Domain names are now an integral part of most businesses. The more distinctive a domain name is, the easier it is for people to remember, locate and access it. Unfortunately, the rather unwholesome practice of registration of domain names by entities or persons other than the legitimate user is quite prevalent. This is not new and it is what led the then President of the United States of America, Mr Bill Clinton to sign the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act into law in 1999. Such registrations are typically up for sale at a premium to the legitimate user and do mislead or confuse unsuspecting visitors to the domain/website if one has been set up. If the stories in the media are correct, then Nigeria Air is a case in point. So what is to be done?
Fortunately there are preventative, practical and legal measures available and these include:
1. Register your preferred name as a domain as early as possible;
2. Register your preferred name in as many top level domain names as possible;
3. If your preferred name has already been registered, consider variables. For instance in the Nigeria Air case, flynigeriaair.
Where your preferred name has been registered by persons other than legitimate users, you may
(a) Buy back the name if affordable/cheap and any evidence of bad faith is minimal or even non-existent
(b) using the applicable domain name dispute resolution policy such as the WIPO-initiated Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (for top level domain disputes) or the Nigerian Internet Registration Agency Complaints Policy (for disputes relating to the .ng domain space) to challenge and recover the name and
(c) If it can be established that the seller or person who registered the domain name is based in Nigeria, then further to the provisions of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015, a complaint may be made to the Nigerian Police regarding the offence of cybersquatting. Where the Nigerian Police is able to establish a breach/offence, criminal proceedings can commence against the perpetrator before the Federal High Court.
It is pertinent to note that prior to 2015, Nigeria did not have any specific law that dealt with cybercrimes. Though long overdue (as stated earlier a similar law in the United States was passed in 1999), the Act was a major step towards combatting the scourge of cyber squatters, amongst other things. The Act itself is undergoing a review and we will share updates and developments as they become available.
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