Russian Internet sites use other’s brands

In spite of the fact that a lot of money were invested in the Russian part of Internet, many resources still proceed with using brands of foreign sites in order to increase their attendance owing to users’ mistakes. The matter concerns the registration of domain names which look like domain names of famous western (or Russian) sites. For example, one or two letters can be left out or added in the new name.

Widespread misprints are being often used. Usually new companies which strive to develop as fast as possible practise such tricks. Nobody expected that one of the most popular sites in the Russian part of Internet, Gazeta.ru, would make such a practice. This site takes leading positions in ratings, though the information it reports is very often inexact. Nevertheless Gazeta.ru is a well-known name in the Russian part of Internet.

Any user in Russia who types the name of the site Ananova.ru instead of Ananova.com, automatically gets to the site Gazeta.ru. It is clear that the enterprising businessmen just bought the popular domain name in order to use it in their interests. But does it correspond to the ethical standards of the media business?