Another
example is "mtv.com." MTV veejay
Adam Curry initially registered the domain name for his own Web site.
When Curry quit MTV, the company sued and two years later the case was
settled, with MTV winning the right to use "mtv.com" for its Web site,
even though Curry registered it first.
At least Curry had a connection to MTV when he used its trademark as his domain name. Some people, called "cybersquatters," register domain names such as "mcdonalds.com" just so they can later get money from the companies who own those trademarks when the companies decide to set up a corporate Web site.
In
the past, many companies were willing to pay the cash to get the domain
name. (It was a reporter for Wired
magazine who registered "mcdonalds.com"
as part of his research for a story, and eventually he turned the domain
name over to the fast food company in return for a donation to charity.)
In 1995, Congress made it
riskier for cybersquatters to hold domain names for ransom. It passed
The
Federal Trademark Dilution Act, which allows trademark owners to win
monetary damages from cybersquatters who willfully try to trade on the
trademark owner's reputation by registering a domain name that "dilutes"
the value of a company's trademark. In late June, 1999, Congress began considering The Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection
Act, a bill that would make cybersquatting a crime and would allow companies to recover up to $300,000 in damages for each trademark violation. Cybersquatters, beware!