Stolen Identities on Twitter Pose Problem For Brands

ADMIN

• April 29 2009
• 569 views
• 1 comment

Twitter users beware from whom you are receiving “tweets;” it could be a squatter or rival instead of the real deal, according to an Australian Business Day article about the social networking tool. More and more brands - including Nike and Billabong - are discovering that their identities have been stolen by fans or rivals that have registered their company’s name on Twitter - a fairly easy task, according to a law firm interviewed for the story:

“Rather than see a replay of the domain names scam of the late 1990s and early 2000s, when opportunists registered prominent brand names as internet domains only to sell them to the trademark-owning companies for huge profits, Freehills is warning its clients to take control. ‘Registering is free. Not registering could cost you in the future,’ a Freehills partner specialising in intellectual property, Frances Drummond, says.

Some companies, such as Billabong, have been quick off the mark, snapping up names. A Billabong spokesman, John Mossop, said: ‘Billabong has a strong online presence and that includes three official Twitter addresses: billabonggirls, BBgirls and billabong1973. It would appear none of the other Billabong addresses [on Twitter] are ours, so we’re making inquiry into their ownership.’

And it seems that the issue may take some time to resolve:

“Nike is another company to have lost its identity; search Twitter for “Nike” and the site returns 175 results, with none clearly the official account of the global sporting brand.

Drummond says that unless an interloper is using the brand name to masquerade as that brand and possibly even sell products that are trading on that name, brand owners are relatively powerless. Unlike domain names, which require registration details, Twitter allows a level of anonymity that could give cover to those who might want to hijack the brand.

‘There’s nothing to stop another company from taking that identity and using it to their advantage,’ Drummond warns.”

To read the article in its entirety, click HERE.