Karl Kronenberger Featured in The Hill on ‘Cybersquatters’ in Presidential Campaign

Partner Karl Kronenberger was featured in the article, “Cybersquatters wreak havoc with ‘16 field” published by The Hill, addressing a growing problem that 2016 presidential candidates face: cybersquatters. At the center of the issue is former head of Hewlett-Packard (HP), Carly Fiorina, who failed to purchase all of the website domains with her name in it. When she launched her campaign, a critic had already purchased CarlyFiorina.org and used it to claim that she laid off 30,000 employees at HP.

Mr. Kronenberger says, “Carly Fiorina doesn’t really have a prayer of getting this back.” Ms. Fiorina not only has to prove that she owns the trademark to her own name, but also that the buyer has “no legitimate reason” to have her name in the website address.

“If you’re engaging in your First Amendment right to criticize a politician, then you’ll have a legitimate use of the domain name and they won’t be able to take it away,” he adds.

Read the full article on this cybersquatting case.