Karl Kronenberger Discusses Internet Domain Trolling Trend with Washington Post

Partner Karl Kronenberger was featured in the article “From TedCruz.ca to TaylorSwift.porn: How the golden age of domain-trolling was born” published by Washington Post, addressing the trend of purchasing Internet domains and using celebrity or politician names to display links or messages that aren’t always favorable to the celebrity or politician’s image, which is called trolling.

As the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) continues to release domains such as .adult, .holiday, .gripe and more, there are very little legal restrictions from buying desirable web addresses and either holding them for ransom or using them to troll.

Mr. Kronenberger comments that, “You can register anything you want in a domain name.” However, if a domain name contains a trademark, such as Crock-Pot or Kleenex, the trademark holder can file a lawsuit for infringement, but that process can be costly.

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