Susan Boyle’s web-savvy fans turn to cybersquatting

London, April 24: Fans of Britain’s Got Talent star Susan Boyle are registering unofficial domain names in an effort to cash in on her new-found popularity.Internet users in the UK, France, Germany and Spain have created dozens of website addresses that feature Boyle`s name, with susanboyle.co.uk, susanboyle.org and susan-boyle.com, as well as local domains, such as susanboyle.fr, susanboyle.de and susanboyle.es, being among them.

The unofficial addresses could pose a problem for the Scottish singer’s management team, for if she should go on to win the television talent show, it will be very tough for them to establish an official web presence. It could also lead to them having to strike private deals with the people who currently own the web addresses to buy the domain names from them. “Every time a new star like Susan Boyle is born, there is always a huge surge in new registration activity,” the Telegraph quoted Nora Nanayakkara, director of business development at Sedo, a domain name marketplace. However, she warned that the resale value of such web addresses was relatively low, and not the best way to make a fast buck. “We advise people to not jump on trends like this and instead invest in more generic keyword domains that will result in a far more valuable site and ensure that intellectual property infringement is not an issue,” she added. ANI