Advice we received about preventing cyber squatting is to get your institutions name trademarked. A trademarked name will give you greater protection from cyber squatters as trademark infringement is recognised as an offence in most countries.
If anyone rings up claiming to be courtesy calling about someone else registering the domain, tell them that you do object to them registering, and that if they do register your institution will file a case of trademark infringement against them and their client. The threat is usually enough to put people off!
If however they do register the name, then the World Intellectual Property Organisation ( http://www.wipo.org/ ), which is run within the United Nations, will arbitrate on most cases of domain name trademark infringement. In the case of .uk domain names, Nominet will arbitrate over the dispute in the first case ( http://www.nic.uk/ref/drs.html ) but may advise you to refer the case to court. Having a trademarked name will put your institution in a better position in a court case, as the other party is "trading off" your institutions good name and reputation.
David Bailey,
BSUC Systems Manager - Web Technology.
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