Back in January we reported an incident where politicians involved in the New Jersey local elections had begun registering domain names in an effort to “steal” clicks from potential voters. By registering website addresses that incorporated the name of election rivals, the politician involved was arguably involving himself in domain squatting to prevent other candidates setting up websites bearing their own names.
This week Australian domain names have been thrust into the political spotlight. The Liberal Party has bought a number of Australian domain names incorporating the phrase ‘Abbott lies” which have then been pointed at websites disputing current Australian government budgetary policies. There are two website addresses currently in question – abbottlies.com.au and abbottlies.net.au.
Abbottlies.com.au and abbottlies.net au are both part of a wider “Abbott lies” campaign intended to discredit the incumbent Prime Minister. The Labor Party, who Tony Abbott heads up, has attempted to limit some of the potential damage by registering the similar Australian domain names abbottslies.com.au.
Further investigation by an Australian newspaper discovered that this was not a new political technique however. Since as far back as 2008 the Liberal Party has been registering contentious domain names. LaborLies.com points at a subsection of their website dedicated to attacking their rivals ahead of the 2013 election.
For UK businesses, these examples show how quickly and easily a rival can buy website addresses before launching an online campaign to discredit them. It also serves to underline the importance of carefully considering names when setting up a website or a new company.
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