Internet Vultures Register 3,459 Michael Jackson Domains (And Counting)
By Anna Johnson on June 28th, 2009Internet ‘vultures’ have quickly sought to capitalize on the death of pop icon, Michael Jackson, by registering at least 3,459 .com domain names that include the words ‘Michael Jackson’.
Domainer Income (owned by Kikabink International) found that 3,459 .com domains had been registered by Saturday June 27, 2009, following Michael Jackson’s death the day before.
Since this figure includes only .com domains, and more time has elapsed since Domainer Income published its domain name count, the number of all Michael Jackson domains published since the artist’s passing on June 26, 2009 is sure to be even larger. Presumably some people have also registered domains that include titles of his songs and other terms related to the late singer.
I’m guessing none of those registering such domains have given much thought to whether they might be infringing on Michael Jackson’s trademarks (now owned by his estate), let alone about the ethics involved in registering such domains…
Source: Simon Johnson, “3,459 Michael Jackson .COM Domains Registered,” Domainer Income, June 27, 2009
