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"The recent launch of the new .asia domain is a further warning to companies to consider their online brand protection strategies and avoid putting themselves at unnecessary risk via neglected registrations."
Jonathan Robinson, Chief Operating Officer
David Beckham’s first foray into the US has been dealt a major blow just minutes after it was announced he would join the Los Angeles Galaxy football team. Cybersquatters pounced on key domain names in an opportunistic bid to cash in on Beckham's move to the States.
A cybersquatting frenzy broke out minutes after Thursday’s announcement at 3pm GMT that he would leave Real Madrid for the US side, with cybersquatters quick to register valuable domains and link them to lucrative Google-style pay-per-click advertising.
One cybersquatter in Milton Keynes registered every version he could of the LA Galaxy team name, hoping to cash in on people looking for more information on the Beckham move. By 4:17pm he was the proud owner of www.lagalaxy.org, www.lagalaxy.info and www.lagalaxy.co.uk. All his domain names now point to web sites that feature per-per-click adverts and the squatters could make thousands from misdirected Internet surfers. Meanwhile across the pond an eagle-eyed fan in Arizona caught a slice of the action and even managed to register www.davidbeckhamgalaxy.com, which points to their Beckham fan site. Another Arizonan registered www.beckhamgalaxy.info while a Californian swooped on www.beckhamgalaxy.net. A couple in Florida secured the www.beckhamgalaxy.com domain name.
Jonathan Robinson, Chief Operating Officer of NetNames, which manages the domain name portfolios for a third of the FTSE 100 companies and other international celebrities comments, “This is some of the fastest cybersquatting I’ve ever seen. David Beckham is a major international brand and there are clearly many people who have seen an opportunity to cash in. Securing these domain names after Beckham’s announcement on Thursday was the online equivalent of the first day of the Harrods sale as opportunists fought for the domain name rights to every single permutation of the Beckham brand crossed with LA Galaxy."
Robinson adds: “Celebrities are just as much at risk from cybersquatters as any major brand yet so many still leave themselves wide open to attack online. A domain name is easy to secure in the first place but retrieving it from a cybersquatter is easier said than done. The potential damage a malicious registration could do to a celebrity's brand is untold. Just imagine if one of Beckham’s sponsors find’s his most popular ‘unofficial’ website takes surfers to a rival brand."
Victoria Beckham hasn’t been quite so popular with cybersquatters, with possible domain’s still available including www.victoriabeckhamus.com and www.victoriabeckhamgalaxy.com.
One anonymous US cybersquatter said, “It’s all about David in this instance. He is the one being singled out as the true worldwide brand. Few of us in the US know or care about Victoria."
David Beckham is not the only David to come unstuck online. In November 2006 David Cameron’s carefully choreographed move to becoming a young, hip, blogger was undermined when the UK Independence Party cybersquatted www.webcameron.info. The website featured a video parodying the similarities between David Cameron and Tony Blair and has now been viewed a staggering 46,276 times.
NetNames is part of London listed Group NBT plc (LSE: NBT). Through its industry leading domain name management service, NetNames Platinum Service, the company is responsible for managing and protecting online brands for international corporates, including in excess of 30% of the FTSE 100. The company provides domain names, website hosting and email services for a range of customers - from the home user up to enterprise level. NetNames is an ICANN Accredited Registrar with the ability to register domain names in all available suffixes worldwide. The company is headquartered in London, with offices in New York, Nice, Frankfurt and Madrid. For further information, visit www.netnames.com.
For further information please contact:
Ivan Ristic, Hotwire, tel: 020 7608 4647
Email: ivan.ristic@hotwirepr.com
Peter Bowles, Hotwire, tel: 0207 608 4649
Email: peter.bowles@hotwirepr.com
2008