Cybersquatting involves registering domain names for profit, while typosquatting uses common spelling mistakes to redirect users to fake websites with ads or porn. The Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act covers both practices, and a landmark ruling penalized a typosquatter for infringing on trademark rights.
In the late 1990s, as governments sought to gain legislative control over the Internet, the practice of cybersquatting became front page news. A cybersquatter would register domain names that had the potential to become popular or profitable. The cybersquatter would either use the domain name to generate traffic or try to resell it at an inflated price. The practice of cybersquatting has become much more difficult with the passage of laws such as the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA). But an experienced cybersquatter could always make a more successful typosquatter.
A typosquatter registers domain names that look a lot like high-traffic websites, but have common spelling mistakes and consumer confusion. A typosquatter might register several domain names such as Anazon.com, Amazon.com, Amazons.com and so on. Customers looking for the real Amazon.com website can accidentally type the wrong URL, which directs them to one of the typosquatter’s websites. These websites are usually nothing more than a collection of profitable advertisements. In some cases, the sites are pornographic. Using .net instead of .com can also lead to a typosquatter website.
Another trick used by typosquatters is to register domain names using one or two adjacent letters. Consumers in a hurry might type smazon.com or hoogle.com, as the letters “s” and “h” are adjacent to the correct letters on the keyboard. A typosquatter will often register dozens of these typo-ridden domain names.
Additionally, a typosquatter may register variations such as NobleandBarnes.com, BensandJerry.com, or JenniferLopes.com. Their hope is that some customers don’t know the exact URL of the company’s website, so they will enter something similar. Even a missing dash can cause a navigator to be redirected to a typosquatter’s lair. From there, escape is impossible without clicking on several pop-up ads, a practice known as “mouse trapping”.
Some cybersquatters may have believed that the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act did not extend to typosquatting, but they were wrong. In a landmark ruling, a prominent typosquatter was severely penalized for deliberately registering confusing domain names modeled after the Joe Cartoon franchise. The court ruled that its misspelled or similar-sounding registered domain names created confusion in the market. The ACPA’s language actually extends to typosquatting, as both cybersquatting and typosquatting are not covered by fair use laws. A typosquatter depends on consumer error to make a profit, which the court ruled infringed the trademark rights of the genuine domain name owner.
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