Yes, the cybersquatters are at it again. With the merger of so a number of banks looking likely, they began registering domain names with the new names, full of speculation like hsbclehman.com, barclayslehman.com, and bankofamericalehman.com and boaml.com. Many of them were registered prior to merger announcements.
Indeed, bankofmamericamerrilllynch.com has already been offered for by auction on eBay, the BBC reports, as the cybersquatters hope to make a lot of money by selling on the name.
Interesting, several of these sites already have click-through ads, so they can generate revenue for the owners as they wait for buyers, and automated software brings content to the site.
Jonathan Robinson, chief operating officer of NetNames, said:
"It shows how there are opportunists out there waiting to pounce on any event. We’ve seen it in the case of celebrity with David Beckham going to LA Galaxy, we’ve seen it in the case of tragedy, with Princess Diana’s death. There’s a subtle twist on the whole thing now, which is the anticipation of the event."
