This page is for the convenience of students in Prof. Tim Richardson's e-commerce classes.
It contains a collection of info and links regarding all the marketing issues relevant to domain names.

This page last updated 2010 Feb 19
 

Domain Names
	marketing issues	witiger.com/ecommerce/domainnamesmktg.htm
	registration isses	witiger.com/ecommerce/domainnamesregister.htm
	scams and problems	witiger.com/ecommerce/domainnamesscams.htm
	scams, phishing	witiger.com/ecommerce/domainnamephishing.htm
	domain name hacking	witiger.com/ecommerce/hackingexample.htm
	domain disputes	witiger.com/ecommerce/domainnamedisputes.htm
	Verisgn problems	witiger.com/ecommerce/domainnamephishing-verisign.htm

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This page used in the following courses taught by Prof. Richardson . MGT C50 MGT D06 CCT 322 IEC 702 IEC 818 MGD 415 FCA 240 MGS 523 MRK 610 MRK 410 BCS 555 GNED 136 This page deals with   o Registration vulnerabilities   o Domain name scams - threat to register similar name   o fake renewal notices which will change your Domain Registrar   o Domain Name Dispute Resolution   o Domain Name squatting - cybersquatting

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Registration Vulnerabilities

Information on Registration Vulnerabilities from NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE PROTECTION CENTER  "Internet users rely on names to access on-line resources, making the Domain Name Service (DNS) a vital part of the Internet, as we know it. The software package commonly used to provide DNS has been the target of numerous attacks, highlighting the importance of system administrators keeping current with patches and upgrades. " "Most DNS installations do not incorporate strong authentication, making it possible for malicious parties to insert false directory data into the DNS hierarchy. If an intruder can manipulate an organization's DNS, the intruder could then maliciously divert on-line traffic; e.g., a user trying to     access <www.nipc.gov> may be sent not to the real NIPC web site, but to a phony site with false information. DNS attacks can also be carried out for other malicious purposes, such as stealing data, harvesting account information, or denying Internet service."

"Another security concern lies in the domain name registration process. Central registrars maintain listings of domain names, their owners, and the name servers that provide DNS lookups. If an organization moves to a different Internet Service Provider or makes changes to its servers, it may change its DNS settings. In many cases, it does this by sending a simple e-mail request to the registrar and then confirming the desired changes in a follow-up e-mail message. If a malicious third party can forge e-mail from an organization, the former may be able to effect unauthorized changes in its domain name registration, thereby mounting an effective denial-of-service attack. This vulnerability was illustrated in  an incident earlier this year [2001] in which a number of institutions found their domains hijacked. Early one weekend, an unknown party forged e-mail  messages to a domain name registrar requesting that the domains of a number of universities, commercial enterprises, and nonprofit associations be redirected to a New Jersey provider of online services. The operator of the New Jersey site noticed the fraudulent domain  transfers and took corrective action. However, it took several days for the erroneous DNS settings to be rectified. Some of the institutions  victimized in this attack experienced significant disruptions in Internet connectivity. In response to this risk, some domain name registrars have implemented optional authentication procedures for DNS modification requests. Such requests are often required to be accompanied by a secret password or digitally signed by the domain's registered owner." for further details, go to NIPC at www.nipc.gov/publications/highlights/2001/highlight-01-01.htm

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During the 4th week of January 2006,  Richardson was interviewed by Amy Sharaf of Ryerson's Independent Newspaper " The Eyeopener Online"  www.theeyeopener.com about fake websites that have URLs spelled similar to a legit site, and used to divert traffic for companies that are paying for "click throughs"

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A fake Ryerson website has surfaced. Ryeson.ca is similar to Myryerson.ca, the page which prompted Ryerson authorities to send an e-mail of warning to students and staff in Dec 2005. One of the Ryerson journalism students phoned Prof. Richardson to ask for advice and opinion. Richardson was quoted as saying "These lead to links for companies that pay to get "click-throughs," which are "designed to drive traffic to another site and increase hits on a page," said University of Toronto e-commerce and internet marketing lecturer Tim Richardson. "For an institution like Ryerson, there's not a lot that can be done about it," he said. "Because that name is the name of an individual person that's been lent to the university, a word like Ryerson would be very difficult to control access to."

While "parked pages" lead to empty sites, active sites such as Ryeson.ca are also detested by search engine people because they can clog up legitimate search engine rankings, Richardson said. "When you go looking for something, if it's not on the first three pages, you try (your search) again with different words. "If you don't rank high on one of the first ones, you don't exist." He added that speculation of which URLs may come to be in demand may cause people to scoop up potentially popular names. "People watch American Idol 3, they find the names of the four people that can do the semis and that night one person goes on Internet.com and buys trade names," Richardson said. If names are taken, variations such as Ryeson.ca become the next best thing.

Domain  Names . Problems and Scams

"Internet Registry Firm plays on People's Anxieties" is the heading of an August 25th, 2000 article by Tyler Hamilton Hamilton describes how some small and medium sized businesses are being scammed by companies contacting a firm and telling the firm that there is an attempt being made to register the same domain that they presently own, but with a different ending such as .org or .net.

Domain  Names

"Domain Name Registration Scheme - or Scam" is the title of Ken Campbell's Sept 21st, 2000 piece written for the section of the Toronto Star called Fast Forward Campbell, like Hamilton, tells the story of a Toronto company that received a fax urging them to reply quickly because someone was trying to register an identical domain name with the .net or .org ending. The company that writers Campbell and Hamilton discovered, which is carrying out this questionable activity, is EDNM which calls itself Electronic Domain Name Monitoring and lists two offices in Atlanta and Toronto. Both Campbell and Hamilton got unsatisfactory responses when they tried to contact EDNM to obtain their side of the story. Campbell told Tim Richardson Sept 22nd 2000  "The story may get deeper" so I suggest that students watch the Star for further articles on this topic to see where it goes.

Domain  Names Disputes

UNIFORM DOMAIN NAME DISPUTE RESOLUTION POLICY originally from http://www.netsol.com/rs/dispute-policy.html "4.   Mandatory Administrative Proceeding. 4a. Applicable Disputes. You are required to submit to a mandatory administrative proceeding in the event that a third party (a "complainant") asserts to the applicable Provider, in compliance with the Rules of  Procedure, that                   (i) your domain name is identical or confusingly similar to a                   trademark or service mark in which the complainant has                   rights; and                   (ii) you have no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the                   domain name; and                   (iii) your domain name has been registered and is being used                   in bad faith."

Domain  Names Disputes

Canadians take a leading role in domain name disputes Citing our military role as international peacekeepers, a story in ComputerWorld Canada in May, 2000 noted a Montreal company, named eResolution, backed by ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assignment Names and Numbers), is in a position to handle the full adversarial proceedings from initial complaint filing to the arbitration stage and transfer of evidence. "eResolution plays the role of court clerk, registering complaints, handling evidence, transmitting case documents to the decision makers, and communicating any judgement to the applicable parties" eResolution's press release says  "... there are believed to be over 10,000 disputed domain names..." Some people are going to extraordinary lengths to legally and illegally obtain rights to certain domain names. There have been a number of stories of people registering domain names with false identification. A June 7th 2000 story written by Vito Pilieci in the The Financial Post told the situation of Internet.com finding that their domain had been stolen! Apparently someone had hacked into the Network Solutions computer and changed the files identifying the ownership of the domain "Internet.com".

  Prof. W. Tim G. Richardson © www.witiger.com