Asian businesses face cybersquatting hazards

Singapore - Domain name registrar, Speednames, today urged Asian businesses to improve their strategies in establishing their Internet identities. In its report, Speednames proposed safety measures that these businesses can undertake to protect and promote their company and brand names.

In Asia, disputes concerning domain names, specifically cybersquatting, are also on the rise. With most Asian countries lacking dedicated processes to resolve domain name disputes, companies are increasingly finding themselves going through expensive court proceedings to establish their domain names in these countries.

To evaluate the vulnerability of Asian businesses to cybersquatters, Speednames analysed the domain name registration activities and trends of the top 10 companies in nine countries across Asia: Singapore, Hong Kong, China, South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, India, Australia and Japan.

Mickey Beyer Clausen, Vice President of Business Development and Co-founder, Speednames, said, "In Asia’s booming e-commerce marketplace, domain names are the key to a company’s branding on the Internet. But we found that many companies here have not established a proper domain name protection process."

In the report, Speednames concluded that inherent characteristic of Internet usage and applications in Asia e.g. multi-lingual and multi-cultural online needs, have put Asian businesses at a higher risk position relative to their European counterparts.

The full report can be downloaded on www.speednames.com