UK travel firm tries reverse domain name hijacking
Firm tried to buy the domain name ahead of filing a cybersquatting complaint.
A Nominet Dispute Resolution Service (DRS) panelist has found (pdf) travel firm Cloud Travel to have tried reverse domain name hijacking.
The firm filed a cybersquatting dispute against CloudTravel.co.uk. It registered the domain CloudTravelS.co.uk for its business, ostensibly since the singular version was taken.
Cloud Travel attempted to buy the domain in 2021, but its $500 offer was below the domain registrant’s $2,000 asking price. It then offered $1,000 earlier this year ahead of filing the cybersquatting dispute. (A DRS case costs as little as £200 if the domain owner doesn’t respond; otherwise it costs £750.)
The Complainant’s filing was apparently rather haphazard. The Respondent suggested it was written with AI. Panelist Tony Willoughby stated that, whether or not that is the case, the complaint was “a chaotic document” that “no human being can have checked” prior to it being submitted. For example, it referred to exhibits that weren’t included in the filing.
Cloud Travel argued that there could be confusion between its domain name and the singular version. That’s undoubtedly true; even the Complainant accidentally lists an email address as the singular version on its website. But that doesn’t mean the domain owner is cybersquatting.
Willoughby found this was a case of “Plan B” reverse domain name hijacking, where a firm files a cybersquatting dispute following failing to acquire a domain through commercial negotiations.
