Domain-Name Rule Change 'Brand Owner's Nightmare'

The decision of an internet oversight body to allow more domain names opens the playing field to cybersquatters—who register domain names in the hopes someone else will have to purchase them later, BusinessWeek reports. No more is it a matter of simply .com or .net: Squatters may now buy up countless addresses, forcing brand names to keep a much wider-ranging eye on the web.

When new domain-name extensions are introduced, “large brands spend a fortune on defensive registrations to avoid the greater expense of recovering the names from cybersquatters,” one expert said. “It's a brand owner's nightmare.” But supporters say the application process for a domain name is a “significant investment” which gives others the opportunity to oppose would-be cybersquatters. (More internet stories.)