Microsoft goes after cybersquatters in two new lawsuits

Microsoft is suing several companies for cybersquatting, the practice of buying up similarly spelled domain names. In the two separate lawsuits filed in San Francisco and Seattle courts, the software giant claims that these companies purchased names like 1xbox.com and then hit unsuspecting web surfers with advertisements. Microsoft says more than 54 trademarks were violated and it seeks undisclosed damages along with the transfer of all the domain names.

In the San Francisco lawsuit, Microsoft is suing Maltuzi LLC, a domain name holding company. Holding companies typically buy up blocks of names with common misspellings or permutations - for example by placing numbers in front of a famous website or by mixing up the 1st and 2nd letters of a domain name. Maltuzi’s website says that it currently owns over 100,000 domain names.

In the Seattle lawsuit, Microsoft is suing unnamed defendants, but the company says it is trying to find out the true identities of the squatters. The identities of domain name buyers is usually public information and you can easily dig up the buyer’s name, address and phone number by doing a "WHOIS" search on a domain name. However, some domain name registrars offer so-called "private" listings that will mask your identity under the registrar’s main address.