The business value of a good domain name is well established, but apparently politicians are now getting in on the act too. The Bergen County local elections in the American state of New Jersey have been rocked by a domain registration scandal equivalent to a corporate domain name squatting scam.
County Adjuster Jack Carbone has registered three domain names incorporating the names of his closest political rivals, John Hogan, Tracy Zur and Michael Dressler. Carbone himself explains the acquisitions as a “harmless hobby” that he has had for years, buying website addresses based on the names of politicians and other people he knows, regardless of their political affiliation.
For his political rivals concerned about spoof websites, there is good news. Carbone is willing to hand over ownership of any disputed address at the request of his rivals. He also points out that he has ceded ownership on several occasions in the past, without levying any kind of charge.
However some of the Bergen County candidates remain sceptical. “It would have been nice for him to shoot me an email and let me know he’s done this,” said County Clerk John Hogan who is potentially affected by Carbone’s registrations of ‘electjohnhogan.com,’ ‘elect-hogan.com’ and ‘hoganforcountyexecutive.com’. “To me, it’s strange and unsettling. No one has any use for my Web or domain name except me.”
As yet, there are no rules governing such registration either in the USA or the UK. With a general election coming to Britain in May 2015, there remains the potential for a similar situation happening here.
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