Cybersquatting is the practise of buying and occupying a web address which might rightly belong to someone else. These domain names are bought cheaply, with the idea being that they can then be sold on at a higher cost to the companies or organisations they represent. Cybersquatters were predicting the potential mergers following the drops in the finance market, with Barclays and HSBC being spotted as potential buyers for the failing Lehman Brothers.

The recently proposed bank mergers between bank of America/Merrill Lynch as well as Lloyds TSB/HBOS have resulted in the possible combinations of domain names being snapped up even before the announcements were made, some of which can be seen for sale on e-bay. The e-bay auction for bankofamericamerrilllynch.com claims the following:

"With a deal between Bank of America and Merrill Lynch NOW ANNOUNCED, this domain name will soon be incredibly popular. This is the only domain name that conveys the full picture, using the name of both firms. Terms such as Bankof… make little sense. This is the most comprehensive and commonsensical domain name available concerning the MERGER OF BANK OF AMERICA CORP AND MERRILL LYNCH & CO. Use the site to link to your own site, or use it to cover one of the biggest deals in financial history. Preliminary research indicates that this site will soon be receiving an incredible amount of hits."

It’s widely known and accepted that although trademark law does offer some protection for companies who fall victim to cybersquatting, it’s often easier for them to buy the domain directly from the cybersquatter rather than sue when there’s no guarantee they will win.

In the last week alone domainmonster.com has seen its customers register names such as merrilllynch-boa.com, Merrill-boa.com, boa-merrill.com, lloydstsbhbosgroup.com and lloydstsbhbosgroup.co.uk. No doubt with the hopes of making a tidy profit from their purchase.