US Judge Fines Cyber-Squatters Over 33 Million

US Judge Fines Cyber-Squatters Over 33 Million

In the largest cybersquatting judgment ever, a federal court in the Northern District of California has awarded Verizon $33.15 million (£22.5 million) from an Internet domain registration company that registered hundreds of domains using Verizon trademarks.



OnlineNIC, a company based in San Francisco, had registered at least 663 domain names in its campaign against Verizon. Some were identical to Verizon brands, others were close enough to potentially confuse customers or anyone who accidentally mis-typed URLs - a practice known as typosquatting.



The court calculated that each fradulent domain name cost the massive telecoms company $50,000 (£34,000), giving Verizon a very nice Christmas present.