I got a political brochure in the mail today, and it was a nasty piece of work. Perhaps the worst part is that the URL for their attack web site is the candidate’s name, as in “JohnSmith.com.”
Many times, people looking for information will simply enter the name of a person or company followed by “.com.” Voters wanting to learn about the candidate may enter his name and end up on a site set up by his political enemies. People who do not read the attack brochure carefully may even think that the “JohnSmith.com” site is the candidate’s official site.
Fortunately for this politician, when you do a Google search on his name, his real campaign site comes up first and the attack site was not in the top results. However, you can not be certain that this will happen if you are ever the victim of this kind of identity theft.
You may think that you do not need to own <yourname>.com. You do business under a company name, and you do not ever plan to run for office, so why do you need to register your name as a domain name?
Well, even if those things are true today, they may not be in the future. And if you decide you want to own the URL of your name, you do not want to discover that someone else owns it. Especially if that someone else is a political opponent or someone else who may use the site maliciously.
It is possible to dispute another party’s ownership of the URL of your name; however, that will probably not do this politician any good as it is unlikely to be resolved before the election. Plus, it is a pain in the rear to have to deal with the dispute resolution process. Is it worth $10 a year to avoid that?
It is also possible that the person who claims “your” domain name will have just as much right to it as you. If they share your name you would have a hard time convincing anyone that you have more right to the URL than they.
When I registered my first domain name, I did not register my name. At that time registrations were much more expensive and I did not see a reason to claim my name. However, a couple of years later, I noticed that someone was buying a lot of names of prominent Internet personalities. I decided I should strike before I became prominent enough to be a target for a squatter.
For a while, I pointed this URL at IdeaLady.com, my primary site. When I decided to set up a blog, CathyStucker.com seemed like the right URL to use.
Also think about registering common misspellings. Lots of people spell my name with a ‘K’ so if you try to go to KathyStucker.com, you will end up here.
Not sure what you should do with the URL of your name? Why not create a business card site?
And once you have your URL registered, start thinking about your identity on social media sites. Although there can be an unlimited number of “John Smith”s on Facebook, on Twitter there can be only one. Do your best to lock up your name, business name or nickname in as many places as possible.
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8 responses so far ↓
1 Sandra Fernandez // Oct 22, 2008 at 8:53 am
I bought my name several years ago and have never done anything with it. I know I will someday, so I’m glad to continue to keep it. Especially since my name is very common. I can never secure it as an account name in any web-based email system or social network, someone has already beaten me to it.
Good post.
2 Cathy Stucker // Oct 22, 2008 at 9:12 am
Smart move, Sandra! As you say, even if you are not using it now, you own it and no one else can take it from under you.
Another tip: Set up your domain registrations to automatically renew. I know people who lost important domains because when they came up for renewal, the owners were overwhelmed with other issues and forgot about them.
I register all my domains at http://www.GreatDomainsHQ.com/. I get notices when they are about to expire, but they also automatically renew them for me.
3 Laura Jo Richins // Oct 22, 2008 at 9:35 am
I bought my name, my husband’s name, and my 5 children’s names a few years ago. Seemed like a smart thing to do. I’m glad I did, especially as my oldest is getting ready to start his own business and will use his name domlain.
4 Cathy Stucker // Oct 22, 2008 at 9:45 am
Laura, I have heard that some people now choose their children’s names based on what domains are available, and register the URL before the child is born. That seems a little extreme to me, but the child may appreciate it later!
5 Charissa C. // Oct 22, 2008 at 9:47 am
Great article! I tried to get my domain name, Charissa.com, but a real estate agency owns it. Apparently it is the name of a city in Boston. But, the link redirects to homesinboston.com. How can I find out when they will no longer use my name as a redirect? And when I can then buy it?
Thanks!
6 Cathy Stucker // Oct 22, 2008 at 10:29 am
Charissa, they may be promoting that URL, or they may be getting type-in traffic (where people enter a word or name followed by .com). In that case, they will probably not give it up any time soon.
You can contact them and ask if they would be willing to sell it, but they would probably want more than you would be willing to pay, if they are interested in selling at all.
Some domain registrars will allow you to try to claim the domain if the current owner allows it to expire. You pay a fee and if the domain becomes available they try to grab it for you.
Good luck!
7 Anne // Oct 22, 2008 at 8:25 pm
Good article, Cathy (or Kathy). Coincedentally I received an “just for fun” email about a new website where you can look up just how many in the US there are of you (your name). site http://www.howmanyofme.com/
8 (Cette semaine)> du 24/10 au 26/10 + les identités numériques // Oct 27, 2008 at 4:33 pm
[...] Do you own your name ?, se demande Cathy Stucker. [...]
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