A company I have been doing some work for recently forgot to renew one of their major brand-management domains.
It was picked up by a cybersquatter, with his anonymity held intact by the usual whois-identity shield. After following a link on the static page he has setup on the domain, I got in touch with the 3rd party company that is taking bids for the domain. After contacting them, and having my first offer rejected, I submitted a second offer, offering a fair amount of cash; here is what I got back:
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Hello,
Thanks for getting back to me. The domain owner has listed the reserve price at $2800.
To move forward with presenting another offer, simply reply to this email with your new bid. If your offer is in the seller’s range, we will present it to the seller.
Thank you,
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But, this kind of crap is against the law, right?
Sure it is, if the perpetrator is under US Federal Jurisdiction: The Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act would allow the company to pursue civil action against him; that is, if they knew who he was.
The lesson: Don’t ignore those emails that are telling you that your domain is about to expire, and that you don’t have auto-renew turned on.
Josh
Defensive Depth 