DomainMart Warns Against Third-level Domain Name Hijacking

Warning to participants in affiliate programs of the potential of brand name dilution and traffic hijacking and counter measures to monitor and protect third-level domain names.

(PRWEB) November 30, 2004 -- DomainMart today issued a warning to participants in affiliate programs of the potential of brand name dilution and traffic hijacking. The warning also outlines counter measures to monitor and protect third-level domain names.

If you had been an online affiliate of, say, company xyz.com, your affiliate Internet address could have looked like YourCompanyName.xyz.com. If you or xyz.com terminates the relationship, xyz.com might decide to assign your affiliate address YourCompanyName.xyz.com to a new entity that has no relationship to you or YourCompanyName. The new entity would use YourCompanyName to exploit its intrinsic value.

The assignment of your affiliate third-level domain name to another company creates two sources of value loss to you. The first is through lost traffic from http://YourCompanyName.xyz.com and the second is a result of the infringement on your companys brand name.

Such domain name hijackings go un-noticed, because the affiliates assume that reputable sponsors would not engage in such activity," notes Alex Tajirian, President & CEO of DomainMart. Although there is no evidence that the major affiliate program sponsors are knowingly participating in the illegal scheme, it is the responsibility of the affiliates to protect their brand names and Website traffic," adds Tajirian.

DomainMart points out that in such situations, there are two levels of initiatives that you can take to protect your brand name. First find out whether such an infringement is underway and the second is a proactive measure to monitor and limit damages from such violations. If you are already a victim:
1. You should first ask xyz.com to immediately deactivate the third-level domain name YourCompanyName.xyz.com, or to restore your affiliate link.
2. Contact the entity infringing on your intellectual property and ask them to cease using your name in any affiliate programs.
3. Contact us to assist you with (1) and (2) above. We are considering making public the names of such violators.

As for the second level of proactive protection, DomainMart has also developed a service to monitor and notify you when infringements take place.

About DomainMart
DomainMart is a leader in providing domain-name secondary-market services, including appraisal/valuation, escrow, leasing, parking, management, marketplace, protection, and transfer since 1996.

For more information, please visit http://domainmart.com/news/opinion-3rd-level-hijacking.htm or contact:

Tom Saito, Marketing Specialist
DomainMart Inc.
e-mail: TomSaito@DomainMart.com
Tel: +1 (415) 905-4234

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