What does Cybersquatting mean? It's a relatively new term in tech jargon, and it refers to a person or company that registers domain names with the hope of selling them later. Usually the domains have the name of a brand, and are normally addressed to Companies who already own the trademark, or brand name.
In the past, the phenomenon of trademark registration and then the extortion of the company directly involved has yielded enough money to blacksmiths. Today things seem to change thanks to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) intervention by the World Intellectual Property Organization.
This organization receives complaints from trademark owners and, through the legal route, takes back the domains from cyber-squabbles, and makes them available to legitimate recipients.
This of course has not stopped the phenomenon of Cybersquatting, but has forced squirers to change tactics.
Now, instead of buying domains from companies that already own the trademark, they register domain names that have not yet registered their trademark.
Below is there one infographic created by IrishApps, an app development company for cell phones. The infographic presents some interesting statistics about the takeover of cyberspace. Includes the top ones countries in which the phenomenon is very regular, leading industries, and trademarks that have filed complaints.
See infographic
