Maya Reports

To keep up with the influx of individuals and/or companies registering new URLs,  or the lack of options for smaller businesses….  allow me to introduce you the newest web domain: .co

If the extension seems a bit familiar, it was once used as the country domain of Colombia.  Now, it has officially become an alternative to dot-com.

The issue here has to do with cybersquatting.  I myself, was unsure of the term, so here’s a definition:

Cybersquatting (also known as domain squatting), according to the United States federal law known as the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, is registering, trafficking in, or using a domain name with bad faith intent to profit from the goodwill of a trademark belonging to someone else. The cybersquatter then offers to sell the domain to the person or company who owns a trademark contained within the name at an inflated price.

Although

Many companies—especially those with recognizable brands—were quick to reserve their own .co sites during a “sunrise” period before they became available to the general public on July 20.

A lot of really large companies, ignored the debut, and are now sort of in between a rock and a hard place.  They can either ignore the fact that someone has purchased a domain name with their trademarked brand, or they can contact the individual and try to get it back.

Gannett.co and GeneralDynamics.co are now in the hands of David Stone of Warrenton, Virginia.-based Assurance Agency Inc. Redskins.co and WashingtonCapitals.co also belong to registrants who have nothing to do with the sports teams.

Filed under: Business, Marketing, Random, Tech, World, .co, .co domain registration, .co extension, cybersquatters, dot-com, dot-com alternative, redskins.co