The UK’s most popular social networking site Facebook has purchased a .cn domain name. This is the Chinese ccTLD. Despite speculation from commentators about a possible Chinese-language version of the site, the main reason for the registration would appear to be defence against possible cybersquatting problems as faced by such Internet giants as Google and also Microsoft. Facebook representatives were not available for comment.

Facebook has recently received an investment of $240million from Microsoft, and it seems likely that this has spurred it to protect its interests. Recently, Google have faced legal wranglings and a domains dispute with ISM Technologies, a firm which has registered Gmail.cn and which is using similar logos and colours to Google’s own email service. ISM is refusing to sell the domain name to Google, and it is possible that Facebook is attempting to avoid similar frustration with brand dilution.