The Silicon Valley-based Rothken Law Firm, which has made its name prosecuting technology-related cases, said it has sued VeriSign on behalf of two classes – commercial interests affected by Site Finder, and individual Internet users.
Site Finder is a system whereby VeriSign diverts web users to a page full of advertising when they enter an invalid, usually misspelled, .com or .net domain name into their browser. Previously, an error message would have been returned.
The suit seeks an injunction against Site Finder, a declaration that VeriSign is breaking the law, and damages that the court deems appropriate. VeriSign has a policy of not commenting on pending litigation.
It also accuses VeriSign of cyber squatting, or typo squatting, on the basis that it is making money out of people typing incorrectly spelled domains, which are identical or confusingly similar to registered trademarks.
Rothken also alleges that VeriSign is in breach of privacy laws by intercepting URLs intended for another party that may contain personal information.
The suit is the third to be filed since Site Finder launched two weeks ago. Go Daddy Software Inc and Popular Enterprises LLC have already sued, alleging the service amounts to an unlawful monopoly, unfair competition, among other things.
This article was based on material originally published by ComputerWire
