Cybersquatting is normally taken to mean the bad faith
registration and use of a domain name. Typosquatting is a form of
this that relies on a web user to make a “typo” when entering an
address in his or her browser.
Zuccarini registered the domain names which were misspellings of
legitimate domain names for popular sites. He registered 15
variations of a popular children's cartoon site,
cartoonnetwork.com, and 41 variations on the name of pop star
Britney Spears. Surfers looking for a site who misspell its address
or invert a term are taken to Zuccarini’s sites. They are then
bombarded with a rapid series of windows displaying ads for goods
and services ranging from internet gambling to pornography.
An FTC investigator entered one of the defendant's copycat
domain names, annakurnikova.com, and 29 browser windows opened
automatically. In some cases, the legitimate site to which the
consumer was attempting to go is also launched, so that consumers
may think the hailstorm of ads to which they are being exposed is
from a legitimate web site.
Once consumers are taken to one of Zuccarini’s sites, it is very
difficult for them to exit. In a move called "mousetrapping,"
special programming code at the sites obstructs surfers' ability to
close their browser or go back to the previous page. Clicks on the
"close" or "back" buttons cause new windows to open.
"After one FTC staff member closed out of 32 separate windows,
leaving just two windows on the task bar, he selected the "back"
button, only to watch as the same seven windows that initiated the
blitz erupted on his screen, and the cybertrap began anew,"
according to papers filed with the court.
Finally, the defendant's sites contained a "stealth" feature
that was hidden under the task bar, making it invisible to
consumers. FTC documents say:
"The stealth page contains no content.
Instead, its sole function is to act as a timer, periodically
launching additional pages of advertisements, without any action by
consumers. Thus, even as consumers struggle to escape defendant's
multi-window mousetrapping scheme, more windows launch
automatically."
At the request of the FTC, a US District Court ordered Zuccarini
to stop his activities pending further order of the court. The FTC
will seek a court order to force the defendant to give up his
profits from the advertisers.
"Schemes that capture consumers and hold them at sites against
their will while exposing internet users, including children, to
solicitations for gambling, psychics, lotteries, and pornography
must be stopped," said Timothy Muris, Chairman of the FTC. He
added:
"In addition to violating the trade mark
rights of legitimate web site owners, [Zuccarini] may have placed
employees in peril by exposing them to sexually explicit sites and
gambling sites on the job, in violation of company policies. With
more than 63 previous law suits against him for the identical
practices, we believe the court will shut down the defendant's
schemes permanently."
The FTC estimates that Zuccarini earns between $800,000 and $1
million annually from his scheme, charging advertisers whose banner
ads and affiliate programs are included on his web sites.
