Dell sues cybersquatters

Computerworld - Dell Inc. and its subsidiary Alienware Corp. have filed a federal lawsuit against several domain name registrars accusing them of trademark infringement and cybersquatting more than 1,100 Web addresses that are similar to those owned by Dell.

Dell filed the lawsuit against domain name registrars BelgiumDomains LLC, CapitolDomains LLC, DomainDoorman LLC, Netrian Ventures Ltd., IHoldings.com Inc., as well as other shell companies based in the Caribbean that register domain names. Miami resident Juan Pablo Vazquez, who is connected to those companies, is also named as a defendant.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in October, was unsealed on Nov. 16, according to court documents. The lawsuit had been filed without notice to the defendants and under seal so the defendants wouldn't have a chance to leave the country or remove or destroy evidence, court papers said. After law enforcement officials seized the defendant's property, which included computers, servers, handhelds, records, data and other electronic media relating to the defendants' cybersquatting activities, Dell petitioned the court to unseal the lawsuit, and the court acquiesced.

In the lawsuit, Dell alleges that the defendants have operated "one of the largest and most nefarious cybersquatting schemes ever seen." Cybersquatting, or registering, selling or using a domain name with the intent of profiting from the goodwill of someone else's trademark is illegal in the U.S. under the 1999 federal law known as the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act.

Neither Dell nor the attorney for Vazquez could be reached for comment.

According to the lawsuit, the defendants registered and used 1,100 domain names that contained the word "dell" and are confusingly similar to, or are variations of, Dell's trademarks. Dell also claims that the defendants registered hundreds of thousands of domain names that infringed on the famous and well-known trademarks of a number of U.S. companies.

The computer maker claims the defendants have made millions of dollars off misdirected Web traffic meant for Dell. When users mistype a Web site name, such as dwllfinancialservices.com, instead of dellfinancialservices.com, they're redirected to a Web site owned by the defendants that is filled with advertising. The scheme is also known as typosquatting.

When users click on an advertisement on the Web site, the owner of the Web site makes a small "pay-per-click" commission from the advertisers. By setting up these Web sites, Dell claims the defendants are making money off Dell's trademarked names because the advertisers offer the same or similar goods and services that Dell offers.

Dell also accuses the defendants of "domain name tasting," which, under the policies of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), allows a registrar to register a domain name and place pay-per-click ads on it for up to five days to determine whether it will make money from those ads. If so, the registrar can then register the domain name for $6 per year. If not, the registrar is supposed to return the domain to ICANN.