Politicians need their own slice of the 'Net

23.04.2009
On the surface, Washington attorney Matt Sanderson would appear to be pitching a tough sell: special protection online for politicians and would-be politicians. However, because the villains here are predatory criminals and cybersquatters, it should be easy enough for all but the anarchists to see that he has point.

In a recent op-ed column in the Washington Post, Sanderson makes the case for ICANN to institute a new .pol top-level domain that would be reserved exclusively for real politicians and candidates ... and be off limits to the speculators.

He cites as examples of the need the troubles encountered by President Obama and former eBay CEO Meg Whitman in securing their eponymous .com names in advance of running for president and governor of California, respectively. Both eventually bought off their cybersquatters.

Boo-hoo, you say? Whitman's a billionaire and Obama raised enough money online to bail out the auto industry. ... Well, this isn't merely about the money, or even primarily about it.

Sanderson writes: "In 2004, for example, a cybersquatter deceitfully solicited funds through JohnFKerry-2004.com, which was nearly identical to Sen. John Kerry's authorized site. Likewise, in 2008, the cybersquatter site JohnMcain.com featured a contribution page almost indistinguishable from the similarly spelled official campaign site, JohnMcCain.com. Such counterfeit contribution pages raise serious monetary- and identity-theft concerns; they are also likely to become more common as others imitate these schemes."

At least these crooks are non-partisan.