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In recent years, millions have turned to the Internet hoping to find a new way to earn extra income if not a new means of living altogether. True enough, the Internet does offer us something new. It is now possible to earn money from Domain name via Domain cash parking..

The two most important components of domain cash parking are having the right domain name and finding a site where it can be parked. A domain is the name you choose for your website. The best examples for a domain name would be Google and yahoo.

You can own a domain name by either creating and registering one; or buying and transferring one to your name and then registering it. Registrations are done through official Internet registrars. There are a number of registrars available on line. You may need to pay something like ten dollars to register a domain. Once registered, nobody else will be able to use that name to create a website.

One important thing to remember in buying a domain name is to check and make sure that it has not been banned due to spamming. Otherwise, search engines will not be able to locate your domain. These steps are easy to follow finding the data.

Next step, find a domain parking service. The service provider sort of takes care of your undeveloped website. Relevant links and advertisements will be placed on your site. Depending on the package you choose, you may also get to decide on the kind of advertisements that will be placed on your page. Whoever gets directed to your site through search engines will then be redirected to another site depending on which link he clicks. This is how your site will earn. The owner of the web page where the user will be redirected pays each time someone is redirected to his page through yours. You will then be given a percentage share of the revenue that the host website gets.

One good thing about domain cash parking it that it lets you earn from an otherwise idle investment. If you do not have time to develop your website, then sharing the income with the host site is a good deal. All in all, four sectors benefit from domain cash parking. Once directed to your site, the public will have several relevant links to choose from.

Second, the advertiser who is seeking exposure. Third, the host site or the domain parking service provider which also earns from the clicks to the pages of the advertisers aside from the fee you pay. Last but not least: you.

You should understand how to earn money from Domain name via Domain cash parking so if you have a domain ready but currently have no time to develop it into a fully functional website, cash parking is a good idea for you to make something out of it now. If you do not have any domain names waiting to be developed, but have been thinking of ways to make money on line, what are you waiting for? Start thinking of good names, register, and park them. Start to earn money from domain names via domain cash parking.

By: Dhruv Patel

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Dhruv Patel is a customer of DreamHost. He has created site to help new DreamHost customers and to promote DreamHost by giving DreamHost coupon.

If you have a web site, you should be aware of the web hosting basics you must know prior to shopping for a new web host. First of all, do you have a web site you want on the Internet? If you do then you want to find a web host. A web host is what will get your own space on the Internet.

To get any web site on the Internet you need connectivity, an administrator for your web site, software and hardware. This is where the web host steps in; they make all of this possible. You do not need to have the equipment or the software. You will be either leasing space on their server or you can pay to have your own server and domain name. The expense of hosting can be rather daunting for small businesses and impossible for an individual.

You have to compete with people and companies that have more resources then you do. People no longer can tolerate waiting for a web page to load. They simply will move on to the next page. It is doubtful that you have a T1 line to your home. It is best to utilize a web host's services.

Your web site will determine the web host that you use. Just keep in mind that is you are serious and totally committed that you find the best web host for your web site. You are unhappy, you still can move your web site to another web host but it is difficult and if all the steps are not followed, you could end up losing a lot of traffic.

Web hosting deals with all the things that are needed to get to your site on the Internet and they have what is takes to maintain it. Their customer support can be critical to you. The first thing you might want to try is to send a few emails to see how fast the response is and call them as well. And call on a weekend. Can you reach someone that can answer your questions?


If you have gone this far then you need to know easy it is for you to navigate their control panel. Ask what information they can provide about the number of visitors you get to your site and if they can give you anymore statistics about your visitors, like what they lingered on. However, you need to be able to easily interact with your web site. Many web hosts have a FAQ page and they might have a tutorial that will assist you.

Ask about what type of security is provided. A good web host will have a data protection plan. Hackers are just part of the Internet now. But how does this web host handle them? After you have had all of your questions answered, you can now find out about all their extras.

Finding a good web host can be hard but it worthwhile in the end. Ask as many questions as you can. Your web host is responsible for how you look on the Internet. Any wavering from their duties and you will lose money.


By: Dhruv Patel

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